Norliza Pavlakos is an international keynote speaker and entrepreneur whose leadership frameworks are forged from real pressure, real adversity, and more than two decades of building successful ventures from the ground up.

Life rarely follows the path we imagine. At 16, facing challenges no teenager should face, with no family support or safety net, survival itself seemed uncertain. Later, as a young single mother navigating impossible circumstances, conventional measures of success felt permanently out of reach. In those moments, she discovered a powerful truth: when you have nothing to lose, you have everything to gain.

With zero capital and no connections, Norliza built anyway. She created Australia’s first Miss India International Beauty Pageant, attracting 4,000 attendees from nothing. She took over a failing café with no restaurant experience and made it profitable. She scaled Finest Alterations to five locations serving elite clients including the Australian Open, Marriott Hotels, and international designer brands. She founded My Mind Hub, Australia’s mental health directory, published her memoir Conviction, and built a global speaking career spanning five continents.

From these experiences, Norliza developed her signature frameworks: The Power of Nothing, showing how constraint can unlock opportunity; The Conviction Effect, proving decisive action eliminates paralysis and drives momentum; and The One Day Reset, a rapid recovery system that keeps performance consistent under relentless pressure.

She delivers practical, actionable strategies that strengthen resilience, decision-making, and execution under pressure. Norliza speaks to organisations that want to develop confident, decisive leaders and high-performing teams. Her sessions combine compelling storytelling with tools that can be applied immediately, making her a standout choice for leadership events, high-performance teams, and audiences navigating uncertainty or underestimation.