Karen Schmidt is an award winning speaker, workshop leader and author. So far she has managed to cram in 5 different careers. Starting out as a Secretary she quickly proved herself in Recruitment and Human Resource Consulting before moving on to Corporate Training and now Professional Speaking.

Her practical experience comes from hiring, firing, managing, coaching and training thousands of people across Australia in just about every industry, including manufacturing, finance, IT sales, personnel consulting, retail fashion, not for profits and government. She has experienced the workplace from the point of view of a staff member, manager, recruiter, contractor and consultant.

To back up this practical experience, Karen is degree qualified in Adult Education and holds various accreditations including DISC and TMI. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Management (www.aim.com.au) and a Professional Member of the National Speakers Association Australia (NSAA) (www.nationalspeakers.asn.au).

Karen was named the NSAA Queensland Rising Star award recipient in December 2003 and has also been recognised as a leader in her field by her peers as a speaker at the 2006 NSAA National Convention.