Imagine, a 3.8km swim, a 180km cycle and running 42.2km in one day! The Ironman, the ultimate one day endurance race. Liezel did it - in style, within only 12 weeks . Her next goal was the Unlimited Dusi, the World's toughest canoe marathon. Prior to setting up this challenge she had no experience in canoe paddling. In 9 weeks, she not only learned how to handle a canoe, but also how to avoid naysayers and that niggling self-doubt. It's possible. She did it and overcame all the odds.  During her extreme sport journeys shediscovered the strength, often more mentally than physically, within herself, and how to unleash it.

Never Give Up

Set your goals, and work at it, each and every day.
Don't stop until it is done.

Liezel will help you find your inner strength and give practical and personal guidelines on how you can achieve your goals, be it mental or physical. 

When she's not in the water, or busy with Ironman, Liezel enjoys a bit of extreme mountain biking and road running. She is also an ambassador for charities, an MC for glamorous functions and a much sought after model on the catwalk.  She is also listed as one Mail & Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans.
 

 

Empower our women. Empower our nation.
 

Women can change the world! It's 2016 and we are still sadly lacking in fully empowering women. Gender bias and discrimination against women is rife. Globally and locally women still represents the smaller percentage in leadership positions. Perhaps key is to understand why it is important to empower women and that it's not simply empty rhetoric.

South Africa's own Ironlady Liezel van der Westhuizen's talk uncovers the importance of female empowerment in an informative and personal way. Having conquered many physical and mental feats, Liezel understands the underlying challenges facing women today.
 

The Face of Empowerment.

“Around the world 62 million girls are not in school. Globally, 1 in 3 women will experience gender-based violence in her lifetime.” Frightening stats from www.usaid.gov.

What holds women back? Glass ceilings imposed by the traditional workplace are not the only thing that holds women back. It is often self-imposed. An inferiority complex, family commitments and a fear of failure are leaders in this self-inflicted stagnation.

What can Women do to propel themselves and other Women Forward?

Taking the first steps to working your way out of external and internal prejudices, and take a female friend with you on this journey.

 

 

Beating the Bully

You know your own voice. You worked hard to get it and you know how to use it… until you meet The Office Bully at the dreaded Big Monday Meeting…
You've prepared your notes and your ideas are good, very good, but still your stomach is knotted up. The Office Bully loves to spread rumours and to humiliate you in front of your colleagues. Once the Office Bully sits down, you shrivel into a nodding, fake smile, coffee slurping mess, carefully checking your watch. The bullying does not end at the meeting. Back in the office the bully will stalk you, call you names and try to derail your work. It's finally home time. You sob uncontrollably in your car, desperate for a safe place.

In this talk, renowned speaker Liezel van der Westhuizen, will help you find your voice again, show you how to beat the bully and get the recognition and raise that you deserve. Employers will benefit too as bullying causes high staff turnover and low morale leading to lower quality work.

From school to office: The bully is not restricted to the schoolyard but also enjoys roaming the office corridors.
Busting the myth that all bullies grow up.
Where do they come from?

The making of the Office Bully

The Office Bully is a genius: it's all smoke and mirrors... from a great fake relationship with the boss, knowing the minimal amount to be done to get away with it and thriving on your pain. But inside the bully lives a very insecure person taking it out on you.

Recognise and prevent it.

How to spot the bully and remove yourself as target.
Finding your own confidence and getting your voice back.

It seems like extreme sports but if you really like the company and/or the cause you are working for, you must find a way to make it work.
Liezel will show you how to unleash your inner power and beat the bully!