Biography
Lauren was one of only three Australian women to win an individual Olympic Gold Medal, along with Cathy Freeman and Susie O’Neill. Her amazing triumph at the Sydney Games was achieved against the odds – requiring enormous discipline, commitment, perseverance and teamwork.
The nation watched as Lauren’s victory brought the Australian public and Olympic crowd to its feet. Before her Olympic win, few people knew that Lauren was 12 times Australian Champion and had achieved a string of international titles including numerous medals at world championship level. Lauren’s gold medal has put Australia on the map as a major international competitor for the sport of Taekwondo.
Since the Sydney Olympics, Lauren has emerged as one of the most successful Olympians from these Games. She is one of Australia’s most sought after speakers and has spoken to over 200,000 people since these Games. Lauren continues to travel the country conducting presentations, workshops and corporate health programs.
Lauren enjoys a variety of commitments; she is the mother of 2 beautiful children, she is involved with Red Dust Role Models, conducting healthy lifestyle clinics in remote Aboriginal, Fijian & Indian communities. She runs regular talks and workshops at her parents charity Appin Hall Children’s Foundation and practices as a naturopath in Eltham.
Lauren’s autobiography, Fighting Spirit was listed in the Sydney Morning Herald as the number one best selling sports book.
She has released and self published her latest book Food from a Loving Home, a collection of vegetarian recipes. This book is a sharing of Lauren’s favourite recipes, her knowledge about creating tasty wholesome and exciting meals along with home remedies and kitchen cupboard cures using ingredients found in any kitchen.
Her passion for food is extended on her blog From a Loving Home.
Testimonials
Still refreshing and exciting.
Stephen Robertson, Municipal Works Officers Association
Excellent. As our athlete who thanked Lauren said after her speech, I can not speak for anyone else but ‘I am inspired, Thank you.’ From my personal view point after organising 7 annual awards night I can say she was the best speaker we have had. a true champion who really related to the audience and was very giving of here time.
Northern Inland Academy of Sport
A young, energetic and articulate person. Lauren was well spoken, talked to the audience, gave colourful examples which made the audience laugh, as well as making our function a success.
AMP
Excellent. Lauren has an outstanding story to tell and is generous with her medal, autographs, photographs etc. I strongly recommend her.
ANZ Bank
Excellent. More than a draw card, Lauren is interesting, natural & relaxed as a presenter and has some great stories regarding pushing oneself & overcoming obstacles.
Tatts Pokies
Excellent. Lauren was a perfect choice for this event. Her delivery and ‘story telling’ ability made for an enthralling 40 minutes. Most importantly she was completely ‘real’.
Cadbury Schweppes
Your inspirational message to our guests was first class and really sealed for us a great night of recognition, for the top achievers in our Dealer network. I know that our people will benefit from your experience and can only hope that some of them can “dare to dream”, and achieve just as you have done.
Mercedes-Benz
Lauren is a warm and articulate person whose message of commitment to a goal is very appropriate to our business. Lauren vividly described how she envisioned her success and the self-discipline required to achieve her dream of a Gold Medal. She is very accessible and made herself available to the press and guests alike, all of whom loved her.
Mary Kay Cosmetics
Excellent. Lauren was fantastic. She is very engaging, entertaining and was very generous with her time. Would highly recommend her.
Frank Russell Co
A strong speaker with an ability to convince in respect of the sincerity of her message
Australia Post
Excellent. Really easy to work with and doesn’t have the “take the money and run attitude".
Big Gig Event Company Pty Ltd
Excellent. Lauren was a good choice. The audience were captivated by her presentation. Lauren related well to the audience.
North Melbourne Institute of Technology (NMIT)
Excellent. Lauren was very well received by our delegates. They found her inspiring and enjoyed her natural and practical approach.
Retire Invest
Excellent. Clients found her video & demonstration highly interesting. They also enjoyed her comments on motivation & focus in relation to her sports achievements. Females in the audience identified with her achievements as an Australian Female athlete.
CSFB
Excellent. Lauren gave a great presentation. Her manner was very natural and friendly. She had the audience captivated. We got very positive feedback from both the Australia and Japanese members of the audience.
Women’s Federation for World Peace
Excellent. Lauren was a breath of fresh air. Her story and presentation were inspirational, enthusiastic and “real”. Lauren has a warm, delightful personality which totally captures the audience.
Alliance SI
Excellent. Lauren is young, fresh, unassuming and communicated brilliantly to a mixed audience.
Seeley International
Excellent. Lauren’s message was excellent to set the scene for students to focus on the year ahead. She was articulate and captivated her audience.
Beacon Hills College
Excellent. A great ambassador of her sport, the Olympics and young Australians overall. A wonderful person.
Employment National
Not only was Lauren well prepared, inspiring and provoking, she made people feel special with her generous time mingling with everyone. I would recommend her in a heart beat.
InCircles Pty Ltd
Our feedback forms were full of praises for her and many people commented on her motivational skills. She was very generous with her time.
Southern Cross Computer Systems
Excellent. Captivating, inspirational and a remarkable person and presentation. A lovely person.
TABCORP
Our members enjoyed your warm and personal style, and felt themselves drawn into the story of your preparation for the Olympics, your participation in this great event, and your down to earth way of organising your life afterwards. Your story was inspirational, and gave us the direction for the planning and hard work that needs to go into being successful in any endeavour.
First National Real Estate
Excellent. Lauren was very natural and her enthusiasm was catching. She involved her audience and worked extremely well in our small and intimate setting. We received great feedback from all who attended.
City of Glen Eira
Excellent. Lauren is exceptional, connects very well with her audience and gives out heaps of energy.
Colorado Group Ltd
Excellent. Lauren was a fantastic role model and very engaging speaker a shear delight.
Department of Education
Excellent. Professional, enjoying and motivating – a fantastic conference presentation package.
ACTA
Excellent. Lauren inspired and entertained the audience with her simple but powerful messages on how to succeed though sacrifice and determination.
City of Whittlesea
Excellent. Great presentation. Interesting and informative. Action!
Victorian Taxi Association
Excellent. Action packed, a great speaker and a very pleasant personality. Kept our delegates enthralled. Passing the gold medal around was also a great idea.
Regional Insurance Brokers Association
Full of energy – inspirational. They closed our performance perfectly – all messages relevant to what we had done.
The Wrigley Company
Excellent. Lauren’s energy was intoxicating. Our guests were mesmerised.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
Excellent. Not only was Lauren an inspirational and thoroughly entertaining speaker, she was also very approachable and down to earth. She signed autographs and posed for photos all evening and was more than happy to do so. I highly recommend her!
Fairfax Community Press
As always, Lauren was perfect in every sense. She has a warm, friendly, open and engaging manner which makes her very easy to listen to. Her message is spot on. She subtly introduced at least ten significant pointers to success during her presentation. Her Tae Kwon Do demo at the end simply brought everything together in an entertaining and dramatic way.
Kardinia International College
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