Speakers

Monique Bradley  |  MC

Monique Bradley is an award-winning MC, keynote speaker, and communication specialist with a background in television and live events across New Zealand and Australia. Known for her warmth, clarity, and confident stage presence, Monique creates seamless flow between speakers, keeps energy high, and ensures audiences stay engaged, connected, and inspired from start to finish.

Sacha Coburn

Sacha Coburn is a Prime Minister’s Business Scholarship winner, recently graduating from the prestigious OPM program at Harvard Business School.

Sacha runs a leadership development programme working with both emerging and C-suite leaders to deliver whole hearted high performance. Sacha works with organisations all across the globe imparting messages that matter with her trademark, energy, empathy, insight and inspiration.

Olly Bridge

Olly has dedicated his life to helping individuals and teams unleash their full potential and achieve extraordinary results. With a career founded working with elite athletes, Olly has harnessed the power of Sustainable Peak Performance and honed it into a dynamic methodology that extends far beyond the sports arena. From leading high-performing teams in organisations like BMW & Medibank, to driving smaller start-ups to successful exits including being the COO of a joint ASX and NASDAQ listed health tech company, Olly has a deep understanding of the corporate landscape and the crucial balance between performance and wellbeing. 

Dom Thurbon

Dom is an internationally engaged speaker and facilitator who helps individuals and organisations drive behaviour change in the face of external disruption.

He's authored and researched best-sellers published in over 15 countries, on subjects as diverse as generational change, business strategy, purpose-driven leadership, the future of work and education, and disruption.

He has over 17 years’ experience as a successful senior executive and entrepreneur. At just 23, he was founder and Chief Creative Officer at Karrikins Group, a behaviour change agency he grew to over 150 staff across Australia, New Zealand and North America (acquired by EY in 2019). 

Tim Kirkpatrick

Tim Kirkpatrick, CA, is CFO of Tax Traders, New Zealand's largest tax pooling intermediary. He joined as employee number two and has spent the last decade building the finance function from the ground up before taking on engineering leadership, making him one of the rare Chartered Accountants who also directs an in-house software development team. His message is grounded in building inside an operating business: the people best placed to direct these tools aren't technologists, they're the professionals who already know what good looks like.

Kayur Patel

Kayur Patel, FCA, is a Director in PwC New Zealand's Gen AI & Emerging Technology team, specialising in integrating democratised Gen AI tools into everyday business processes. His work helping businesses use Generative AI has led to him being the second youngest FCA in New Zealand.

Natasha McDowall

Natasha McDowall is a Chartered Accountant and founder of Tael Solutions Ltd, an award‑winning West Auckland advisory firm.

Tael helps trade and service businesses achieve strong, measurable growth through strategic planning, financial literacy development, and practical coaching. The firm delivers annual planning workshops, Business Bootcamps, and long‑term strategy facilitation, supporting clients in building resilient and profitable businesses.

Mark Jenkins

Mark is Co-Founder, Director and CEO at The Gap. With over 25 years in public practice and 17 years as a director, he knows what it takes to achieve 50% revenue from business advisory. He's a huge believer in accountants having financial, time and mind freedom and helping them work smarter, not harder.

Cathy Hendry

As MD of Strategic Pay since 2021, Cathy Hendry leverages over 17 years of industry expertise to drive the firm’s growth and maintain its strategic vision. A seasoned remuneration professional, she is a prominent advocate for pay equity, frequently collaborating with organisations like MindTheGap to advance research and fairness in New Zealand's pay practices. Cathy is also a recognised thought leader and speaker, highly regarded for her data-driven insights and ability to navigate complex trends within the remuneration landscape.

Manoli Aerakis 

Manoli Aerakis is an accounting professional we work closely with and confidently recommend to firms thinking about their next move.

He’s known for cutting through the noise, quickly understanding how a firm operates, where the real value sits, and what needs to happen to achieve a strong outcome. Whether it’s growth, succession, or an exit, Manoli brings a practical, no-nonsense approach that resonates with business owners. What makes Manoli particularly effective is his ability to have the right conversations. He understands the financials, but more importantly, he understands people - which is critical when navigating transitions like selling a firm.

Theo Kyriak

Theo Kyriak is the principal at Kyriak Law, a boutique law firm specialising in business sales, with a particular focus on the professional-services sector. Theo operates nationwide, helping owners and purchasers in broker-led and off-market, small to medium-large scale transactions.

Josh Turner

For over 12 years, Josh Turner has pioneered the Clifton Strengths tool in workplaces across Aotearoa.

Josh is a Role Clarity & Leadership Strategy Coach, Keynote speaker, Podcast guest and Co-founder of Shaper - a digital platform for Organisations.

Josh helps businesses remove confusion and focus on what matters most, and he helps teams stop guessing and start paddling together with clarity.

Jo Dunn

Living by the 7 habits mantra in running her own high-performing, niche Chartered Accounting and Advisory practice, Jo helps business owners make sense of their numbers in a practical and empowering way.

She is committed to turning financial information into clear insight, while recognising that good business decisions are about people as much as numbers. Jo believes the best outcomes come from strong relationships, clear communication, and practical support.

Leah Keown

Leah is a Christchurch-based coach and advisor at Beyond Your Numbers, an award-winning firm specialising in helping tradies and professional business owners get control of their business through strategic planning, cashflow forecasting and practical coaching that delivers results. She delivers transformational coaching for business owners striving for excellence.

Drawing on over 20 years in management accounting, finance, and strategic advisory, Leah works alongside business owners to lift profit, strengthen cashflow, and turn “numbers” into everyday decision-making tools. Passionate about coaching for excellence, she combines financial expertise with leadership and performance coaching to help owners create businesses that fit the life they actually want.

Tim Le Compte

As an advocate of culture and strategy equate to business success in his own practice, Tim works alongside engaged business owners to build sustainable, scalable, and ultimately, saleable businesses.

He is passionate about helping clients think strategically to shape businesses that support both their ambitions and their way of life.

Tim brings a practical approach that helps business owners step back, see the bigger picture, keep their eyes up and own their journey.

Lu Khani

Lu Khani is a Chartered Accountant and business advisor who helps New Zealand business owners get clarity and control over their numbers.

As the founder of Business Navigators, he works alongside owners to turn messy financials into clear, confident decisions.

With over 18 years of global experience across audit, tax, and advisory, Lu brings both technical depth and practical thinking to his work.

He is known for speaking in plain language, cutting through complexity, and bringing a mix of insight, humour, and real-world experience to the conversation.

Most of his work comes down to one question - what are your numbers really telling you, and are you acting on it?

Warrick Maddocks

Warrick is the founder of &Robin and believes every business owner is a hero – taking risks, creating jobs, and building something meaningful from the ground up. Like every great hero needs a trusted sidekick, every business owner needs reliable support.

Since starting his career with the Australian Taxation Office, he has worked within the private sector as a Paraplanner and Chartered Accountant. Warrick is passionate about helping business owners better understand the financial performance of their business and develop strategies for their growth.

Simonne Liley

Simonne Liley is the Founder of CORE Leadership Institute, an international award-winning speaker, author, and leadership strategist.

She helps business owners build accountable teams, regulate under pressure, and lead with clarity, courage, and standards using neuroscience, behavioural psychology, and practical leadership frameworks.

Brad Turville

Brad spent 22 years building his own accounting and advisory firm.

He now coaches accountants with a clear focus on sales, pricing, and positioning.

Roland Leemans

As a Member of the Institute of Directors and author of Evolution: By Design™, his focus is on shifting organisations from product-centric to customer-value driven, ensuring growth is both sustainable and measurable.

Today, he contributes as a fractional strategist and as a guest lecturer for the University of Waikato MBA programme.