2025 SPEAKER ANNOUNCEMENTS...
Ambition can be uncomfortable
The team at Bold Steps are delighted to announce Dr Catherine Meerkerk (née Yang) and Royal Reed, two Asian women who’ve built bold, brilliant careers on their own terms, as speakers at Bold Steps 2025.
Together they will have a fireside chat where they will explore what ambition means, especially for women who have had to push past cultural and structural barriers to lead. They will speak about ambition: how it has shaped them, tested them, and why we need more Asian women owning it - visibly and unapologetically.
"We are raised to work hard, stay quiet, be grateful - not to take up space or call ourselves ambitious. But ambition isn’t arrogance. It’s having faith. It’s hard work. It’s choosing to put yourself forward and to lead, even when the world does not expect you to."
Royal is a partner at Meredith Connell, a founding member of On Being Bold, a board member, mediator, and digital voice for a generation of women navigating identity and leadership.
Catherine is statutorily designated Medical Officer of Health for the Waikato and a senior medical leader, reshaping the healthcare system to be more equitable and inclusive. She is a quiet force challenging bias in healthcare from the inside out.
If you’ve ever been told to stay in your lane, then this conversation is for you.
Read Catherine's bio here and Royal’s bio here …
Meet the Leaders returns
After the success of last year's Meet the Leaders session, the team at Bold Steps are delighted to announce its return – a unique opportunity to network with some of New Zealand’s most influential and successful leaders.
This is a fantastic networking opportunity for our Bold Steps community to chat and learn from some of New Zealand’s most high-profile leaders.
Leading through turbulence:
How to turn headwinds to tailwinds
The team at Bold Steps are delighted to announce Sarah Robb O'Hagan, most recently CEO of EXOS, currently on the Board of Jet Blue, and prior to this with Gatorade, Equinox, Nike and Virgin, as a speaker at Bold Steps 2025.
Sarah Robb O’Hagan is a high-energy combination of disruptive business leader, fitness fanatic, and cheerleading mom. She's been named among Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business” and Forbes "Most Powerful Women in Sports”.
Sarah is also the author of Extreme You: Step Up. Stand Out. Kick Ass. Repeat.
‘Leading through turbulence: How to turn headwinds to tailwinds’ – Sarah will share her experiences with huge business headwinds, lessons learnt about success in life and business and also giving some tactics on how to achieve high performance while reducing burnout in the workplace.
A journey with Anapela
The team at Bold Steps are delighted to announce Anapela Polata’ivao, ONZM, Actor, Director and Producer, as a speaker at Bold Steps 2025.
'A journey with Anapela' - Anapela will join Frances Valintine, Founder of academyEX, for a Q&A session. Anapela will share her upbringing in Samoa, creating the South Auckland theatre collective Kila Coconut Krew and her rise to become an internationally acclaimed actress. Her recent leading role in the feature film Tinā has garnered significant recognition.
Beam me up Scotty
The team at Bold Steps are delighted to announce Cathy Quinn, Chair of Tourism Holdings and Fertility Associates, Director of Fonterra, Fletcher Building and Rangatira, Pro-Chancellor Auckland University, as a speaker at Bold Steps 2025.
"Beam me up Scotty" – Cathy will share her experiences growing up in a small country town in a family of ten, her ambition to pursue a different path, and her successful career journey as a top corporate lawyer and current company director and chair of several major New Zealand companies. She will discuss the challenges she has faced throughout her life, including the joys of motherhood while balancing a demanding career.
Unleashing your potential
The team at Bold Steps are delighted to announce one of our founding members, Silvana Schenone, Managing Director and Co-Head Investment Banking NZ at Jarden, as a speaker at Bold Steps 2025.
Silvana’s presentation, Unleashing your Potential, will discuss the importance of seizing opportunities despite the challenges they often come with. How resilience and inspiration are all part of the road to success and the importance of owning your own career development and choices.
Announcing our MC
The team at Bold Steps are back for 2025 and we are have some exciting speaker announcements for the Bold Steps 2025 conference.
We are delighted that the fabulous Dame Therese Walsh, a key member of the OnBeingBold team, will be your MC again and she will set the scene for a fantastic day of speakers, summarise the key insights from these sessions and share her own thoughts for realising your ambition. Of course she will also have a few audience surprises to give away.
