“When people feel confident and valued, they transform, and so do the businesses they lead.”
Colleen Callander is a highly respected leader, advisor, author, and former CEO who has dedicated more than 30 years to shaping Australia’s retail fashion industry.
Colleen spent over a decade at the helm of two beloved Australian brands, Sportsgirl and Sussan, where she became known for her clear vision, strategic leadership, and ability to build strong, people-focused cultures. Her approach to leadership — grounded in purpose, courage, confidence, and kindness — earned her recognition as an award-winning CEO and a trusted voice in the business community.
Today, Colleen is a sought-after business and leadership advisor, keynote speaker, and the founder of Mentor Me Women, a program designed to elevate and empower women to step into their full potential. She is also the bestselling author of Leader By Design and Elevate, with her third book, The Power of Confidence, continuing her mission to inspire confident, values-led living and leadership.
Colleen’s story began long before her executive roles — at just 16, working a summer job that sparked her passion for retail. Her career has been shaped not only by remarkable achievements but also by the challenges she has navigated along the way. In 2007, Colleen experienced burnout while balancing a demanding leadership role and raising three young children. Her comeback from burnout became a defining chapter in her life. It led her to embrace healthier boundaries, strengthen her wellbeing practices, and rethink what sustainable high performance truly looks like.
This experience now fuels much of her work. Colleen teaches leaders how to build confidence from within, create supportive and high-performing environments, and lead with authenticity and humanity. Her message is simple yet powerful: confidence, clarity, and kindness change the way we live and lead.
Colleen continues to inspire individuals and organisations around the world to rewrite their stories, unlock their potential, and lead with impact.
Talking Points
The Power of Confidence
Confidence is not something we’re born with — it’s something we build. In this powerful and uplifting keynote, Colleen Callander shows audiences how confidence becomes the foundation for how we live, lead, and show up in the world. Drawing on over 30 years of leadership experience and her own personal journey, including her comeback from burnout, Colleen shares practical tools, mindset shifts, and daily rituals that help individuals unlock authentic confidence from within.The Power of Confidence
This keynote explores the behaviours that strengthen confidence, the stories that hold us back, and the simple yet transformative actions that create lasting change. Colleen empowers audiences to rewrite their narrative, step into their strengths, and lead with clarity, courage, and conviction — both in business and in life.
Audience Takeaways:
• How to build confidence from the inside out
• Tools to overcome self-doubt and reframe limiting beliefs
• The role of values, purpose, and self-leadership in confidence
• How confidence impacts decision-making, leadership, and performance
• Practical strategies to step into your power and elevate your impact
Inspiring, relatable, and deeply human, The Power of Confidence leaves audiences motivated to rise, take action, and lead their lives with greater courage, clarity, and belief in what’s possible.
Leader by Design
Leadership is something that Colleen is extremely passionate about¦not only her own leadership but the leadership of those around her.Leader by Design
When Colleen talks about leadership, she is talking about leading not only in business but also leading in your own life, whether that be in your community, school, workplace or even your home. Leadership starts with self...we need to be leading in our own lives before we can lead anyone else.
When Colleen gets asked about leadership, she always starts with what leadership is not; it's not about a title, power, level of authority, size of your office, car park, the number of direct reports you have or the size of your salary. We often look up to and admire people with titles, ranks and positions of power, labelling them leaders.
What Colleen learnt over time in both life and business is that these trappings do not automatically qualify a person for leadership. And in fact, you don't even need a title to be a leader. Every day we can lead through every action, interaction, reaction and decision we make in business and in life.
We all can become a Leader By Design; we all can become the leader we always wanted to be, and the leader we always wanted to follow.
Change Your Story, Change Your Life
One of the biggest challenges women face today is a lack of confidence. Lack of confidence is the reason we stay in jobs we don't like, or stay in toxic relationships, or the reason we don't ask for that promotion or pay rise.Change Your Story, Change Your Life
We need to start building real confidence so that we put our hand up for that promotion, walk into a boardroom and kill it with confidence and have a voice.
There are so many things we can do to build real confidence, one of them is to change that negative self-talk. When you...Change your story, change your life!
We have this inner voice inside our head that is highly judgmental and says things to us like: I'm not good enough, I'm going to fail, I'm underprepared, I don't fit in, I'm too young, I'm too old. These stories can leave us feeling stuck, deflated and sometimes even sabotage our success.
We need to interrupt this story from self-sabotage and start taking control, and create a more empowering story that helps us feel confident to take action.
People Before Profit
We live in a profit-driven world, sales, margins, market share, shareholder return and revenue are all critical performance measures, with profit being essential for organisations to reinvest, innovate and grow.People Before Profit
However, an area that is often overlooked is one that you're not going to find on a spreadsheet¦: people! Leaders need to create environments where people feel connected, where their work matters, where they can contribute and feel part of something greater than the seat they sit in and the role they perform. In Colleen's experience, when people feel valued, trusted and empowered, they will also feel engaged and motivated.
Colleen believes people with passion and purpose = profit.
Foundation of Great Leadership
Great leadership is about leading people, but great leadership starts with oneself. You have to be leading in your own life before you can lead anyone else.Foundation of Great Leadership
The three foundations of great leadership are: self, values and purpose, no matter where you are on your leadership journey. Self-awareness and truly knowing yourself are when you are ready to lead others.
Values give us clarity with our decision-making and are not only an important part of who we are, but they also shape who we want to become. When we know our purpose, we move from what we do to why we do it, and why it matters!
When we are clear on our purpose, we can create a vision for what the future looks like, set the right goals and plans, and take the right steps to create the life that we want and the one we deserve.
Culture Starts at the Top
Many leaders will talk about their competitive advantage as being their strategy, their product offering, their processes, innovation or even their HR policies.Culture Starts at the Top
This can be true to some extent, but Colleen believes an organisation's biggest competitive advantage is its people and the culture and environment they create. As leaders, it is your job to create cultures and environments that allow people to shine. It's your job to create a culture of inspiration, empowerment, collaboration, and trust...and when you do, the organisation thrives.
We often mistake culture for things like free lunches, free parking or a free pass to the gym and don't get me wrong, these things are all great. Culture is also not something you can buy off the shelf, nor will a few affirmations or posters around the office do the trick.
There is no quick fix or magic pill to create a great culture. Culture is an always-on proposition...a positive, productive and empowering culture pays off in so many ways, not just the bottom line.
Kindness is Currency for Leaders
For many leaders, kindness isn't the first word that comes to mind when you think about great leadership, right? Well, Colleen is here to challenge that thought.Kindness is Currency for Leaders
Kindness is the new superpower for leaders. In fact, she believes kindness is a new form of currency, one you can trade for loyalty, commitment and high performance. Kind leaders are very capable of making good and strong business decisions, even tough decisions with kindness. When she talks about kindness, she is not just talking about leadership; she is talking about leading with kindness in all areas of our lives.
Kindness is not a weakness; kindness is courageous.
Colleen Callander is an inspiring keynote speaker who captivates her audience with her insightful and empowering messages. Her presence at the Brimbank breakfast was both motivational and en ... keep reading Brimbank City Council
Colleen is one of the most influential and dynamic forces in the Australian fashion industry. Her unique ability to lead, impact and remain relevant in one of the most competitive industries is truly remarkable. She has empowered and led thousands of women over her dynamic career and is a phenomenal role model all women can learn from.
Colleen's story is inspiring, her career is outstanding and she knows a thing or two about leadership. I took a leap of faith and made contact with her. What I found was a warm, interested woman who was curious about how she could best meet my needs. She was very keen to support my request to work with my leadership team at the primary school where I am Principal. We are currently participating in the Mentor Me program and my team and I are excited, motivated and ready to fly! Thanks Colleen for your down to earth and supportive approach. It is a privilege to work with you.
Colleen's Masterclass was engaging and thought-provoking. We left feeling inspired and ready to take action in business and in life. Colleen's energy and passion were contagious, creating an environment that encouraged active participation and deep reflection. We highly recommend Colleen to anyone seeking transformation and growth. Thank you, Colleen, for igniting the spark within us and equipping us with the tools to thrive.
Thank you Colleen for being so authentic and reminding us of the importance of self. Having experienced burnout in my career it was wonderful to get some practical advice on making sure I have appropriate and clear boundaries and other ways to strengthen my confidence muscle.
Colleen’s exceptional learnings and insights elevated our inaugural SILK Laser Australia Leadership Conference. Our delegates were inspired, empowered, and walked away with tangible actions to put into practice.
Colleen is a true leader for our times, generous and purpose driven. She is an inspiration to women to truly believe in themselves, to give hard stuff a go and to use their voice to strive for bigger things. She is kind and empathetic and leads with integrity and purpose.
The Power of Confidence is more than a book - it’s a reminder that believing in yourself is a practice, built over time. Colleen’s words inspire you to live with purpose, stay true to your values, and build the kind of confidence that shines from within.
Colleen Callander is an inspiring keynote speaker who captivates her audience with her insightful and empowering messages. Her presence at the Brimbank breakfast was both motivational and enlightening, leaving a lasting impact on everyone who attended. Colleen's ability to connect with her audience and share valuable leadership lessons is truly remarkable.
