*The JOURNEY to NOW*

Over the last 18 years, I have been working with businesses and individuals in the capacity as a coach, speaker and business consultant. Before then, I held leadership roles in sales and retail for M&S, Mars and Mattel selling chickens, pants, cat food and Barbies!
All good grounding for now.
These ‘proper jobs’ taught me multiple lessons on leadership (distinctly elegant examples and those that make you weep), selling and influencing (give people what they need), relationships (they matter- A LOT!), humanity (work on a customer service desk in Marks & Spencer for 5 minutes and you experience all the edges of it) and how to fold a jumper like a pro (a skill that is sadly lost).
My venture into the world of coaching started with a life coaching course and ‘was like a Pringle’ (once you pop - you cannot stop!). Working in businesses using new found skills of NLP and coaching swiftly followed and led to a deeply loyal client portfolio.
I am now a qualified coach, NLP and NLP coach trainer, Emergenetics and Spiral Dynamics practitioner and a Heart Centred Leader with Danielle LaPorte.
Channeling my love of talking I am now a podcast host and contributor. Jim McNeish and I hosted, the “Leaders -what now?” podcast which charted in the top 10 business podcasts on Apple and was a reassuring lifeline for leaders during the pandemic.
A lot of the work I do is in the shadows however I have been a finalist in the World of Learning Awards, won a Princess Royal training award and featured in a few BBC programmes and headlined Business Woman Scotland magazine.
Lately, as Strategic Advisor to Illuminate AI, I have been immersed in the world of Generative AI and recognise the shift that this could, and is, making in business and society. This is beyond efficiencies, this is a change to business models and leadership.
Personally, I am a big fan (and teacher) of Ariel Yoga (hanging upside down), murder books, playing tennis (if it’s ever not raining in Glasgow!), Salt and Vinegar McCoy’s, travelling. I am a HUGE Formula 1 geek and can often be found in Thailand at our favourite retreat.
A brilliant Design director, working with me on branding for one of my first businesses presented the strapline - ‘business sorter outerer and all round good deed doer’ -and it has remained my email signature to this day.

The WORK

The crux of my work is in leadership, conversation, GenAI change management, customer experience and being good humans - for ourselves and other people. I guess we all need a little nudge to do this human thing.

Currently what fills my diary is speaking, hosting conferences, coaching exec teams and creating unforgettable leadership experiences. I get to work with ridiculously talented humans through leadership programmes, Generative AI strategy assessments and change projects.

Business models and strategies are unwinding, a different craft of leadership is required to take us forward. It’s an exciting time with many possibilities but when the possibilities are endless, where do you start?

My purpose is to create environments to bring out the best in people and organisations capability and potential.

My favourite piece of feedback is ‘of course you did’. Whether that be convincing a board they have made a fundamentally wrong decision, jumping on a plane to Thailand for a retreat with a monk or having 450 people in a conference do the mannequin challenge.

DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.

Words from AWESOME HUMANS.

"Kirsty’s flexibility, experience and her ability to suggest and translate comprehensive theories simply and with impact has been critical in supporting the entire programme."

- Elena Grigorova, Business Head, Santander
"Kirsty inspires rather than motivates - a rare skill."

- Ashley Moore, Director, DesignLine Creative
"Kirsty Mac is a joy to work with. She is original, high energy, very very funny and a great communicator to a broad audience."

- Jim McNeish, Neish
"Simply the very best all round leader/ facilitator I have had the privilege to work with, ever."

- Robert McLachlan, Managing Director
"Results & return on investment are always the forefront and Kirsty achieves this with creativity, energy and above all, fun. When you have Kirsty on the team everyone wins."

Steve Smith, Director, Raise the Bar
"Her grasp of what really makes a difference, what is at the cutting edge of people leadership, is world class."

- Paul Waters, (formerly) Head of Future Forward, Santander

Speaker Topics

Leadership Craft

A new leader shift is required. As we move into, what Amy Webb would call, Generation Technology, we recognise the need for a different, emergent essence pof leadership.
Working with extraordinary leaders (and those that are less than extraordinary) Kirsty recognised key themes that existed within the graceful, elegant and impactful leaders.
This is Leadership Craft.
This craft has changed rapidly in this onslaught of new technology. A session for those that know leadership is changing and are curious about the best principles of the ones that are going to make the necessary contribution moving forward.
Conversation is (not) Dead

Did you know that 88% of people have lost the will to live on a Teams/Zooms call?*
In this interactive session, audiences will learn to keep the conversation alive for their team and in their career, shine a light on the background conversations, discover their listening loops, and have the conversations that really matter to build quality relationships.
This exciting talk will mobilise audiences to come alive, give each other a good listening to, and amplify the performance of the team.
*66% of statistics are made up on the spot.
The Future Shock of Leadership and Generative AI

Could this time of technology advancements be a time for human enhancements too?
We sit in a curious paradox in business where our greatest risk is Generative AI. Conversely, our greatest opportunity could be Generative AI.
In this Leaders Briefing we take a whistle stop tour of Generative AI, its application, the case studies, the liminality of strategies now, your mindset and the leadership required for the future.
This presentation can be linked with , Illuminate AI - a boutique consultancy working with Generative AI to deliver value for businesses.