Ray Good

With a career that has reinvented itself across three remarkably different chapters, Ray Good brings a rare blend of entrepreneurial insight, creative flair and deep understanding of keynote speaking to his role at ICMI – because, he is a highly successful keynote speaker himself!

From his early days as a world-ranked DJ, to founding a successful restaurant chain, and now leading The Good Place as one of Australia’s foremost workplace mental fitness experts, Ray knows what it takes to engage, perform, and thrive under pressure. His work today draws on modern neuroscience, mindfulness and positive psychology to help organisations build resilient, high-performing teams. That depth of understanding makes him uniquely skilled at connecting clients to speakers, and understanding the intricacy of events,

What is your greatest professional achievement?

I’ve always been an entrepreneur, and I’ve had to reinvent myself multiple times. So, my greatest professional achievement is creating a career that has evolved through three very different chapters, each one building the skills, resilience and perspective I bring to my work today as a speaker and consultant.

I started in the music industry as a promoter and DJ, putting on events for up to 15,000 people, opening my own record store and label, and travelling the world to play at raves and clubs in Berlin, London, and Tokyo. I made it into the world’s Top 100 DJs in the early 90s under the name “Sugar Ray.”

From there, I hung up the headphones and followed my passion for food, founding and building Hooked, a chain of healthy fast-casual seafood restaurants that I ran for a decade.

My third chapter, and the work I’m most proud of, came after returning to Monash University to study mindfulness. I founded The Good Place, where I now help many of Australia’s largest organisations look after their team’s wellbeing, resilience, and performance using science-backed tools.

Working so closely with leadership teams across industries has given me a deep understanding of what moves people and what messages land, which makes me uniquely placed at ICMI to connect organisations with the speakers and entertainers who will truly engage their audiences.

What I love about being a part of the ICMI team

Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely journey, so it’s exciting to be part of the ICMI/Launchd family!  I love being surrounded by such an inspiring roster of speakers, thinkers, and leaders who are genuinely making a difference and connecting powerful ideas with the audiences who need to hear them.

What I like to do on weekends

We live in Mt Martha on the Mornington Peninsula, so weekends are for country and beach walks, cold swims, cooking, gardening, catching up with family, building a fire, listening to music, and slowly renovating our 1970s home, a never-ending battle and passion project!