NSB Logo Kelsey Ramsden Kelsey Ramsden

Kelsey Ramsden

Speaker

London, Ontario, Canada

Entrepreneur & Business Powerhouse

Kelsey Ramsden was been named Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneur two years running and is recognized globally for building multiple, multimillion-dollar businesses both offline and online.  She has founded and run diverse businesses ranging from construction to children’s toys. Kelsey helps individuals futureproof themselves and their businesses, break the status quo to re-invent for the next level of accomplishment, success. She doesn’t deliver typical speeches but instead has conversations from the stage which provoke the status quo.  Every conversation includes actionable takeaways, accountability and laughing… sometimes at ourselves. Kelsey is humble and real, evoking laughter and pause alike.  Open to any question thrown at her, Kelsey is certainly not status quo. Your audience can’t help but notice.

Event Theme Ideas More Themes Motivation & Inspiration Leadership Performance & Productivity Business & Workplace

In the News

What you can do to survive success - Forbes 2018 March 7, 2018
McMaster | Spectrum Radio with Top Female Entrepreneur Kelsey Ramsden August 10, 2015

Keynote Speeches

From some of the largest global stages to the smallest private events, every talk is custom. Kelsey designs custom presentations like the ones below:
Is This My Life? A guide to finding the answer

It’s the question we often find ourselves asking when we realize, almost by accident, that we’ve veered off our intended path despite our best intentions. And we suddenly wake up one morning feeling lost and adrift, not quite remembering how we got on this quicksand island. In this presentation, Kelsey shares raw wisdom and gritty perspective to help you deal with the truths and turning points that are awaiting you just around the corner.

 

Never Ready, Set, Go: A game plan for where you want to go

You’ve heard it before: Going outside our comfort zone is what cues epic stuff to happen in our lives and careers. But oftentimes, we let the risk of failure outweigh the probability of success, simply because we can’t shake the heavy fears that are piggybacking on our dreams and goals. The reality is: We’re never ready. And while we’re constantly planning, psyching ourselves up and assuming that the worst will happen, someone else is trying—and getting a huge head start on us. Kelsey shares some off-the-cuff candor and unfiltered entrepreneurial experiences to show you how to go from considering all the ‘what-ifs’ to all the ‘how-tos’, so you can create a game plan for where you want to go (and get there in record time).

 

Back of the Envelope – How to establish a sound and progressive practice using creativity, risk, and innovation

Most of what we know for sure can be captured on the back of an envelope. The issue with “back-of-the-envelope” management is that we spend time in comfort, in the things we know, repeating what we know works…until it doesn’t. Kelsey Ramsden was Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneur, ranked #1 by Profit and Chatelaine Magazines in 2012 and 2013. She has founded and run businesses as diverse as construction and children’s toys. She’ll walk you through the fundamentals of rethinking, clarifying blind spots, and how you can build a solid strategy for the future by changing what you hold dear on the back of that envelope. Get down ‘n’ dirty with your hold-ups so you can unearth your awesomeness!

Barefoot Boardroom MBA
The Barefoot MBA kicks you out of bed, walks you to the mirror and shows you that life is worth every minute. Ramsden started with gusto, got knocked down, felt supported and was given systems to get back up and in line with her own version of success. Kelsey is a master and commander, artist and mathematician, mover and shaker, giver and moneymaker.  She has developed a process to create the life of your dreams that satisfies your inner gifts, your supporting crew, your loyal customers and your legacy of this life.

Barefoot Boardroom MBA

The Barefoot MBA kicks you out of bed, walks you to the mirror and shows you that life is worth every minute. Ramsden started with gusto, got knocked down, felt supported and was given systems to get back up and in line with her own version of success. Kelsey is a master and commander, artist and mathematician, mover and shaker, giver and moneymaker.  She has developed a process to create the life of your dreams that satisfies your inner gifts, your supporting crew, your loyal customers and your legacy of this life.

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Workshop | Clarity Compass
The Clarity Compass is a full day of training which starts with contemplative and essential pre-work, allowing you to show up laser focused to get deep deliverable rich outcomes from the day. Clarity and Confidence are built and nurtured using a personal compass. Kelsey Ramsden leads the conversation with her always authentic presence and unique blend of caring and candor. She sees every woman’s want to create a full, purposeful life both personally and professionally while aligning with her own unique definition of success. By the end of the day participants will better understand: Internal motivation; How your image represents you; How to show up, make decisions and create the life you want across the board. Audiences receive actionable takeaways to drive outcomes to success.
Workshop | Leadership Beyond the Box - Risk: An Opportunity with A Reputation
What is your attitude to risk? Are you a natural risk taker who gets energized by the danger or will you do anything to avoid risk or try to reduce it as much as possible? Understanding one’s own risk type and that of others significantly helps professionals make better decisions for themselves and understand how others make decisions. It helps with alignment but mostly it helps us make better decisions and attempt things we might not otherwise attempt in our pursuit of success. In this workshop participants will explore their individualized risk type, profile and attitude toward a variety of different types of risk.  They will leave with an understanding that risk is all about knowing where our own blind spots and biases are with respect to risk.

Audience reviews:

  • You exuded confidence, strength, and determination that was easy for our audience to feed off of, making them feel as if they can do anything. You connected with the attendees through your authenticity and genuineness while offering valuable tools to help them move forward both personally and professionally.
    - Events Manager, Inspiring Women
  • From the very first minute we met, she exceeded our expectations, proving to be more than just friendly and energetic; she was simply fascinating. Her thought provoking keynote made the audience engage in critical self reflection in order to improve. She captured the audience.

    - London School of Economics, UK
  • Our audience appreciated Kelsey’s vulnerability in sharing things that other speakers find too candid. They really connected with her and she absolutely exceeded our expectations. We are careful with topic selection to ensure our audience can relate, this event yielded rave reviews.

    - GE Canada
  • Everything you said and your delivery was perfect, we couldn't have asked for more. You were gracious with other panelists, addressed the topic so well and gave examples from your life that were so relevant – and again, honest. You also added humour to tough parts of the discussion. You were truly the perfect speaker – confident yet humble. And also you were able to answer audience questions with valuable insights and perspective.
    - Women’s Executive Network
  • Kelsey was terrific to work with; not only was she the best keynote [the University] has ever seen, she was also humble and easy going… She tailored her speech to fit the audience; the majority of the crowd was students in their 20s, and her speech aligned with this our group perfectly. Kelsey’s talk was both valuable and humorous, and the group appreciated and seriously considered her thoughts.
    - Co-Chair, University of Victoria Leadership Conference
  • The speech had a perfect balance of personal and business stories …The audience also made a point to mention how the evening and speech felt very intimate even though you were teleconferenced in! I personally liked how you incorporated humour into the speech and your thoughts on the old boys club/old girls club.

    - Manager, Northwest Business Centre
  • Kelsey was the most amazing speaker of the weekend, she really captivated the audience and kept her speech informal while delivering a really great message in a way that was relatable to everyone in the room. You couldn't have got a better and more current key note speaker and it was really nice to have all the delegates there to engage with her.

    - Attendee University of Victoria Leadership Conference
  • Kelsey was ready with a perfectly prepared presentation that was used to compliment her natural ability to connect to her audience while talking. She was interactive, always transparent in answering questions, and always motivating and inspiring - Founder, Women Entrepreneurship

Speaker Books

Success Hangover: Ignite your next act. Screw your...

Speaker Biography

Kelsey Ramsden knows that fundamentally, every successful person is a beginner at every stage because only those who continue to strive are those who survive both for themselves and in business. It is that simple and that hard.

She’s is an innovator and implementer who acts on instincts and does so with integrity. She’s her own dynamic duo of westcoast gal and eastern business powerhouse who has started and run successful multi-million dollar companies in fields as diverse as road construction and kids toys.

Her businesses consistently rank among Canada’s Top 100 fastest growing and most profitable. Self described as “a bonafide business acrobat who marries street wit and formal education foundations, and is both venom and virtue, approaching business with cross-hair focus and integrity underlying every shot.”

Her goal is to give you a window through which you can see yourself with freedom in your business and living a life inspired by you. To give you the tools to build the life you deserve, the life you dream about, a life with boundless success sewn into it. Kelsey leads by example, is no nonsense and inspires people around her with her infectious vision.

She founded Belvedere Place Development, a construction firm that builds roads and other infrastructure in B.C. and the Caribbean, and Tallus Ridge Development.  She infused her company with a combination of size, sales growth and profitability that has ranked her No. 1 on the 2012 PROFIT/Chatelaine W100 list of Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs. Then as a mother of three she was sparked by the question: “how do I find time to play with our children in a more meaningful, enriching way?”  In response, she founded the company SparkPlay, a monthly adventure pack sent to you and your children monthly by mail. Kelsey sits on the Entrepreneurship Council at the Richard Ivey School of Business along with 13 other visionaries and accomplished entrepreneurs from across Canada and the United States. A cancer survivor, Kelsey is an optimist and solutions focused negotiator who delivers win-win results through clear communication. She holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Victoria and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, but feels she has received her greatest education from her husband and family; who have consistently shown that passion, perseverance and integrity yield unparalleled returns personally and professionally.  

Formerly a wayward student, born of generations of true grit and determination, Kelsey triumphed when she graduated with her MBA from the highly regarded Ivey School of Business. She credits that same grit and determination for helping her overcome a devastating cancer prognosis  – a cancer she has since overcome. In her work she balances venom and virtue, book and street smarts, with her belief that imagination and play are powers greater than knowledge.

Similar
Speakers

Peter Van Stolk
Bruce Poon Tip
John DeHart
Bruce Croxon
Cheryl Cran
Lisa Bodell
Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin
Erin Brockovich
Roberta Bondar
Lt. Gen Roméo Dallaire (Ret)
Roberta Jamieson
Maude Barlow
Darrell Bricker
Kim Phuc
Ann Dowsett Johnston
View more