Change Your Shoes, Live Your Greatest Life…
Kathy Andersen left Australia to take a “break” that turned into a journey of more than ten years. Changing her corporate high heels to hiking boots started Kathy on a journey where she would experience the power we each have to be our greatest self and to live our greatest life. It led her to write her bestselling book. Kathy’s five-time award-winning book, Change Your Shoes, Live Your Greatest Life, tells the story of her transformation after she changed her corporate high heels to hiking boots to journey the world at the age of thirty.
Despite Kathy’s career success, and having an abundance around her, she was haunted by childhood memories of sexual abuse by her father that left her empty and lacking meaning. Her award-winning book, Change Your Shoes, Live Your Greatest Life, shows how anyone can overcome difficult circumstances to achieve their dreams.
Her journey of more than ten years took her to places within herself and beyond. Kathy experienced the power we each have to rise beyond the worst that happens to us and discover a higher power, passion, and purpose. Kathy’s journey led her to the work she does now—helping others to connect with their passion and purpose and turning visions into realities.
Kathy is a Master-Class trained facilitator in Adaptive Leadership from Harvard University, and a certified facilitator through Jack Canfield Training Companies. Kathy is also a trainer and facilitator with Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global organization.
She has helped leaders, organizations, and communities transform visions into realities creating an impact for positive change for almost 20 years. Kathy holds a Master’s Degree from Harvard University Kennedy School with a focus on international development and leadership.
Kathy’s leadership experience spans both the private and public sectors. In the private sector, Kathy has worked with international organizations across various industry sectors, including financial services, automotive, and fast-moving consumer goods. Kathy has experience in leadership development, workforce development, new company formation, new product development, mergers and acquisitions, joint venture development, general management, corporate strategy, marketing, branding, and change management. In the public sector, she has worked with government, non-profit organizations, and leaders in the United States, Haiti, India, Venezuela, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic to address issues of poverty, health, education, economic development, at-risk youth, and disabilities.
As the founding Executive Director of the Global Institute for Community Health and Development at the University of Miami, Kathy worked with Professor Jeffrey Sachs and his team at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the World Bank, and the United Nations, as well as the government of Haiti to bring the Millennium Villages development model to Haiti.
Kathy’s clients have included multi-billion dollar public and private corporations, educational institutions, Major League Baseball players, country governments, private philanthropists, and international non-profit organizations. She is currently collaborating with Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and Sheryl’s Lean In Foundation to facilitate empowerment programs for underserved populations including young girls escaping sex trafficking and unemployed communities. Kathy previously established and managed a Clinton Global Initiative America Commitment to Action. It was established to train and transition under-served youth and young adults into entry-level jobs.
A spirited speaker and workshop host, Kathy has spoken at numerous conferences. She has held various workshops and retreats throughout the United States and internationally. In 2008 and 2016, Kathy was invited as a visiting scholar at the Central University of Tibetan Studies in India and facilitated a workshop series on leadership. In 2007, Kathy presented a seminar on universities as agents of global benefit at the World Universities Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In 2006, Kathy’s paper, The Impact Domain, highlighting a new business model for simultaneously creating company growth and national growth, was presented at the United Nations-sponsored conference on Business as an Agent of World Benefit at Case Western University in the United States.
In 2015, Kathy published her second book, Change Your Shoes, 365 Life Resolutions. In 2015, Kathy co-authored The Soul of Success with Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul® series) and other experts in the field of personal and business success. The Soul of Success was released in September 2015 and became a bestseller on its first day of publication. Kathy appears on national media in the United States, speaking on topics including leadership, life fulfillment, inspiration, and well-being. Kathy is also a contributor to the Huffington Post.
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