About Me
A trusted global authority on Mindful Leadership.
I’m Richard, the go-to peak performance, holistic wellbeing and mindful leadership consultant for some of the world’s largest companies.
Experienced
For over 20 years I’ve been partnering with organisations in countless industries to help them boost productivity, enhance wellbeing and create vibrant leadership cultures.
Award Winning
As an award-winning clinical psychologist and leading mindfulness expert, I bring an evidence-based and trauma-informed approach to everything I do, ensuring the psychological safety of individual employees, teams and leaders.
Industry Leader
From the TEDx stage to Fortune 500 boardrooms, my expertise and passion lie in creating genuine, lasting culture change, teaching the tools that make a difference and generate measurable return on investment
companies I've helped
Discovering mindfulness in 1999 was a life changing experience for me.
I stumbled by complete chance into a meditation class and learned, for the first time in my life, to take control of my chaotic mind.
Within a few months of daily practice, I went from distracted and scattered – and barely passing my psychology degree as a result to being able to focus like a laser beam for extended periods. My low level depression and anxiety symptoms evaporated, and I felt healthier and more resilient than I ever had before.
Mindfulness was such a game-changer for me that I shaped my career around making it accessible for as many people as I could, at first in schools and universities, and later in businesses, startups, government organisations and elite sporting teams.
But as is so often the case in life, this new superpower had a dark side. The ability to focus for long periods meant I took on more and more. With a values-driven career shaped around mindfulness, I naively thought I would be immune to the kinds of problems that mere mortals faced. But I was wrong.
I suddenly found myself exhibiting the very same signs of burnout that I had been helping my coaching and consulting clients with.
In the end, this challenging period turned out to be the biggest blessing of my life. I radically changed how I showed up every day, and began genuinely embodying my values around sustainable peak performance and genuine wellbeing and this is where my journey to help others thrive and create sustainable mindfulness truly began.
This humbling experience sent me on a new journey, where I drew on everything I had learned over 20 years about what makes peak performance sustainable over time. I dived deeply into the research on positive psychology and effective leadership and confronted my deeply held unconscious habit of seeking external validation through being successful.
Let me teach you what I learned.
I have been fortunate enough to work with Fortune 500 companies, startups, not-for-profits, government agencies and elite sporting teams, helping them improve their performance, increase resilience and enhance leadership and culture.
Over the past 20+ years partnering with organisations around the world, I’ve come to realise that most business leaders’ deepest desire is to make a massive positive impact on their team, organisation and community – but that they are often too caught up in overwhelm, distraction or survival to do so.
My mission is to empower leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers to achieve their full potential by focusing on what is important and working in sustainable, strategic ways. I draw upon my experience as a clinical psychologist and facilitator, using evidence-based mindfulness, emotional intelligence and leadership tools.
- Awarded 2016 World Health Organisation Global Healthy Workplace Award (Team Award)
- Awarded 2020 Australian Psychological Society’s Significant Contribution Award for pioneering work in mindful education
- Founding member and developer of leading mental health app Smiling Mind (with over 8 million downloads)
- Adjunct Associate Professor and founding member of Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies
- Lead educator on 3 award-winning online mindfulness courses at Monash University, completed by over 500,000 people worldwide
- Led delivery of organisation-wide mindful leadership training at Victoria Police
- TEDx speaker
- Author of 3 books
Career Highlights
Here are some key moments that define my journey in mindfulness and leadership.
Testimonials
Richard’s keynote was authentic, insightful, and packed with actionable strategies. His session captivated our bustling office, and his resources were a hit!
Terri Hill
L&D Business Partner, Ventora Group
Richard delivered a great session on mental health that was practical and truly resonated with our audience.
Them Lam
Head of Sales & Distribution, AFG
Richard delivered an outstanding opening keynote, setting an inspiring and focused tone for the rest of our conference.
Benjamin Hawkins
Executive General Manager, ACMA
Richard nailed the brief, balancing research, statistics, and actionable suggestions. His polished presentation sparked valuable conversations.
Heidi Mangan
Organisational Development Lead, Data#3
The team have fully applied everything they learned, and their engagement is still so high six weeks later.
Chris Bartlett
Senior Sales Manager, Bunnings
Richard is an incredibly personable and knowledgeable speaker. We have invited him to speak time and time again.
Jenny Katrivesis
Director, ChilliIQ
Richard’s engaging presentation resonated deeply with our audience, resulting in overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Simon Levy
CEO, Risk Management Institute Australasia
Richard’s session was really well received. Feedback included “Best session of the conference! Excellent examples and practical solutions.”
Tania Milnes
GM, Financial Advice Association Australia
Richard delivered an outstanding keynote. His deep expertise, engaging style, and practical insights left a lasting impact on our organisation.
Amanda Clements
HSE Executive, Mirvac
The workshops were by far the best I’ve ever attended. Every team member walked away with practical tools they immediately implemented.
Marianne Marchesi
CEO, Legalite
Watch me in action.
As featured In
Work with me
Create meaningful change and measurable results today.
Take the first step toward thriving leadership and organisational success. Schedule a free consultation call with me and let’s discuss how 20+ years of insights and strategies can make a difference for you.