Kyla Kirkpatrick

Biography

Kyla is more commonly known as The Champagne Dame.

She travels the world speaking about Champagne and has amassed a dedicated following of Champagne lovers with over 10,000 followers on Facebook.

But life was not always champagne for Kyla.

As a young girl she grew up in regional Victoria in a working class family who did not live the champagne lifestyle. She knew she was bright and wanted a life that her family couldn’t provide, so she studied hard. Achieving the highest tertiary entrance rank ever recorded at her school, Kyla then completed  a Commerce degree majoring in Economics and an Arts degree majoring in Mandarin Chinese (Kyla is fluent in Mandarin) at Melbourne University.

On finishing university, again DUX of her year, she was one of 3,000 applicants that was chosen for a role at the NASDAQ stock market in London. Kyla had no idea about fashion, cuisine or the real world. However, after she arrived in London she was very soon flying around Europe on a private jet with her boss who drank nothing but Champagne. A rapid learning curve of luxury began.

Kyla had returned from London and had continued her career in finance in Australia. But in 2005, Kyla read an article on Napoleon Bonaparte and fell in love with his story and his love affair with Champagne. She subsequently read every book she could find on Champagne and when she ran out of books she took a chance and wrote a letter to the author of her favourite book. To her surprise he wrote back to her and invited her to France to study with him.

Kyla ended her life as she knew it, buying a one way ticket to Paris. She arrived in Champagne, fell in love with the region and decided to stay. She divided her time between Paris, Champagne and the French Riviera where she had met a Saudi Arabian prince and had an incredibly life. After eight months in Champagne, she had the knock on the door by the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy empire. She was bought in for an interview and immediately recruited in Sydney as an ambassador for Krug, Dom Perignon, Moet, Clicquot and Ruinart. She has presented for many famous Australians from Kerry Packer to Elle McPherson.

Kyla will soon launch her new business ‘Emperor’ which will be the largest online Champagne portal and sale platform in Australia.

Topics

• Inspirational Leadership
  • Having the courage to take risks in life and reap the reward. Carve out your own way.
• Get Niched
  • Gone are the days of a succeeding as a generalist. People want to deal with an expert. Its time to niche your way into serious success. Kyla talks through the power of being niche and how to be known as an expert in your field taking a leaf out of her book being a renowned specialist in Champagne.
• Personally Plus
  • Put the humanity back into your corporate community. We all know about B to B and B to C business but to succeed in the market today you need to embody the concept of H to H – ‘Human to Human’. People buy from people they like, and they continue to buy from people they like. People want to deal with a person not a corporation. Learn how to change the tone, positioning and language of your business to be more human and break down the walls of ‘them and us’.
• Madames and Maisons
  • Learn the how the Champagne industry was influenced by some of the strongest women in history. It is said that no other industry was as impacted by women like the Champagne Industry was. We still have the Veuve Clicquot business woman’s awards globally each year to recognise strong women in business. A glimpse into yester year and the strong women of Champagne’s past and how they compare to women of today.
• The Art of Etiquette
  • Excellent etiquette in your professional and personal life sets you apart from everyone else. Lack of it can mean the difference between establishing rapport with your peers or clients, upon which you can build fundamental, respectful relationships that result in you securing a job, a sale, a partnership and winning a tender - or not
• Journey into the World of Champagne (Masterclass)
  • Have you ever wondered why champagne is known as the Wine of Kings or why the bubbles rise from the center of the glass? Kyla Kirkpatrick, will take you and your guests on a fascinating journey into the wonderful world of champagne.
• Magnums & Madames (Masterclass)
• Explore the revolution of Champagne through the eyes and innovations of a handful of the most influential women in Champagne’s 300 year history. An inspirational and heartwarming presentation. To add to the drama of the event all champagnes are served from Magnum! (Story can be told as a keynote without champagne.)
• Perfume & Champagne (Masterclass)
  • A perfume and champagne masterclass is a decadent sensory experience that explores the power of scent, the link between champagne and perfume and its creation whilst pairing 5 perfumes and 5 champagnes.

Testimonials

An event by Kyla Kirkpatrick is like no other, she is incredibly well informed about all things champagne, sophisticated, passionate and highly engaging. I would recommend The Champagne Dame as the perfect addition to any event, corporate or casual, given her unique ability to tailor to the audience. I am already looking forward to my next Kyla experience and hearing a few more firsthand tales from Champagne while sipping on its best!
Bronwen Bock, Vice President Macquarie Bank Australia

Your presentation was amazing and in particular you’re knowledge of champagne and its region.  Sabering the champagne topped off the whole evening and you have a skill that everyone should see. I would highly recommend attending one of your champagne courses to anyone who is interested.
Tony Wakefield, Corporate Sales Manager at BMW Rushcutters Bay

Our clients and guests have been absolutely delighted to attend Kyla’s Champagne Master Class, and intrigued with her expertise and depth of knowledge of champagne, its origins and anecdotal tales.  Kyla is an absolute pleasure to work with, professional, highly organised and with an ability to fully understand event and audience needs for each presentation.
Sharon Goldie – Event Director of BNP Parisbas  

I attended a presentation of Kyla Kirkpatrick talking on the importance of being niche. I had heard that Kyla was an engaging presenter but engaging was an understatement. She is captivating. Her story is so incredibly unique and her business is inspirational! I would pay money to see her speak time and time again. More please.
Lara McVeigh International Marketing Director, Wearing Memories Jewellery

We engaged Kyla to present to our Business Chicks across Australia in December thinking it would be a lovely and entertaining way of celebrating Christmas. But Kyla doesn’t simply deliver an entertaining performance, she delivers an inspirational performance and our members loved it as much as I did. What a woman!
Lois Shaw, Events Executive Business Chicks Australia