Zii Wacho Book as a speaker/entertainer for your next event

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Key Points for Zii Wacho

  • Zii Wacho is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in various industries, including business and creative sectors. He is passionate about strategy and planning, team building, and change management, and he has demonstrated his strategic mindset through his accomplishments in these areas.
  • Zii is a recognized thought leader in diversity and inclusion, resilience, wellbeing, and people and culture. His expertise in these areas has been instrumental in building high-performing teams and achieving contact centre excellence across all areas of operation.
  • As a motivational and inspirational speaker, Zii draws on his experience in arts and culture to inspire creativity and innovation in individuals and organisations alike.
  • Zii is committed to excellence and community impact, and he has become a highly respected and influential figure in the leadership and management space. He is a trusted advisor to executive teams and Board Chairs, and he has influenced hundreds of leaders to prioritise and progress their efforts in creating more inclusive and diverse workplaces.

Topics for Zii Wacho

  • Embracing humanity: Building values-based business strategies for thriving in multicultural economies
    Embracing Humanity focuses on how businesses can leverage the benefits of diversity in today's globalised world. It explores the challenges and opportunities that arise from operating in a multicultural economy, and how businesses can build strategies that are not only inclusive but also reflective of diverse values and perspectives. By embracing diversity, businesses can create a culture that fosters innovation, creativity, and collaboration, leading to a more prosperous and sustainable future for all. The conversation around this topic is crucial, as businesses today need to understand and navigate the complexities of diversity and multiculturalism to thrive in a rapidly changing global landscape.
  • Empowering cultural voices: The power dynamics of intercultural arts practices
    Empowering Cultural Voices explores the power imbalances that arise in intercultural arts practices and how addressing these imbalances can result in a healthier artistic ecosystem. It delves into the ways in which individuals and groups from different cultures can come together to create meaningful and impactful art while navigating issues of representation, appropriation, and power imbalances. By exploring these dynamics, we can develop a deeper understanding of how to create more inclusive and equitable artistic communities, and empower diverse cultural voices to be heard and celebrated.
  • Navigating uncertainty: Change management in the post-COVID era
    The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes to the way we live and work. As we slowly emerge from the crisis, businesses face new challenges and uncertainty. Change management is crucial in navigating the post-COVID era, ensuring that businesses can adapt to new circumstances and continue to thrive. This topic of conversation explores strategies for successful change management in the face of ongoing uncertainty, including agile decision-making, effective communication, and proactive planning.
  • Innovation in action: How creativity fuels community and business success
    Innovation is often seen as a key driver of success in both community and business settings. This topic of conversation explores how creativity and innovation can be harnessed to bring about success and growth in diverse contexts. Through examples of innovative and creative ideas, this conversation aims to inspire individuals and organisations to think outside the box and find new ways to solve problems, engage with customers, and drive growth. By exploring the role of innovation in creating successful businesses and thriving communities, this conversation offers valuable insights into the importance of creativity and innovation in our rapidly changing world.
  • Leading with purpose: The impact of servant leadership on today's business landscape
    Leading with purpose explores the concept of servant leadership and its impact on the modern business landscape. Unlike traditional leadership models that prioritise the leader's authority and control, servant leadership prioritises the needs of followers and aims to empower them to achieve their full potential. The approach focuses on developing strong relationships with employees and fostering a sense of community, collaboration, and shared purpose. By embracing servant leadership, business leaders can create a positive and inclusive work environment that encourages employee engagement, innovation, and loyalty.
  • Beyond buzzwords: Embracing equity and belonging in business and beyond
    Beyond Buzzwords focuses on going beyond the surface-level language of diversity and inclusion and instead exploring the deeper concepts of equity and belonging in the workplace and beyond. It delves into the importance of creating a culture of inclusivity where everyone feels they belong and can thrive, regardless of their background or identity. It also addresses the need to create equitable opportunities for everyone, recognizing and valuing the unique perspectives and contributions that each individual brings to the table. Ultimately, the conversation aims to empower individuals and organisations to create a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive world.
  • Exploring the dark side of resilience: Shifting our understanding to build thriving communities and businesses
    While resilience is often praised as a key trait for success in both personal and professional realms, its negative impacts are often overlooked. In reality, resilience can perpetuate a system in which individuals are forced to shoulder more than their fair share, ultimately leading to burnout and stagnation. To create truly empowered communities and businesses, we must address these disparities and reframe our understanding of resilience to include collective responsibility and shared support. By doing so, we can cultivate a work and home environment that fosters equity, belonging, and ultimately, success.
  • A creative cauldron: How culture fosters knowledge, creativity, and artistry in today's world
    Culture is a vital ingredient in fostering creativity, knowledge, and artistry in today's world. This topic of conversation delves into the ways in which culture serves as a creative cauldron for people of all backgrounds and experiences. By celebrating diverse cultures, individuals are exposed to different perspectives and ways of thinking, which can inspire innovation and creativity. This conversation explores the importance of preserving and promoting cultural traditions, as well as the benefits of embracing cultural diversity in building stronger, more vibrant communities and businesses.

Testimonials for Zii Wacho

Zii was a featured panellist on an industry forum about the Australian arts ecosystem presented by the University of Melbourne’s Arts and Cultural Management program in March 2023. He was an eloquent and engaging speaker who deftly wove his personal experiences as an independent musician and arts CEO into a larger discussion around themes of inequality, government support, and organisational change. Following the event, Zii was extremely generous in communicating and responding to student questions. Zii was highly professional and a pleasure to work with throughout our interactions. I look forward to future opportunities for him to share his insights and knowledge of the cultural sector with our student cohort.
Lecturer in Creative Industries & Head of the Arts and Cultural Management program
University of Melbourne

In my role as CEO of Music Victoria, I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Zii on crucial initiatives that reshape the Victorian music scene, including launching a new award for the diaspora and founding the Black Music Alliance Australia. Zii is an astute strategist who attentively listens before crafting a daring vision, always ensuring there is a solid plan and actionable steps to back it up. His work in the music industry is both challenging and vital. Zii masterfully navigates people's motivations, abilities, and spheres of influence, applying a nuanced approach and adapting his pace to suit the client (e.g., moving quickly with Music Victoria, more slowly with community). As a host or speaker, Zii is incredibly engaging, taking people along on an inspiring journey. Zii is a multi-talented business consultant and speaker who knows how to inspire and deliver results.
CEO
Music Victoria

Zii was invited to share his insights as a musician, manager, and co-CEO of Multicultural Arts Victoria in a session I moderated at JMC Academy’s annual Re:Write Songwriting Conference. Zii was highly engaging and passionate about his craft, providing a unique perspective by illustrating the historical context of profiting from art and how this aligns with his current mission as a creative. He provided a great visual map of this journey and shared another valuable resource that visually mapped the goals of his management artist Ceeko. Zii spoke with both confidence and grace , possessing a natural ability to not only be relatable but also motivating. You can tell he speaks from the heart and is entirely genuine, a quality that makes him not only a great speaker but also a fantastic human! He is a pleasure to liaise with and I can’t recommend him enough for future speaking opportunities.
Engagement Coordinator
Music Victoria

As a business coach and strategy consultant, Zii brings a diverse range of skills to the table, which greatly assisted me in expanding my creative studio's business concept. Throughout our consulting sessions, Zii shared various customised concepts and strategies, all designed to help me reach my specific business goals and objectives. Zii's approach emphasises thoughtful reflection rather than rushing, prompting me to carefully consider my business's target audience and purpose. This process allowed me to pinpoint aspects of my business concept that were either unviable or misaligned. Following my sessions with Zii, I successfully launched my business, with the first phase involving the establishment of a partnership that led to renting our initial studio. This move has prepared us to accept clients and explore new opportunities. Zii consistently demonstrates professionalism when working with clients and peers, displaying a talent for connecting people. Overall, my experience collaborating with Zii was enjoyable, and I consistently left each session feeling more inspired and with a clearer understanding of my business vision.
Director
Studio 463

My name is Chris Pickering and I am Head of Music at JMC Academy’s Melbourne campus, and a performer/songwriter/composer. I have been active as an artist within the Australian industry for many years, with many album releases, tours, and festival appearances, and I was also based in Nashville, TN, for five years. JMC Academy delivers Post-graduate and under-graduate degrees in the Creative Industries, and our Music stream includes specialisations in Performance, Songwriting and Production. I met Zii through our mutual friend, Sarah Hamilton, who highly recommended Zii for a panel discussion I coordinated with the assistance of Music Victoria as part of the RE:Write Songwriting conference in 2023. I had also had the opportunity to see Zii speak at the Music Victoria awards in 2022, where I was immediately impressed with his statesmanship and powerful communication skills. The panel Zii participated in was part of a wider discussion regarding future developments in the music industry, with a primary focus on songwriting. Zii was very well prepared for this panel, and brought visual material along to take the attendees on a holistic journey to really fundamentally examine how the music industry works through the lens of western capitalism and colonialism. Zii also offered suggestions and guidance for how the industry and opportunities for all can be significantly improved through positive systemic changes in the way we think about – and value – creativity and creative individuals. Zii’s contributions to the panel with his wide knowledge and highly empathetic viewpoints were an inspiration and revelation to the attendees of our conference, and many were speaking about and discussing Zii’s thoughts and ideas throughout the day. I highly recommend Zii as a speaker or guest at any music or creative industries event as he has a lot to offer both in terms of his value as a presenter, but also with his positivity and constructive outlook for the future of the creative industries, and music.
Head of Music - Performance, Songwriting and Production
JMC Academy Melbourne

Zii was among the 10 esteemed contributors to The Boite's "What if Music..." panel discussion, where artists, academics, arts administrators, event producers, and venue managers gathered to explore the role of culturally diverse music in narrating Australian stories and shaping our national discourse on music. "What if Music..." provided a platform for us to experiment with perspective-taking and engage in meaningful conversations on the intricacies of intercultural arts, creative collaboration, and the future of Australian music. Zii's input was impactful and unforgettable. Zii consistently demonstrates remarkable passion and eloquence, advocating fiercely for cultural diversity in the arts. As a speaker and presenter, Zii is exceptionally talented at conveying complex truths in an accessible and potent manner, inspiring and impressing audiences with his abilities.
Director
The Boite

In 2022, we successfully established our production company, with Zii providing invaluable mentorship through weekly sessions. These sessions covered a range of topics, including defining our mission and vision, team management, and relationship development. Additionally, we participated in exercises designed to help us outline our vision and create actionable steps for achieving our objectives. Zii's wealth of knowledge has proven beneficial in numerous ways. Throughout our sessions, we engaged in significant discussions that resulted in the creation of essential tools for cultivating a robust brand identity and company mission. These sessions were empowering and instilled a positive, motivated mindset, enabling us to confidently pursue our goals. Overall, Zii's mentorship has equipped us with crucial insights and skills to effectively establish and expand our production community. The guidance and expertise Zii has offered have been instrumental in fostering the growth of our production community. Our weekly sessions allowed us to delve into various subjects, participate in meaningful conversations, and acquire tools and abilities to confidently chase our aspirations. As community is one of Bittersweet's core values, receiving mentorship from someone within our community has been particularly significant for our team. In summary, Zii has been an outstanding mentor, supplying us with the support and knowledge necessary for success.
Founders
The Bittersweet Podcast