Dr. Lauren Burns
Olympic Taekwondo Gold Medallist, Author, & Naturopath
Profile
Lauren Burns created sporting history by winning the first Olympic gold medal for Taekwondo when the sport debuted at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Dr Lauren Burns was one of only three Australian women to win an individual Olympic Gold Medal, along with Cathy Freeman and Susie O’Neill. Her amazing triumph at the Sydney Games was achieved against the odds – requiring enormous discipline, commitment, perseverance, and teamwork.
The nation watched as Lauren’s victory brought the Australian public and Olympic crowd to its feet. Before her Olympic win, few people knew Lauren was 12 times Australian Champion and had achieved a string of international titles, including numerous medals at world championship level. Lauren’s gold medal put Australia on the map as a significant global competitor for the sport of Taekwondo.
Since the Sydney Olympics, Lauren has emerged as one of Australia’s most sought-after speakers. She has been on the speaking circuit for over 25 years and continues to travel the country conducting keynote presentations, workshops, and masterclasses, all centred around Elevating Potential. Lauren’s presentations are powerful and engaging. Her genuine passion for inspiring and empowering participants shines through with her down-to-earth storytelling and evidence-based tips for achieving optimal well-being and high-performance living. Her ability to captivate audiences with relatable anecdotes and practical strategies is what sets her apart.
Lauren has a PhD in Athlete Lifestyle and Mindset and works closely with the Australian Institute of Sport, both with the Gold Medal Ready program and their research institute. Her doctoral work won the prestigious RMIT Vice Chancellor’s Prize and Deputy Vice Chancellor’s Prize for Research Impact and is published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals.
A best-selling author, Lauren has penned two books: Fighting Spirit and Food from a Loving Home. Lauren also shares her nutritional expertise by designing whole-food menu plans for a renowned Melbourne childcare centre. Additionally, she offers exclusive one-on-one executive-level coaching while balancing the joys and responsibilities of a busy family life.
Media
Feedback
Excellent. Lauren has an outstanding story to tell and is generous with her medal, autographs, photographs etc. I strongly recommend her
Your inspirational message to our guests was first class and really sealed for us a great night of recognition, for the top achievers in our Dealer network. I know that our people will benefit from your experience and can only hope that some of them can "dare to dream", and achieve just as you have done.
Our conference 'Reach for the Sky' was a great success and largely due to your presentation which matched perfectly with our team's focus and themes for the rest of the year. It was truly motivating and inspirational! We had another two days of conference and many of the guys were consistently referring to yours and Martin's presentation and particularly the focus, control and follow through themes. Your energy and enthusiasm made a big difference to the rest of the conference
Just a quick note to thank you for the excellent talk you gave at our conference last week and for helping with the awards presentation. I have had great feedback from the team on your talk which they found interesting, humorous and inspiring. It certainly made us step back and consider the part we can all play in driving forward the Company’s goals. I know the teams were thrilled to have you attend the Awards dinner and it was a pleasure to talk to you during the course of the evening
On behalf of the board of directors and the members of the association, I would like to express our gratitude for your participation in our annual conference. Your presentation was without doubt one of the most dynamic and energetic we have seen and the feedback received from all the dinner attendees was very enthusiastic. We believe the overall success of the event was due in no small part to your professionalism and obvious passion. We are especially mindful of the short notice we provided to you and are grateful to you that you were able to take the time out of your busy schedule to help us
Lauren, the address you presented on your amazing journey to reach the Sydney Games was truly inspirational and thought provoking and I know that there is a queue to read your autobiography. Your motto “what can be imagined can be achieved. You must dare to dream but there is no substitute for hard work, perseverance and teamwork as no one gets there alone” certainly impacted on the group and your interaction with the group through the demonstration and breaking of the boards energised us for the day ahead. Once again, that you for making our tour one that will be remembered for a long time.
From the feedback sheets collected, and the general ‘vibe’ after your presentation, it was clear that you touched the heart and souls of many in your audience. Especially touching, I felt, were the comments from the young people there, expressing their desire to be all they can be - clearly you connected with them very strongly! Your enthusiastic, sincere and humble style are rare in the speaking world, and were an absolute joy to witness. Personally, I shall always remember your dedication and willingness to ‘do whatever it took’ to keep your commitment to our Chapter that evening
Lauren was absolutely sensational
Excellent, Lauren’s energy was intoxicating. Our guests were mesmerised
Excellent. Lauren is young, fresh, unassuming and communicated brilliantly to a mixed audience
I would like to thank you for the fantastic presentation you gave last week at our conference and for the extra time you gave to talking to our group one on one and answering their questions. It certainly was the highlight of the conference and everyone was talking about it (still are!) and it really made a positive impact on the group.
The impact you made on Sue has been amazing and it was a life-changing event for her. She is so proud of her achievement (breaking the board) and the fact that you believed in her has given her so much more confidence. It is clear that you have an exciting future ahead that will go way beyond your Olympic success (not a bad start though!) by applying that determination and attitude of success. That is why we all got so much out of your presentation and your 'success leaves clues' has made me look at things in a totally new light.
I would sincerely like to thank you for speaking with the participants on our Leadership program. Everyone I spoke to was very impressed and found your presentation highly entertaining, motivating and informative. Your presentation was still being talked about this morning and was the highlight of this important day for the group
A strong speaker with an ability to convince in respect of the sincerity of her message
Excellent. More than a draw card. Lauren is interesting, natural and relaxed as a presenter and has some great stories regarding pushing oneself and overcoming obstacles
Lauren spoke in a way that captivated and involved everyone, forcing us to admire and respect her commitment to all aspects of her life. I would love to involve Lauren in other Ernst and Young events and believe she would do just as an exceptional job in hosting or speaking at any event for us
Excellent. Lauren kept the delegates captivated A great example of hard work and perseverance bringing success
Lauren was absolutely FANTASTIC! Everyone in the room hung off her every word. The stories she told and the messages around leadership, discipline and focus (just to name a few) she conveyed to the audience had an impact on everyone and linked in beautifully with our themes for the day. As well as telling a fascinating story of her life so far, Lauren was extremely entertaining and kept the audience riveted the entire time. Not only was Lauren a sensational speaker but she was a fantastic person.
Lauren was a great speaker and got the crown moving and sharing her journey, which was fantastic. A very professional, inspiring lady - he was a joy to work with. People really wanted to talk to her at the end and ask questions which was great, and think everyone enjoyed touching that little bit of 'gold'! Lauren was terrific and we would definitely use her a great motivational speaker again.
An absolute breath of fresh air. Lauren was engaging, funny and inspirational. Great stories and a great Australian.
Lauren was absolutely fantastic, the clients loved listening to her anecdotes. They especially liked the hands on aspect of learn a couple of Taekwondo moves and getting to break the wood board. It really helped to break up the presentations and was able to lighten the mood after some really intensive sessions.
Congratulations on the inspiring address and presentation you made at our national sales conference last month.
I have over many years attended guest speaker events and I can honestly say, very few have held the audience attention for 40 minutes as yours did.
What I found pleasing, was the way in which you aligned your success in sport to the goals our Company is striving to achieve.
The message you delivered during your talk supported and reinforced what our management team had spoken about during the conference.
Thank you again and congratulations on the way in which you told your story. Thanks to you, we now have a motivated and focused sales team.
Lauren inspired and entertained the audience with her simple but powerful messages on how to succeed through sacrifice and determination.
Thank you so much for coming to our event. I’ve heard so much positive feedback from people who attended - they loved how engaging you are as a speaker and how positive and uplifting your message was!
10 out 10….Lauren was an absolute pleasure to work with - she took the time to understand our event, communicate with our team beforehand and on the night was able to read the vibe in the room exceptionally well. Throughout the evening Lauren was able to seamlessly navigate any changes to schedule or tweak the script as she went. Through personal anecdotes Lauren engaged with our guests and was able to inject her own personality and warmth into the evening. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Lauren for your next event.
We were looking for a speaker who could inspire, unite and help us bring our individual & team goals to life. Lauren did all of this & more! She was warm, engaging, funny and targeted her session delivery and included practical strategies to help us achieve our goals.
