Hi, I’m Julie
The leader who faced cancer alone in a pandemic and came out teaching others how to lead themselves through anything.
But let’s start at the beginning.
I did not start out knowing who I was.
I grew up a people pleaser. I learned early how to adapt. Different versions of me for different people, different rooms. Confidence was not something I naturally felt, but I knew how to apply myself, do a great job and make it work.
That carried me into my corporate career. I worked hard, delivered and climbed. Until the day I put my hand up for a senior leadership role and was told I was not senior leadership material.
It was confronting. But it was also the moment everything shifted.
I realised something I still see playing out in leaders every single day. Capability alone does not determine how you are seen or what opportunities come your way. How you show up does. Who you are being does. The courage you bring does.
So I did the work. I got clear on who I needed to be, what I stood for and how I wanted to lead. I stepped into that role. And I did not look back.
My corporate career took me further than I ever imagined. I led a team of 130 people. I took the worst performing team in the organisation and turned it into the best in nine months. I dismantled a toxic culture and rebuilt it into something people were proud to be part of.
And then I reached a point where I knew I was out of alignment. Where many would choose to stay, I chose not to.
I walked away from corporate and built my own business from scratch. No backing. No safety net. Just a clear belief in the work I wanted to do and the courage to do it.
That business has grown through the GFC, through COVID, and through a stage three melanoma diagnosis in October 2021 that turned my life upside down and put everything into sharp, unforgiving perspective.
Within five days of my diagnosis I had major surgery. I woke up alone in a hospital room in the middle of a pandemic. Immobilised. Vulnerable. No visitors. No certainty. Just a choice.
Lead yourself through this with the same courage you have always asked of others.
I made that choice. And it became the most powerful leadership lesson of my life.
Because here is what I know to be absolutely true. You always have a choice. Always. Not about what happens to you. About how you lead yourself through it. And that single decision, made with courage and intention, changes everything.
I did not have it all figured out. I just kept making the choice to lead myself forward. And if there is one thing I know for certain, that choice is available to you too. Right now. Exactly as you are.
Outside of work,
I value the simple things.
Good food, good wine, movies and time with people I love. I am at my best near the ocean or out in nature. I did a triathlon once because someone challenged me to. I race hard at everything I do. And I am, without question, an exceptional dishwasher stacker. I will not be beaten.
If you know there’s more in you, but you’re not yet being seen for it, you’re in the right place.
Julie Hyde
Keynote Speaker | Executive Coach | Author | Podcast Host
Julie Hyde is one of Australia's most compelling keynote speakers on leadership, courage and self-leadership under pressure.
She has spent over two decades helping leaders and organisations find the courage to lead themselves first — and build the teams, cultures and results that follow.
Her corporate career saw her rise to senior leadership in banking, leading teams of up to 130 people, delivering 200% performance improvements and transforming toxic cultures into high performing, engaged teams. She then built her own business from scratch, growing it through the GFC, through COVID and through a personal crisis that tested every principle she teaches.
Julie is a certified coach with a Diploma of Executive Coaching, Certificate IV in Life Coaching and HarvardX studies in leadership. She has coached hundreds of leaders across Australia and APAC, with clients achieving up to 200% sales growth, tripling their turnover and building cultures where people genuinely want to show up.
She is the author of two books. Busy? challenges the leadership myth that doing more means achieving more. You Always Have a Choice, her second book, was a finalist in the 2024 Australian Business Book Awards. She is the host of the Leading You podcast, ranked in the top 3% globally.
Julie speaks on courageous leadership, self-leadership, resilience, human leadership in an AI world, culture and performance. Her clients include NAB, Westpac, Bendigo Bank, Bank of Melbourne, CareSuper, BP, ANZIIF and New Relic.
She is a long-time advocate for women in leadership and a founding member of Fitted for Work’s giving circle.
Keynote enquiries: support@juliehyde.com.au
