Shelley Walters
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Category:
Speaker
Location:
South Africa
Preferred Language:
English
Tags:
Branding,Businesswoman,Communication,Customer Service,Digital,Digital disruption in business,Entrepreneur,Facilitator,Innovation,Leadership,Marketing
Profile:
Guest Speaker Shelley Walters is the CEO and Founder of The Sales Counsel, a South African sales consultancy that equips sales leaders to grow revenue through practical sales leadership, commercial strategy, and execution discipline. Shelley is known for bringing equal parts credibility and candour to the room, the kind that makes high performers sit up a little straighter, then leave with tools they can actually use.
Since founding the business in 2016, Shelley has grown The Sales Counsel through sustained double digit year on year growth over nearly a decade. She did it the hard way and the honest way: organically, without external funding, without family capital, and while competing against significantly larger incumbents with far greater resources. Her story resonates with entrepreneurs because it is not theoretical. It is built in the arena, over time, under real pressure.
Shelley’s journey has never been neat, and that is precisely why it lands so powerfully with senior women carrying real responsibility. Abandoned by her parents and forced to fend for herself as a teenager, she left school early with no qualifications and no safety net, then worked her way up from entry level sales into leadership and ultimately entrepreneurship. In the early years of building her company, she navigated an abusive romantic relationship while keeping the business moving forward, and she faced complex shareholder dynamics that she has since resolved through buyouts. In 2023, Shelley underwent treatment for cervical cancer, an experience that deepened her resolve and sharpened her thinking around endurance, decision making, and what it takes to keep building when life is not cooperating.
Professionally, Shelley is one of Africa’s most sought-after keynote speakers. She is an inductee of the Professional Speakers Association of South Africa’s Educator Hall of Fame, and in 2019 she became the first recipient of the PwC Gender Mainstreaming Award for Inclusivity in the Entrepreneur category. Shelley is also deeply faith-rooted and speaks with grounded hope, without gloss, and without turning adversity into identity.
Since founding the business in 2016, Shelley has grown The Sales Counsel through sustained double digit year on year growth over nearly a decade. She did it the hard way and the honest way: organically, without external funding, without family capital, and while competing against significantly larger incumbents with far greater resources. Her story resonates with entrepreneurs because it is not theoretical. It is built in the arena, over time, under real pressure.
Shelley’s journey has never been neat, and that is precisely why it lands so powerfully with senior women carrying real responsibility. Abandoned by her parents and forced to fend for herself as a teenager, she left school early with no qualifications and no safety net, then worked her way up from entry level sales into leadership and ultimately entrepreneurship. In the early years of building her company, she navigated an abusive romantic relationship while keeping the business moving forward, and she faced complex shareholder dynamics that she has since resolved through buyouts. In 2023, Shelley underwent treatment for cervical cancer, an experience that deepened her resolve and sharpened her thinking around endurance, decision making, and what it takes to keep building when life is not cooperating.
Professionally, Shelley is one of Africa’s most sought-after keynote speakers. She is an inductee of the Professional Speakers Association of South Africa’s Educator Hall of Fame, and in 2019 she became the first recipient of the PwC Gender Mainstreaming Award for Inclusivity in the Entrepreneur category. Shelley is also deeply faith-rooted and speaks with grounded hope, without gloss, and without turning adversity into identity.
Guest Speaker Shelley Walters is the CEO and Founder of The Sales Counsel, a South African sales consultancy that equips sales leaders to grow revenue through practical sales leadership, commercial strategy, and execution discipline. Shelley is known for bringing equal parts credibility and candour to the room, the kind that makes high performers sit up a little straighter, then leave with tools they can actually use.
Since founding the business in 2016, Shelley has grown The Sale
Since founding the business in 2016, Shelley has grown The Sale
Synopsis:
PRESENTATIONS by SHELLEY WALTERS
Hard Things, High Stakes: What it Takes to Grow
In business, “high stakes” is not a metaphor. Your income is on the line. Often other people’s income is too. Your reputation, your market credibility, your future opportunities, and the decisions you will live with long after the moment has passed all sit on the table at once.
In this hard-hitting keynote, Shelley Walters shares what it truly takes to build and sustain growth when conditions are not ideal, support is limited, and the competition is better resourced. Grounded in nearly a decade of sustained double-digit year on year growth built organically, Shelley unpacks the leadership disciplines behind momentum: focus, decision discipline, boundaries, and the inner standards required to keep building when life is not cooperating.
This is not a trauma-led talk. Personal hardship is included only where it sharpens the leadership lesson, because the purpose is practical: to leave a room of high calibre women with language, courage, and tools for the real world of running a business when the stakes are high.
Audience takeaways:
• How to protect momentum when pressure is high and capacity is stretched
• The leadership decisions that stabilise growth in uncertain seasons
• How to use constraint and competitive disadvantage as a strategic advantage
• Practical disciplines for focus, boundaries, and clean decision making
• What is resilience is and how to recover from significant setbacks
• How to identify burnout and what remedial action to take
• The power and importance of community and how to leverage yours
The Future of Sales
Why Ignoring Trends Will Cost You Customers and Revenue
This keynote explores the evolving landscape of sales and the increasing role that technology plays in shaping customer expectations. Shelley Walters unpacks how buyers are redefining the value of sellers in a rapidly changing, digitally enabled marketplace and examines the rise of virtual buying. The content provides practical insight into how sales teams can leverage digital channels, AI, and data to remain competitive. As selling continues to shift from experience-driven approaches to data-driven strategy, this session equips audiences with frameworks and tools to adapt, innovate, and maintain relevance in the future of sales.
Boosting B2B Sales Success
The Power of Artful Persuasion Backed by Neuroscience
In this keynote, Shelley Walters examines the neuroscience behind persuasion and how the brain processes information during buying decisions. The session reveals how sales professionals can craft more impactful pitches by tapping into the emotional and cognitive triggers that influence decision-making. Through practical examples and research-backed insights, Shelley illustrates how to overcome objections, build connection, and influence with intention. This topic is suited to sales professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of human behaviour and strengthen their persuasive communication skills.
Unlocking Your Competitive Advantage
Contemporary Productivity Best Practices in the Age of AI
This keynote focuses on productivity strategies specifically tailored for salespeople working in a fast-paced, distraction-heavy, digitally driven world. Shelley draws on current research about focus, cognitive load, and workflow design to show how sales professionals can optimise their day, sustain attention, and prioritise what matters most. The session provides actionable tactics for managing technology, structuring time, and improving execution. It is designed to help individuals build habits and systems that support performance and consistency in an era of constant digital disruption.
Maximising Sales Performance
Uncovering the Overlooked Drivers That Cost Companies Revenue
In this session, Shelley explores the often-missed human and cultural elements that underpin sustainable sales performance. Rather than focusing solely on numbers, she highlights the deeper drivers of team confidence, motivation, accountability, and long-term growth. This keynote provides leaders with insights into building healthy, high-performing sales cultures and understanding the behavioural factors that influence results. It is aimed at sales managers and executives who want to strengthen leadership impact and elevate team performance through more holistic management practices.
Hard Things, High Stakes: What it Takes to Grow
In business, “high stakes” is not a metaphor. Your income is on the line. Often other people’s income is too. Your reputation, your market credibility, your future opportunities, and the decisions you will live with long after the moment has passed all sit on the table at once.
In this hard-hitting keynote, Shelley Walters shares what it truly takes to build and sustain growth when conditions are not ideal, support is limited, and the competition is better resourced. Grounded in nearly a decade of sustained double-digit year on year growth built organically, Shelley unpacks the leadership disciplines behind momentum: focus, decision discipline, boundaries, and the inner standards required to keep building when life is not cooperating.
This is not a trauma-led talk. Personal hardship is included only where it sharpens the leadership lesson, because the purpose is practical: to leave a room of high calibre women with language, courage, and tools for the real world of running a business when the stakes are high.
Audience takeaways:
• How to protect momentum when pressure is high and capacity is stretched
• The leadership decisions that stabilise growth in uncertain seasons
• How to use constraint and competitive disadvantage as a strategic advantage
• Practical disciplines for focus, boundaries, and clean decision making
• What is resilience is and how to recover from significant setbacks
• How to identify burnout and what remedial action to take
• The power and importance of community and how to leverage yours
The Future of Sales
Why Ignoring Trends Will Cost You Customers and Revenue
This keynote explores the evolving landscape of sales and the increasing role that technology plays in shaping customer expectations. Shelley Walters unpacks how buyers are redefining the value of sellers in a rapidly changing, digitally enabled marketplace and examines the rise of virtual buying. The content provides practical insight into how sales teams can leverage digital channels, AI, and data to remain competitive. As selling continues to shift from experience-driven approaches to data-driven strategy, this session equips audiences with frameworks and tools to adapt, innovate, and maintain relevance in the future of sales.
Boosting B2B Sales Success
The Power of Artful Persuasion Backed by Neuroscience
In this keynote, Shelley Walters examines the neuroscience behind persuasion and how the brain processes information during buying decisions. The session reveals how sales professionals can craft more impactful pitches by tapping into the emotional and cognitive triggers that influence decision-making. Through practical examples and research-backed insights, Shelley illustrates how to overcome objections, build connection, and influence with intention. This topic is suited to sales professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of human behaviour and strengthen their persuasive communication skills.
Unlocking Your Competitive Advantage
Contemporary Productivity Best Practices in the Age of AI
This keynote focuses on productivity strategies specifically tailored for salespeople working in a fast-paced, distraction-heavy, digitally driven world. Shelley draws on current research about focus, cognitive load, and workflow design to show how sales professionals can optimise their day, sustain attention, and prioritise what matters most. The session provides actionable tactics for managing technology, structuring time, and improving execution. It is designed to help individuals build habits and systems that support performance and consistency in an era of constant digital disruption.
Maximising Sales Performance
Uncovering the Overlooked Drivers That Cost Companies Revenue
In this session, Shelley explores the often-missed human and cultural elements that underpin sustainable sales performance. Rather than focusing solely on numbers, she highlights the deeper drivers of team confidence, motivation, accountability, and long-term growth. This keynote provides leaders with insights into building healthy, high-performing sales cultures and understanding the behavioural factors that influence results. It is aimed at sales managers and executives who want to strengthen leadership impact and elevate team performance through more holistic management practices.
PRESENTATIONS by SHELLEY WALTERS
Hard Things, High Stakes: What it Takes to Grow
In business, “high stakes” is not a metaphor. Your in
Hard Things, High Stakes: What it Takes to Grow
In business, “high stakes” is not a metaphor. Your in
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