Life is a dress rehearsal. What are your people rehearsing?
Dr Simone Boer is a PhD neuroscientist who went on to lead 550 people. Her keynote shows your people how to stop repeating what's familiar — and start rehearsing who they're becoming.
Trusted by leaders in business, property, finance and enterprise.
Capable people. Familiar patterns. Same results.
They stay busy, overthink, wait for certainty and keep doing what worked before — even when they know something needs to change. Good ideas stall. Change drags. Strong performers plateau.
Some have been in the same box so long, they've renovated. It's quite lovely. Still a box.
The biggest risk isn't always underperformance. It's capable people becoming exceptionally good at repeating what already exists.
“Most people don't reach the edge of their potential. They reach the edge of the identity they've rehearsed.”— DR SIMONE BOER
We mistake familiarity for truth. Because a pattern feels like us, we assume it is us. But identity isn't only something you discover. It's reinforced by what you repeatedly think, practise and do. Change the rehearsal, and you change the performance.
“I can explain exactly why I do things. Very impressive. Still doing it.”— DR SIMONE BOER
That's why Simone's work isn't about knowing better. Everyone in your room already knows better. It's about rehearsing differently.
She's moved sceptical rooms before. Once, a whole city.
When Alcoa closed and Ford was ending, Simone led Geelong's Our Future process as Head of Strategy — more than 16,000 voices, and plenty of “we've done this before.” It ended with hundreds of people at The Pier voting for what Geelong would become: clever and creative.
Before that came a PhD in neuroscience. After it, a 550-person division, board and chair roles, and a property portfolio that let her leave corporate life at 39.
Life is Actually
a Dress Rehearsal
How capable people stop repeating the familiar and rehearse what's next.
A medical student who rehearsed four minutes of his life that hadn't happened yet. A 12-year-old with a stutter who found her voice in a school play. Simone uses stories like these, the neuroscience behind them, and her own path from poverty to scientist, senior leader and entrepreneur.
And it isn't a sit-back-and-listen keynote. Your audience will finish the sentences they've been running on autopilot, meet the seven-year-old who's been driving their decisions, and rehearse one real moment from the week ahead.
Identify the patterns they've been rehearsing on autopilot.
Challenge the assumptions that keep them defaulting to the familiar.
Take one deliberate action before confidence arrives.
Not when they feel ready. Before.
See the keynote →
“WOW! It had everything. I laughed, I cried… and most importantly walked out of the session with an incredible sense of clarity and tangible action items.”
“The way Simone structures everything, she shows the impact you can expect, the outcome you can enjoy, then gives you the tools to go out and do it… This is where the power is.”
Booking Simone is simple.
Your event, your audience and the shift you want them to make.
A short briefing so the stories land in your industry and your theme.
One specific action, already practised in the room — and a way to go again.
What happens on Monday?
The room loves it at 10am. By lunch, it's forgotten. By Monday, the needle has dropped back into the same groove.
Your people walk out with one action already rehearsed — the conversation, the number, the decision they've been putting off. More courage. More ownership. Less waiting for permission.
You inherited the map. You don't have to inherit the destination.
If your people are capable but stuck repeating what's worked, Life is Actually a Dress Rehearsal belongs at your next event.
Ideal for leadership conferences, professional associations, executive and senior leader events, business and entrepreneur events, and organisations going through change.
Tell us your date, audience and what you want them to walk out doing. Simone will reply personally within 2 business days.
Work with her 1:1, or bring her into your organisation for workshops and retreats.
Work with Simone →