Anne McKevitt is living proof that a person can succeed at any age, in any circumstances and at whatever level they aspire to.
At 15, Anne McKevitt had had enough of being surrounded by individuals with small dreams and living in basic government housing with a disruptive father in a small town in Scotland. So she dropped out of school without sitting any exams, eager to get to London to make a big impression in the world. With total belief in herself and no fear of failure, she knew she would make her mark and she has done exactly that.
Fast forward over two decades and that impact has been enormous, personally, in business and philanthropically. She now heads up 21 separate businesses (with 12 new businesses due to launch in 2006) all part of AMI Group Enterprises with offices in Sydney and London. In 2005 she sold one business which in the past three years delivered the design of 1600 products with a retail value of $975 million. Serial entrepreneurial in spirit and global in impact, Anne McKevitt has consistently been an industry leader.
By the time Anne was 23 she had already become renowned in the fashion world before moving on to a second successful career creating a multi-million pound interior design, construction and property development business. That achievement is impressive in and of itself, but Anne’s accomplishment is even more impressive in light of a very serious car accident she survived in 1986. Told that she may never walk again, she was totally bedridden for almost a year and didn’t speak for four months. Thanks to former clients Paul and Linda McCartney, who found and funded alternative treatments, Anne was literally back on her feet after a year and a half of recuperation and rehabilitation.
Anne McKevitt is viewed as one of the most powerful women in Britain where she resided until 2004. Accolades in recognition of her business acumen as CEO of AMI Group Enterprises have been acknowledged worldwide. She was honoured as one of the forty Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World 2002 sponsored by Harvard, recognised by The International Herald Tribune as a World Class Entrepreneur, named by Time Magazine in 2001 as one of Four International Business Leaders to Watch, placed at #30 in The Sunday Times 500 Most Powerful Britons and Forbes Magazine stated in 2003; “at the head of the pack …Anne McKevitt”. Nominated as Australian Business Woman of the Year 2005 after only one year of business in Australia.
Anne McKevitt has a unique approach to business; she is a dynamic and inspiring person who is totally involved in every business project AMI Group Enterprises undertakes. She is a leading authority on consumer lifestyle changes, competitiveness and diversity, both nationally and globally. She has advised and guided many multinationals world-wide, having fuelled new product initiatives and inside tracked new procedures,. They include; IKEA, Royal Doulton, Peugeot, Ernst & Young, Wal*Mart, Deloitte, Waterford Crystal, WorldCom, Freeman’s Mail Order, Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, Wedgwood, Marks & Spencer, Moet e Chandon, and Hewlett Packard. She is also a much sought after motivational speaker who moves an entire audience into action and as a host for big occasions, having performed live at events to audiences of 25,000 people.
In early 1994, with a personal client list that reads like a who’s who, Anne caught the attention of TV producers looking for Britains most sought after interior designer and host for a new lifestyle show. Listed here are the most significant names: Sultan of Brunei, Michael Caine, Naomi Campbell, Dyan Cannon, Catherine Deneuve, Faye Dunaway, Linda Evangelista, Sir Bob Geldof, Queen Of Greece, Duchess of Gloucester, Jerry Hall, Sir Elton John, Queen Noor of Jordan, Annie Lennox, Sophia Loren, Paul McCartney, Kate Moss, Joan Rivers, Anita Roddick, Queen of Spain, Ringo Starr, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Raquel Welch and Bill Wyman, as well as the late Paula Yates, George Harrison and Linda McCartney.
For the next decade from 1994, Anne was viewed by millions on her lifestyle television shows and through her books. She instigated a colour and contemporary style revolution that transformed the British nation’s homes and gardens through her books and eighteen series of lifestyle TV programmes which she presented and designed for on the BBC and ITV, including Home Front, Home Front in the Garden, Watchdog: Value for Money, Watchdog: On the House, Healthcheck, This Morning and GMTV and in syndicated series in another twenty countries worldwide. In the U.S. she appeared on HGTV, HSN, CBS, DISCOVERY and FOX networks. Anne has written five best-selling and critically acclaimed design books which are sold in sixteen countries. Her first book ‘Style on a Shoestring’ sold a staggering one million copies which broke new ground in this category of illustrated books, making it the 20th bestselling book of the 90’s in the UK. Her celebrity earning power is ranked higher than fellow Brits David Bowie, Ewan McGregor, Michael Caine and Kate Winslett. OK! Magazine positioned Anne jointly with Liz Hurley as a top celebrity.
Anne’s design work and projects have received numerous awards including; Best Home in Scotland - UK National Home Builder design awards sponsored by The Guardian newspaper. Best Home for the Future in the UK - UK National Home Builder design awards sponsored by The Guardian newspaper. Best Interior Layout - What House Awards sponsored by The Sunday Times newspaper. Civic Trust Award 2001 - Saltier Society. Housing Design Award 2000 - Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, Regeneration Achievement Award 2000 - Supreme Award - Charted Institute of Building Scotland, Good Building Award 2000 - Royal Town planning Institute Awards for Planning Achievement 2000. Commendation for Planning Urban Renaissance. WH Smith Literary Awards nominated Designer Know How for book of the year.
Her work has appeared in hundreds of magazine publications in the UK and internationally, and she has featured in thousands of newspaper articles around the world including; Vogue, Harpers & Queen, Elle, Hello, OK!, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, Home & Garden, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Living Etc, Forbes, Time, She, Ideal Home, Radio Times, TV Times, Your Garden, Company, Chief Executive, New York Times, The Sunday Times, The Times, Sun Herald, Vive, Cape Town Argus, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Post, New Yorker , San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, and USA Today to name a few…
At the height of her fame and success in 2002, Anne decided it was time to map out and move on to the next chapter of her life even though she was due to start into a lucrative new global TV deal. Having accomplished everything she set out to do within the medium of design, she felt that it was time to move away and concentrate fully on her other less public interests. These included multiple businesses, humanitarian work and education. Some have said it was a brave move, leaving behind her TV celebrity status and persona of “domestic design diva”. Instead Anne found it totally liberating to focus on her life as a serial and social entrepreneur. With 3 billion people on the planet existing on less than $2 a day, making poverty history through the medium of micro loans to the third world communities is Anne’s main humanitarian focus and as she says; “this is way more important than what colour someone should paint their bathroom!”
As well as her own charity projects, Anne has worked with micro finance charity Opportunity International Australia during 2005 & 2006. Anne is part of a think tank advisory board which particularly focuses on the organisation’s new Women’s Opportunity Fund (WOF). Anne now serves as an Ambassador of Influence for the Women’s Opportunity Fund. She was invited to Buckingham Palace by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne to work with Save the Children.
2005 also saw Anne take up her honorary position as Executive-in-Residence at Brisbane Graduate School of Business, Queensland University of Technology; an astounding achievement when you look back at the teenager who left home at 15 without sitting any exams. Brisbane Graduate School of Business is listed in the Financial Times Top 100 Business Schools. In her position as Executive-in-Residence she is involved in the business growth of the school as well as lecturing on Business, Marketing and Entrepreneurial skills. She also sits on their Advisory Committee. Anne also lectures in UK and other Australian universities; MBA students at Deakin University, Melbourne. Bond University on the Gold Coast, University of New South Wales and Victoria University of Technology have all requested that she be involved in future programs during 2006. Anne has twice been nominated to sit on the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University John F Kennedy School of Government. She is currently writing a series of business books.
Who would have thought that the teenager who started out shampooing the rich and famous would have such an amazing life journey. Personally trained by the legendary hair guru John Frieda, she quickly became an accomplished editorial hair stylist working her way to the very top of the fashion world. It was on the sets of photo shoots with magazines like British Vogue and Harpers & Queen that she faced the challenge of making less-than-perfect models look fabulous in a matter of minutes.
Then Anne’s own life was changed forever when a near fatal car accident left her crippled with spinal damage. After lying flat on her back for almost a year in a totally white room, not knowing whether she’d ever walk again, clients Paul and Linda McCartney intervened and sought out alternative treatments for Anne. The result of these treatments led to Anne gradually regaining her mobility and eventually rebuilding her life.
Knowing she couldn’t physically return to the world of fashion, Anne sought another creative outlet. This was interrupted in 1998 by a chance introduction when she met her future husband. Knowing he was ‘the one’, they married 10 days after that first meeting and are about to celebrate their eighteenth wedding anniversary. Newly wed Anne bought her first apartment which she renovated on a shoestring budget. Once the remodelling was complete it quickly caused a stir and soon the editor of British Vogue Alexandra Shulman, supermodel Kate Moss and soul singer Jay Kay from Jamiroquai were all trying to purchase it. This led Anne down the unexpected path of becoming one of the most celebrated designers whose flair and panache are totally self-taught. So diverse is her talent that she has worked on individual projects with budgets ranging from $100 to $75 million.
Anne’s life has now played out full circle and she lists three life altering moments; the things that define the focus of her life today. From her early teenage years as a renowned fashion hairstylist she was witness to and experienced three extraordinary experiences. The first was her near fatal car accident, where a year of her life was taken away. The second was a shared moment with a member of the Royal Family while in Kensington Palace fitting a diamond encrusted tiara, surrounded by Royal wealth and power with footage of starving children in Africa on TV. It felt so injust. The third was over several months. As a thrice a week regular to Bob Geldof’s house during 1984, Anne personally saw one single-minded, dishevelled Rock star, from his sitting room floor, challenge and effect change that the establishment chose to ignore: the starving in Africa. From these efforts, Anne witnessed first hand, the Band-Aid and Live-Aid phenomena that rocked the world’s collective conscience.
As part of Anne’s personal refocus in 2002, she decided that it was time to live her dream of ten years and became a resident of Australia. Granted a ‘Distinguished Talent’ visa by the Australian Government, Anne moved permanently to Sydney in 2004.
She quickly immersed herself in the Aussie way of life and community. She is a committed moral vegetarian of thirty-two years and has learnt to balance her hectic work life with leisure activities including a range of hobbies and recreational pursuits. Taking advantage of her new home in Sydney Australia, she enjoys swimming and being outdoors and is learning to surf and sail. Anne is also an avid photographer: Her work has appeared in magazines, newspapers and a book, and she will be exhibiting pieces of her portfolio in the near future. More recently she has got back to creating paintings too.
MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKING
Give your workforce the kick in the ass it needs? Not what you were expecting? Well that’s what Anne McKevitt ’s motivational speaking tell-it-like-it-really-is approach is about. A highly sought after, dynamic and compelling speaker, Anne connects directly with people, inspiring and energising them to greater things. Anne McKevitt ’s high level of enthusiasm, unconventional approach, openness to share personal experiences, down to earth-ness and humour combine to create a productive rapport with the audience. As one client said so pertinently “Anne may not tell you what you want to hear, but she’ll sure as hell tell you what you need to hear !”
Be inspired, improve moral, motivate your team, celebrate success, inspire performance, introduce a new initiative, turn things around, move to the next level of success. Anne McKevitt works with small and large companies and organisations and has addressed audiences up to 25,000.
SPEAKING TOPICS
LEADERSHIP
CEO Anne McKevitt's dynamic leadership presentation, uses her personal experiences to share with audiences the three essential elements that capture her vision of leadership; Collaboration, Capability and Character. As a high-profile CEO with over two decades of business and corporate experience, she knows that leadership is much more than your title, the size of your organisation, budget or salary. It requires unlocking the potential in each person within the organisation, instilling clear direction and a strong sense of purpose, and a willingness to take risks and stand alone, if necessary. Anne McKevitt shares personal stories of leadership that demonstrate that anyone can lead from anyplace at anytime and that - first and foremost - leadership is a choice.
INNOVATION
Innovation is an undisputed catalyst for company growth. Yet corporate innovation is notoriously difficult if it is not to languish in the limbo of reports and studies. The finest idea will not get implemented unless there is an organisational framework for shepherding it from concept to reality. Anne McKevitt has continually used the power of creating and deploying new ways of performing fundamental business processes as the springboard to success for leading companies. Virtually every industry has many firms that have failed at their efforts to make innovation work. What is the secret to success? Most companies set too narrow a scope for their innovation efforts and thus can make only incremental improvements. Major results demand change to many parts of an organisation; but since each part of the organisation-and its manager-has its own agenda, goals, and metrics, efforts to make major changes typically run aground on the shoals of inertia and resistance. Anne shares her experiences on corporate innovation and breaking down resistance barriers.
CHANGE
Adapt or die: the universal law of nature for the evolution of our species. This law applies equally to today's businesses who must be able and willing to adapt and change expediently as circumstances change and new information comes to light. Those who don't or can't, won't survive, they will become extinct. Every individual and organisation that strives to be successful must learn how to absorb change, grasp change, manage change, prosper on change and master change as a way of life and for survival. Successful change for organisations requires a holistic framework. Anne McKevitt shares with audiences her successful blueprint for commanding change. In this informative presentation, Anne outlines her seven stage program for managing change; Strategy, Structure, Process, Rewards, Metrics, Culture and Behaviour, giving audiences a comprehensive blueprint for adapting for success.
TRENDS
The relationship between corporate strategy and global trends are often left to individual managers to interpret and address as a matter of individual choice. Yet it is more and more apparent however that treating overall corporate strategy as separate and distinct from outside global trends is unwise, never more so than today. Not seeing corporate strategy aligned with global trend awareness leads to missed opportunities and bad competitive choices. Anne McKevitt examines and shares her insights for forward-thinking analysis of global marketing and consumer trends with hands-on examples of new business ideas that will be making an impact in the near future. She focuses on consumer insights and behavioural trends, and the hands-on marketing/business opportunities they present.
COMPETITIVENESS
All around the world companies know that their success depends on remaining competitive in the global market. Individual nations and state regions must think about competition as well, particularly in terms of infrastructure, investment and innovation. Nation's must earn their position in the global marketplace - nothing is pre-ordained; they must constantly compete against an ever changing environment of global competition. Anne McKevitt understands the impact that the new global economy has on markets and while the fundamentals of leadership are universal, nations and companies must also be aware that in other cultures the emphasis and structures may be different to what they are familiar with. She shares with audiences her views on global competitiveness and the strategies and philosophies that businesses and nations must employ in order to be competitive in the global marketplace.
DIVERSITY/WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
Diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace is where it's at - and it pays dividends. The best and most successful decisions and outcomes are the result of a divergence of perspectives and thought processes. Like-minded individuals who look alike will think alike and something vital will be missed. Diversity breeds success. As one of the most prominent, high-profile female CEOs Anne McKevitt draws on her own experiences, sharing with audiences the benefits of diversity in the workplace.
TECHNOLOGY
Technology has given mankind a medium through which individuals, organisations and nations can unleash their potential, aiding economic development and making organisations more effective in managing and disseminating information. Those going in search of new technology must understand that it should be used wisely, not invested in foolishly. Anne McKevitt prepares decision-makers to ask the tough questions when investing in a new system or tool: don't invest in new technology just for the sake of it. What do you want to achieve with this tool? Will the new technology get you there? How will this impact on your people? Will they require re-training and are they amenable to the introduction of new technology? Anne McKevitt helps you better understand what's really at stake.
KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS
All keynote presentations given by Anne McKevitt are customised to meet your organisation’s needs and to fit in with a given time frame.
Riding the Waves of Change
Now is the time to develop new ways of thinking and dispense with old traditional thought patterns. Are you likely to benefit or fall victim to this inevitable trend? Examined are the issues at hand and formulas for accomplishing change.
Attracting & Retaining World Class Talent
If you can’t attract the best people to your organisation you’re also probably not going to retain the talent you already have. Seen by many as the #1 issue for organisations of the 21st Century. Explored are the main quandaries to deal with and how to address these.
Out-of–the-Box Thinking
Innovate or perish, that’s the message facing any organisation today. You already know this but what are you actually doing about it? Success in the long run needs an applied creative organisational climate. Generated are ideas on how to brainstorm, inspire new product or services, view PR, marketing and merchandising methods.
Empowered Teams
Who actually feels a part of an empowered team? The answer is very few. This is not a management fad dreamed up as a label but a reality of what you can have, if you give your teams the right tools. The participants will breakthrough barriers, becoming winning empowered teams.
Emotional, Social, Cultural, Political Intelligence
It takes more than business know how to run business. Understanding the way people react to various outside forces can impact greatly on many core decisions. Thankfully softer skills are now being acknowledge and encouraged. Your people can learn to embrace harmonising, listening, persuasion and contribute positive attitude.
Centres of Excellence
When your corporation, organisation or business isn’t performing at it’s peak, it’s time to examine well worn beliefs, practices, assumptions and identify those that have outlived their usefulness. We set out guidelines for creating an environment in which your people are more open to ideas, eager to recognize their need to overcome resistance to change and willing to take action needed to create a centre of excellence in whatever they are doing.
Customers as Fans
The challenge today for every organisation is to transform customers into fans, singing it’s praises and acting as it’s marketing team. With this simple, easy to achieve blueprint there are guidelines to deal with your customers so they keep coming back time and time again to invest their precious dollars.
On your Marks, Get that Goal
Today in our ever fast world we even find our goals can become obsolete after a short period of time. Continual mini-goal setting is the way forward to achieve overall end goals. That way you can determine where you’re going and have room for adjustment every step of the way.
Rethink for Success
Discover why organisations and individuals find it so hard to rethink for success by avoiding the challenge. A rethink or reframing can bring enormous and inspired successes. We look at examples of where this has worked, the successful role models of new era thinking and the generation of energy, drive and leadership to see the transition through.
Stress? What Stress?
It’s one thing to thrive on stress, it’s another thing when the stress gets so bad your people can’t function properly. The critical difference between positive and negative stress lies in perception: how someone deals with potentially stressful situations. Simple effective coping strategies are shared, for better overall stress management.
WORKSHOPS
¨ Executive Success Workshops
¨ Women: How to Shatter The Glass Ceiling workshops
¨ Power Phone Success Workshops
¨ Strategic Innovation & Creative Thinking Workshops
¨ Customer Services Workshops
¨ Corporate Entrepreneur Workshops
¨ Business Success Workshops
¨ E-Business Success Workshops
¨ Leadership & Strategic Management Workshops
CLIENT FEEDBACK
“If you want your people to be spellbound for an hour and not want the speaker to stop, then get Anne McKevitt to talk to your corporation - fast.”
“Anne’s structured and detailed approach to turning business opportunity into reality, combined with her remarkable insights into retail consumer patterns are invaluable.”
“Anne McKevitt brought immeasurable value to our corporation meeting, tailoring the message to effectively fit the business.
“Anne has vast experience in business, she completely captivated our marketing professionals.”
“I highly recommend Anne McKevitt . Our association walked away knowing that the return on our investment was well worth it. The talk was a complete crash course in how we need to operate in today’s marketplace.”
“Anne’s structured and detailed approach to turning a business opportunity into reality, combined with her remarkable insights into retail consumer buying patterns are invaluable. Our ceramic companies benefited tremendously from her market knowledge and will be able to use her insights to further develop competitive advantage in the industry”.
“We’ve been coached and consulted by the best in the business, Anne McKevitt.”
“Anne McKevitt helped us turn a very bad corner in our corporation’s history. Anne identified a clear new path and direction we could take on that very first session. She then informed us how to implement it over further sessions.”
“How refreshing it was for our women to hear from another woman that the glass ceiling doesn’t need to exist if you shatter it.”
“You don’t get much more informed or switched on than Anne McKevitt . She looks at how corporations run from a different and totally refreshing view point. She helped us to implement new successful systems and procedures.”
“Anne has been wholly instrumental in letting me see how I could turn my business around.”
“Our department was a nightmare. With the Anne we all began to see and feel the difference to our personalities and our productivity in a short time.”
“Anne let me see what was most important in my business. Suddenly I realised I couldn’t do it all on my own.”
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