Plant the seeds of your legacy by living a life of intention.
Over almost two decades, Caroline Brunne has mastered the art and science of supporting high-performing leaders via strategic life management. Through her business, she has earned a formidable reputation supporting industry leaders to streamline and organise themselves to maximise their time and profitability, while creating intentional lives.
Caroline is a survivor coach, author, professional speaker, successful artist, model, mother, and host of a suite of podcasts. Her work has been featured in Channel 7’s Sunrise, Mamma Mia, Women’s Health, Channel Nine News and Body & Soul.
Through an act of unshakable courage; Caroline shares her lived experience of surviving childhood sexual abuse, incest and trauma in her debut book, More Than One Thing Can Be True - a story of survival. This memoir shares her story of bravery, resilience and the promise of healing and opens conversations for individuals and communities who have been affected by similar experiences, especially in cases when the truth has been swept under the carpet for decades.
Caroline's story is a compelling account of healing despite the odds. It shares the journey of one courageous woman, who, despite carrying decades of shame, chose to own her voice. It speaks to the reality of trauma, and also the power we have to transform and heal.
Caroline is an expert by experience on the power of transformation and life beyond trauma. She is paving the way for survivors to remove the shame that has silenced them, by dismantling their trauma responses and owning their voices. As a survivor coach and speaker, Caroline has not only changed her world but ignited a mission to change the world for survivors today and into the future.
Talking Points
Embodying More Than One Thing - Courageously Embracing our Wholeness.
Throughout her career and in varying industries, Caroline has achieved many accolades. She has done so while also overcoming complex abuse and trauma. Even though she has found this challenging at times, Caroline knows there is a deep sense of homecoming when we can embrace being more than one thing and share the highlight reel of our lives and our darker moments, knowing they are our teachers too. In this keynote, Caroline shares how we can embrace our multidimensional selves and be more than one thing and in turn, create a brave example for others to do the same. This keynote is an authentic and liberating presentation that is best suited to audiences looking to be inspired to embrace their courage and bravery through the power of showing up as their whole selves, both in the workplace and throughout other areas of their lives.
Embodying More Than One Thing - Courageously Embracing our Wholeness.
Survivor Support - Creating the Scaffolding for Ongoing Healing
People who identify as survivors already have the significant skills and courage to overcome challenges in their lives. They have proven this to themselves and others by surviving and accomplishing all they have - even when they have walked alone. As human beings, however, we are stronger in life when we walk together and survivor supporters play a vital role in how survivors can continue to move from surviving to thriving. In this keynote, Caroline covers the key elements required for survivors to gain ongoing support from those around them as they move with their trauma and transform beyond it. Sharing her lived experience, Caroline identifies what survivor support has looked like for her and how she has seen it modelled successfully for survivors within her community. This keynote is a vulnerable and heartening presentation that is best suited to community groups and organisations seeking lived experience storytellers to further enhance their work in supporting survivors through empathy and human connection.
Survivor Support - Creating the Scaffolding for Ongoing Healing
Survivor Leadership & Allyship.
Within the framework of survivor support, there are ways we can all learn to be better leaders and allies. As survivors walk through life and tackle the journey in front of them, there are allies walking beside them as leaders, mentors and friends. Caroline believes the position of where an ally chooses to walk, is key to the success of the allyship and in this keynote, she opens up about her lived experience with allies including an unexpected moment with her son who taught her the importance of walking beside rather than in front or behind. This keynote is an inspiring and motivational presentation that would be suited to audiences who are looking to enhance their leadership and mentoring abilities, elements of the presentation can be applied at all stages of the leadership journey through the power of allyship and support.
Survivor Leadership & Allyship.
Boundaries - How to Create and Maintain Your Island.
Boundaries form a vital part of survivor self-care and self-preservation, especially for those who have experienced trauma and significant moments of life hardship.Boundaries - How to Create and Maintain Your Island.
As survivors gain further insight into the people in their lives that have caused harm or may not align with their values, they are challenged by societal expectations to maintain those relationships at the detriment of their mental health and personal well-being.
Caroline believes that by creating and maintaining boundaries, communicating them clearly and holding them in place, survivors can create a space of safety that enables them to thrive. In this keynote, Caroline shares how she has developed and maintained her boundaries by creating her ‘Island’ and how this has formed a vital framework to maintain her ongoing healing as both a survivor and as an ongoing act of deep personal resilience and self-love. This keynote is a constructive yet vulnerable presentation suited to audiences of women who are wanting to create clear boundaries and communication tools to improve their self-care and self-preservation.
The presentation can be adapted to smaller audiences and women's circles as well as delivered as a keynote for larger event settings.
Life Beyond - Reframing Resilience into Purpose.
As an accomplished events expert, successful entrepreneur, speaker, author and model, Caroline is proof that there is life beyond trauma. Over her lifetime she has reframed her resilience and identified key elements of what it takes to move beyond anything that has happened to us to a place of personal power. Life Beyond - Reframing Resilience into Purpose.
As a believer in the concept that ‘you can't be what you can't see’ Caroline takes every opportunity she can to share her lived experience as a woman of colour, immigrant, entrepreneur and trauma survivor, to demonstrate what life can be like beyond trauma in the hope that by sharing her journey and insights she can inspire and encourage others to find their purpose in the depths of their resilience. This keynote is a highly practical and inspirational presentation especially suited to audiences of businesswomen who are wanting to have their passion for their work ignited through the power of story and resilience.
Video
International Women's Day | Griffith University Institute for Glycomics | Saxton Speakers |Keynote
We often share the highlight reels of our lives, it's a natural way of showcasing our best parts. But can we support each other and create a safe space by walking beside each other so we can show up fully and share our full stories? At the recent International Women's Day event at Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics, Caroline unpacks this topic and more as she shares her career highlights and her vulnerable personal story.International Women's Day | Griffith University Institute for Glycomics | Q&A | Saxton Speakers
Nina Kristensen, Senior Advancement Manager (Health Science & Medical Research) and Caroline Brunne during a Q&A at the recent International Women's Day event at Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics. Caroline unpacks the topic of surviving and thriving and shares her career highlights and her vulnerable personal story through the lens of how we can support each other as leaders within our community.Seminar: Lived Experience - Advocacy in Action
Join us for a panel conversation, taking place during Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Month 2023. There has been a growing focus on victim and survivor voices of domestic and family violence, and increasingly these voices, stories and experience are contributing to policy and practice.There are some women you come into contact with and they exude such power and confidence, balanced beautifully with softness and femininity. Caroline is one of them. A true professional powe ... keep reading Griffith University
Caroline Brunne was a speaker at the 2023 Australian Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence Recovery and Healing Conference. Caroline is a compelling and intelligent survivor advocate encouraging us all to face and discuss the reality of intrafamily child sexual abuse – the taboo subject of incest. Bravely using her own lived experience, Caroline compassionately engages us to all be courageous for the sake of protecting other children and recognising that the impact of trauma can show up for us in different ways – including for people who deftly hide in plain sight by being high functioning and seemingly ‘successful’. When Caroline speaks and shares her knowledge and insights, we should all listen for how we can play a better role in caring for children at risk and supporting survivors.
Caroline Brunne spoke to QUT Centre for Justice researchers as part of a panel discussion on "Lived Experience - Advocacy in Action" during Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month 2023. Through Caroline's personal reflections, our researchers were able to develop a greater understanding of the importance of survivor voices, and the value these voices can add to policy, practice and research. We were grateful for the brave, open and candid way Caroline shared her experience with us.
