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Iona | Keynote Speaker

@ionaholloway

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My new book Do The Brave Thing is a BESTSELLER 🥳
👇 Get your copy

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Knew I’d get here someday 🥹

The security question on all my bank accounts growing up -

What did you want to be when you grew up?

My answer?

A Star 🌌

When my competitive athletic career ended, I missed the high of game day.

I got put on the sales team at the agency I worked at. Something clicked. I was good at this “stand up and sell it” thing.

I was never the one with the logistics and details of the project. I was The Colour. I brought the stories. I breathed life into what could be.

Selling websites to universities who thing beige is a bold design move and spilling your guts, ideas, and tools on stage to help women live braver lives are different beasts.

I love and hate everything about keynote speaking.

The research, the writing, the prep, the memorizing, the nerves, the dread of standing up and your mind going blank (it’s happened!), having no control over how people will respond…

But oh my god, the High 😂

Yesterday, I gave The Brave One keynote to 600 women in Palm Springs this morning.

I felt fear loving me like it always does.

But as the women at Brave Thing know, fear is not a wall.

It’s something you step through with vulnerability and strength to meet who you become on the other side of Brave 🎾

I had one phrase running through my head since I missed my flight on Monday (lol) and had to scramble to get on a new one.

“Iona, you were born for this.”

My “don’t get too big for your boots” Scottish ancestors might be blushing in their shallow graves at such bravado.

(Is it bravado if it’s true 😉)

They’d respect the guts it took to get here.

I’m so proud of what we’re building at Brave Thing.

We’ve helped 1,000s of women live Braver Lives already and we’re barely out the womb.

If your company brings in speakers, or you have event or conference recs or contacts, DM me, send an email intro, help me make a connection.

I promise I’ll make you look really good 😉🎾 by @ionaholloway

You don’t need permission to step into your power, and you don’t need a flawless plan to start speaking up. The authority, the capability, and the voice you’ve been looking for? It has always been right inside you. Own your narrative today. 💜💛

#BraveThing #IonaHolloway #WeSpeakBermuda #WeSpeaktoEmpower #FindYourVoice by @ionaholloway

A massive thank you to the powerhouse that is @ionaholloway for an unforgettable series of events in Bermuda! 💜💛

Iona, thank you for challenging us to look past our fears and constantly ask ourselves “What is the brave thing?” You didn’t just share your story. You gave us the tools to fully own ours.

The event may be over, but the momentum doesn’t stop. Let’s keep choosing to do the brave thing every single day!

#WeSpeakBermuda #IonaHolloway #FindYourVoice #WeSpeaktoEmpower #Bermuda by @ionaholloway

Last night, we closed out our event series with The Bravest Women in the Room, and it was the ultimate masterclass in what happens when we stop playing it safe.

As the final piece of our trilogy with @ionaholloway, founder of Brave Thing, this event challenged every single one of us to look at the stories we tell ourselves and choose courage over comfort.

Being brave isn’t about having no fear. It’s about taking action anyway. From our teens to our coaches to our wider community this week, everyone showed up ready to lean into the discomfort and do the brave thing!

Thank you, @ionaholloway, for giving us the blueprint to build our bravery, and thank you to every woman who stepped into the room. The event may be over, but the brave work is just beginning.

What is one brave thing you’re going to do today? 👇 Drop it in the comments!

#WeSpeakBermuda #IonaHolloway #FindYourVoice #WeSpeaktoEmpower #BraveThing by @ionaholloway

What an incredible day of courage, storytelling, and growth! 🎤

Today, we kicked off the first two parts of our Brave Bermuda Trilogy with the phenomenal @ionaholloway. From the morning energy at our Teen Workshop (Stop Playing Small), to our Coach the Coaches (Born Storyteller) session, the atmosphere has been nothing short of transformative.

The energy is building, and we are just getting started. We are so excited for the final event of the series. Our community event, The Bravest Women in the Room, takes place tomorrow night! This is the moment where our entire community comes together to rise.

WeSpeak. We Grow. We Rise.

#WeSpeakBermuda #IonaHolloway #FindYourVoice #WeSpeak #WeSpeaktoEmpower by @ionaholloway

It’s launch day!

Do The Brave Thing is now available.

There’s a lot I could say, but this is all I’ve got today:

I found the first 29 years of my life pretty hard to be me.

I was trapped in an open air prison so many high-functioning invisibly-struggling people end up stuck inside.

Finding out I was going to be an aunt to my niece, Evie, shook me awake.

Someone in my life needed a braver version of me to exist.

I chose to be brave.

Today, I’m just so grateful I decided to live a life that makes 5-year-old-me happy and 95-year-old-me proud.

And show my daughter that the bravest thing you can ever do is love and be who you are.

If you’re ever looking around your life wondering “is this really it!?!” the answer is No.

Not Even Close.

Beige is a good colour for a wall. Not your life.

I hope this book helps you realize it’s never too late to remember who you are.

From me and my wee co-author, we’d love if you’d pick up a copy and share it with friends.

You’ll find it on Amazon! by @ionaholloway

You don’t have to be a good writer to write a book.

I don’t think of myself as a good writer.

I think of myself as an author. And a speaker.

And for some reason, those feel different.

A “good writer” has always felt like this… echelon I never quite reached. Whether that’s real or just in my head, I don’t know. But it’s been there.

I remember being in my first book workshop. The guy running it said: “you don’t have to be a writer to be an author.”

And something about that really helped me.

Because identifying as a writer ties you to the craft.

Identifying as an author ties you to the ideas (and I know I’m good at those!)

And for me, that shift made it easier to actually write my first book. And then my second.

Not because I didn’t care about the quality of the writing.

I poured the last year of my life into making Do The Brave Thing as interesting, funny, useful, and beautiful as I can.

Somewhere along the way, I let myself believe:
maybe I am an author AND a good writer.

One of my mentors @laurabelgray tells me I am 🤣

You can be the judge of that on Tuesday when it’s released.

You may have zero desire to ever write a book, but if you’re struggling to call yourself something… maybe just don’t.

Take the pressure off.

Or use one of my favourite concepts in the book.

“I’m in the process of becoming <who you want to be>”

And then do whatever that person would do.

You might actually become more of the thing want to be.

Btw: I’ve only written 2 books. The blue one on the left is the Chinese translation of my first. I would love to translate the translation to see what it says 🤣 by @ionaholloway

“You cheeky wee witch!”
Last year my baby handed me a bitter pill.

When I got back to writing my book after she was born I was thinking summer 2025 release.

Yeah, good one.

This girl didn’t just rearrange my internal organs like Pangea.

And show me my definition of love was, up until she took her first breath, shallow as a puddle.

She stuck her tiny fists into my brain and stirred it like peanut butter.

That’s when I had to swallow hard.

“I’m going to have to rewrite this whole f-ing book.”

So that’s what I did.

And I’m very grateful.

(For the deep eye bags too, I swear!)

Do The Brave Thing is ten times the book it was.

But I also plucked my first grey hairs out my scalp last week and the feeling wasn’t neutral.

I’d do it all over again.

I’m proud of the woman my daughter made me and I’m proud of this book.

Do The Brave Thing is out next Tuesday, May 5.

My name is on the cover.

But I wrote this book for her.

And for you.

If you’ve ever lived a life that looks good on paper while a thought that whispers, “is this it!?” worms it’s way through your belly, don’t wait for regret to turn you to stone.

Beige is a good colour for a wall. Not your life.

Do The Brave Thing 🖤

If you want to support the launch, comment 🐒 by @ionaholloway

No maternity leave. 56,144 words. 1 brutal truth.

This book doesn’t exist without my daughter.

Your ambitions are born in your dreams but built with blood and guts.

I talked about writing my second book for two years.

It didn’t happened until the ultrasound went boom boom boom.

One promise I had to keep:

She was never going to hear me say, “I wanted to write a book, but then I had you.”

Beige is a good colour for a wall, not your life and regret is very expensive.

Rip off the caution tape.

Do The Brave Thing is out Tuesday, May 5th 🖤 by @ionaholloway

Live, speak, and lead with courage🎤

When the stakes are high, how do you stay true to yourself? @ionaholloway of Brave Thing joins us on May 14th to share exactly how to navigate those moments with authenticity and grit.

Through her transformative keynotes, Iona teaches us that bravery isn’t the absence of fear. It’s speaking up anyway. Join us for The Bravest Women in the Room and discover what’s possible when you stop playing small.

✨ May 14th, 2026 ✨ Signature Community Event
🔗 Tickets are moving fast. Get yours now via the link in our bio!

#WeSpeakToEmpower #Bermuda #IonaHolloway #BraveThing #FindYourVoice by @ionaholloway

More Graphic Recording from @ionaholloway ‘s Star Power Speaker ‘Own The Room Showcase’ .

Thank you to Iona and @katiedraws for sharing the opportunity to see the speakers and record their talks.

Again here, my newspaper/editorialish approach. A more mid/long run compared to the hot-house sprint of more trad Graphic Recording.

This fantastic talk from Ali Cameron. ‘Disabled Joy’ about embracing joy through letting the entirety of your self be seen: Letting ourselves be who we really are in order to experience life and joy in full.

Gradually collating these - the second image is a second page for Iona, outlining her frameworks for talking and listening.

#StarPowerSpeaker #OwnTheRoom #ionaholloway by @ionaholloway

OWN THE ROOM

Thank you to @ionaholloway and @katiedraws for the opportunity to create graphic recordings of brave talks at the Own the Room event in December.

Here are the first two illustrations: our host Iona, founder of Brave Thing, and the first speaker, Kinsey Soderberg @ai.kinsey, founder of Authentic AI. More illustrations to follow later this week!

⭐️

#OwnTheRoom2025 #bravething #graphicrecording #aidememoire #suzannepinkliveillustration by @ionaholloway