There’s a question I am often asked, both in media interviews and in quiet conversations after I step off a stage. It’s a question that invites reflection, and it is a powerful one: "Naomi, what would you tell your younger self?" (A lot - as it turns out).
It’s a question that can’t be answered in a single soundbite. As I reflect in the video above, my initial response was to start writing, and what began as a short post for my LinkedIn community quickly spiralled into thousands of words. A friend, a publisher, saw this outpouring and said, "Naomi, I think there’s a book in that." And she was right. That exploration became my first book, Live What You Love. Which I share with varied and diverse audiences in my keynote which touches on the difference between passion and purpose - the need for persistence and positivity.
But over the years, I've realised that this question is not just one of personal reflection. It is one of the most critical strategic questions any business leader or aspiring entrepreneur can ask. It gets to the very heart of what drives us, what sustains us through the inevitable challenges, and what ultimately defines our success.
The philosophy that emerged from that process of writing has become the cornerstone of my most personal and most frequently requested keynote speech. It is a message I have had the immense privilege of sharing with thousands of people across Australia and the world.
Today, I want to take you behind the curtain. I want to give you more than just a review of a keynote. I want to share with you the deep, foundational thinking behind it. This is not just about a speech; it is about a strategic framework for building a business and a life that are not just profitable, but profoundly fulfilling. This is the playbook for moving from personal passion to a powerful, scalable purpose.
The Problem This Keynote Was Built to Solve
Before we dive into the 'how', we must understand the 'why'. Why does this message resonate so deeply with so many people? Because it addresses a silent epidemic in the modern workplace: the great disconnect.
So many of us are living a life of quiet desperation. We are competent, we are professional, we are "successful" by traditional metrics. But we feel a profound disconnect between who we are and what we do for a living. We feel a lack of energy, a sense of going through the motions. We experience that all-too-familiar "Sunday night dread" as the weekend draws to a close.
This is not just a personal tragedy; it is a business catastrophe. A disengaged employee is an unproductive one. A leader without a passion for their work cannot inspire a team. A business without a soul cannot build a tribe of loyal customers.
The "Live What You Love" keynote was designed as the antidote to this disconnect. It is a strategic intervention designed to re-ignite the spark of passion in an organisation and to provide a practical framework for channeling that passion into a powerful, shared purpose. It is built on four simple, but profoundly powerful, pillars.
Pillar 1: The Spark - It All Begins with Passion
The first pillar is the foundational fuel of all great endeavours. It is Passion.
Passion is not a "soft" or "fluffy" concept. In the context of business, passion is energy. It is the raw, intrinsic motivation that gets you out of bed in the morning, excited to tackle the day's challenges. It is the quality that makes your work feel less like a job and more like a calling.
When I started RedBalloon in 2001, I didn't begin with a 50-page business plan or a complex financial model. I began with a simple, powerful, and deeply personal passion. I was a mother to two young children, and I was frustrated with the culture of "stuff." I believed, with every fibre of my being, that experiences were more valuable than possessions. That a shared memory was a far greater gift than another object destined for landfill.
That passion was my rocket fuel. It was the energy that propelled me through the terrifying early days of investing my last $25,000. It was the conviction that allowed me to endure the countless rejections from people who told me my idea would never work.
How this comes to life in the keynote:
The first part of the talk is a journey of rediscovery. I guide the audience through a practical framework to identify their own core, non-negotiable passions. We explore the activities that give them energy, the problems they are obsessed with solving, and the values that are most important to them. The goal is to help them see their passions not as mere hobbies to be enjoyed on the weekend, but as a powerful and legitimate source of value and energy that they can and should bring to their work every single day. For a leader, it's about understanding how to tap into the latent passions of their team members to create a more energised and engaged workplace.
Pillar 2: The Mindset - The Non-Negotiable Power of Positivity
The second pillar is the lens through which we view the world. It is Positivity.
Now, I understand that in our often-cynical Australian culture, "positivity" can be seen as a bit naive. But I am not talking about a blind, "Pollyanna" optimism that ignores reality. I am talking about realistic optimism. It is the conscious, strategic choice to see the world through a lens of opportunity, not a lens of limitation.
The founder's journey, and indeed any career of ambition, is a relentless rollercoaster. You will face setbacks. Your product launch will have bugs. Your biggest client will leave. A global pandemic might shut down your entire industry. These things are not a matter of "if," but "when."
Positivity is the mindset that allows you to look at these moments of adversity and see not a verdict on your worth, but a valuable data point. It is the mindset that asks not, "Why did this happen to me?" but, "What can I learn from this?"
On Shark Tank, this was one of the clearest indicators of a founder's potential. The founders who succeeded were not necessarily the ones with the most polished pitch. They were the ones who could take a direct, brutal critique of their business, and instead of getting defensive, they would listen with curiosity. You could see the gears turning in their mind as they processed the feedback, looking for the kernel of truth, the lesson, the opportunity to get better. That is the mindset of a winner.
How this comes to life in the keynote:
This section is about providing the audience with a practical toolkit for cultivating a resilient, optimistic mindset. We talk about the power of managing your inner critic, the science of gratitude, and the importance of curating your information diet. It's about teaching people how to choose their response in any given situation, and how to find the opportunity in every obstacle. This is not about ignoring the negative; it's about refusing to be defined by it.
Pillar 3: The Engine - The Unsexy but Essential Art of Persistence
The third pillar is what turns a passionate dream into a tangible reality. It is the unglamorous, often grueling, but absolutely essential quality of Persistence.
Our culture loves the myth of the overnight success. The truth is, there is no such thing. Every "overnight success" you have ever seen is the result of years, sometimes decades, of unseen, uncelebrated, relentless hard work.
When I look back on the journey of RedBalloon, the memories that stand out are not the big, glamorous award nights. They are the thousands of small, persistent actions that made those nights possible. The late nights spent personally answering customer emails. The weekends spent trying to fix a website that had crashed. The hundreds of cold calls to potential experience providers who had never heard of the internet, let alone e-commerce.
Success is not a single, heroic leap. It is the cumulative result of a thousand small, courageous steps, taken day after day, especially on the days you don't feel like it.
How this comes to life in the keynote:
This is the part of the talk that is a powerful reality check. I debunk the myth of overnight success with real, raw, and often humorous stories from my own journey. I share the failures, the "I wanted to quit" moments, and the unsexy, repetitive work that is the true engine of growth. But I also frame persistence not as stubbornness, but as a dynamic quality of resilience. It's about staying passionately committed to your ultimate purpose while being endlessly flexible and adaptable in your plan.
Part 4: The Compass - The Great Leap from Passion to Purpose
This is the final, and most transformational, pillar. It is the great leap from Passion to Purpose. This is the key that unlocks not just personal success, but true leadership and lasting impact.
What is the difference?
- Passion is about "me." It's what lights me up. It's what gives me energy. It is a powerful, but ultimately internal, force.
- Purpose is about "we." It is the moment you take your personal passion and connect it to the service of others. It is the answer to the question, "How can my passion solve a problem or create value for a community?"
My passion was for experiences. But the purpose of RedBalloon became so much bigger. It was about changing the culture of gift-giving for an entire nation. It was about providing a platform to support thousands of other small, family-run Australian businesses. My personal passion was the spark, but this shared purpose was the great, roaring fire that attracted an incredible team and a loyal tribe of customers. It was no longer just my story; it was our story.
How this comes to life in the keynote:
This is the crescendo of the talk. It is where all the other pillars converge. I provide the audience with a clear, powerful framework for articulating their own purpose. We work through a process of connecting their individual passions and skills to a larger, shared mission, whether that's the mission of their team, their company, or their community.
For leaders in the room, this is the key to unlocking a new level of engagement. When you can help your team members connect their personal passions to the company's purpose, their work is no longer a job. It becomes a calling.
It's a Message, a Keynote, and a Way of Being
The "Live What You Love" keynote is more than just a speech. It is a philosophy. It is an operating system for a new way of working and living. It is a message I have had the privilege of crafting and refining on hundreds of stages, in partnership with some of Australia's most forward-thinking organisations.
It is a message built on the solid foundations of real-world experience, delivered with an infectious and authentic energy, and designed not just to inspire for an hour, but to provide a practical, actionable playbook that can be implemented the very next day.
In a world that is crying out for more meaning, more connection, and more humanity in the workplace, the principles of "Live What You Love" have never been more relevant or more necessary. It is a call to action for each of us to stop living a life of disconnect, and to have the courage to build a career that is a true and vibrant expression of who we are.
