Sally Browne

Sally Browne's Biography

Sally Browne has lived life to the full… Hers is a fascinating story.

From humble beginnings, to designing high fashion, and on to high altitude adventures, from taking to the stage as a washboard player with a jazz band to strutting the stage as a Keynote Speaker, from being a stressed out working mum of four to developing the first heart rate monitor to measure stress, and from community worker and philanthropist to mentor and nurturer for young business people. Sally is a walking example of ‘don’t just dream it, do it (and go for it!!!)’.

Perhaps Sally’s fashion career started at 13 when she began playing the washboard with the Red Onion Jazz Band and made a new ‘frock’ each Saturday to wear on stage later that night. She was proud to be beatnik and a jazzer in this era. Sally completed her schooling and went to work at the Lucas Factory on Flinders Lane sewing French designer labels under license for elite and elegant boutiques in Melbourne. She was taught her skills by the wonderful Kitty La Haive.

Sally is committed to encouraging and mentoring the next wave of business leaders. She personally mentors a number of young business people and she was the founder of the Business World Young Heroes Awards. At a business level she is involved with ‘Community Capitalism’: converting corner milk bars into hip organic cafés and unused buildings into creative spaces for young people.

Sally is also committed to living sustainably and she enjoys cultivating her own edible patchwork vegetable garden. She loves the sensory pleasure of combining flowers and vegetables, the joy of toiling in an organic garden, the meditation of planting, the thrill of harvesting, the responsibility of collecting her own water and recycling vegetable waste through a worm farm. The delicious delight of home-grown food is often shared with Sally’s friends over dinner!  

Also close to her heart is the time spent with a special group of young women known as Girls Without Mummies. (Young women whose mothers have died). They meet regularly to chat, laugh, cry and share over dinner at Sally's home. The women, in their 20’s and 30’s, talk informally with Sally about careers, relationships, weddings and babies. Sally is working on expanding this precious network.

Sally is an Australia Day Ambassador, serves on a number of committees and boards and is involved in fund-raising for many charities and in giving back to the community via her philanthropic work and charitable trusts.

Sally Browne has been hailed as an energetic, enthusiastic and entertaining speaker. Her keynote addresses are filled with earthy humour, personal experiences, pertinent anecdotes and different perspectives. Sally’s broad and diverse experiences, in life, in business and in outdoor adventures have created a spectacular career for her in public speaking. Her presentations focus on “Living and Working to your Full Potential in an era of Challenge and Change”.

Sally believes we will never achieve what we are capable of achieving if we are stuck in our comfort zone. She challenges ‘the wee small voice’ that holds us back and, in fact, sabotages us. She confronts fear of failure, self-doubt, and limiting self-talk and inspires us to reach beyond our tipping point, freeing us to jump into a bigger, brighter, better, more positive and productive life. Her understanding of embracing and celebrating challenge, her grip on the unpredictable world we live in, her belief in developing resilience (the capacity to bounce back) and her strategies to be a victor of change, not a victim of change, make her a thrilling and inspiring speaker. She has empowered, entertained and encouraged women in business, business leaders, educators, community, retail, local business people and attendees of corporate conferences.

Overall, Sally’s greatest delight and luxury is hanging out with her partner, her four children and their partners, and her young grandchildren: enjoying family dinners, gatherings and the occasional holiday together. More recently in 2015, Sally has been studying 3D printing, with a focus on printing food and shoes for her grandchildren.