Amal Alhuwayshil - TEDx Speaker, Top 40 Under 40 Motivational Speaker from Ottawa, ON

Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, Amal moved to Canada in 2013, 24 years old and fully covered from head to toes. This woman's courageous journey of overcoming a series of events; from societal and political oppression, to filing for divorce and moving to Canada, to re-writing her story, leveraging the pain from the past, to finding her passion for advocacy, storytelling, inspiring and empowering others to live and lead authentically. Amal brings her exuberance, humour, and experience to inspire her audiences to dream big. Through personable and riveting storytelling, she is helping leaders of today harness their inner courage, overcome their biggest obstacles, build resilience, and maximize their success. On any given day, you can find Amal practicing yoga, reading, writing, dancing, talking to strangers, and most likely going on long walks in the forest. Popular Keynotes: From Burka to Bikini: A Journey of Reinvention This keynote will Open your Mind and Move your Heart. Whatever you have ever thought about women in the Middle East, women empowerment and gender equality in the West. Amal is here to break your biases, shift some of those thoughts, blindspots so that we can all come together in deeper understanding and better inclusion and love for our humanity. Through riveting storytelling and powerful practical tools, Amal will inspire you to step into your own journey to personal reinvention, build resilience, find your courage and audacity to thrive past your hardships. Amal’s journey inspires her audience to create powerful shifts. She shares her thought-provoking ideas to harness the power of vulnerability for leaders to come together to cultivate an inclusive community where everyone can express themselves authentically and belong. Defining Moments: The Highway To Authenticity This keynote is a call into authenticity, courage and wholehearted living. Life is full of defining moments that always bring us back into discovery and full expression of our authentic selves. Somewhere along the way, consciously or unconsciously, we have created associations with what keeps us loved and belonging, what gives us success, attention and recognition. We’re embracing the qualities of our pears, the ideologies of our parents, society and race. All in an attempt to fit in, belong, prove our value, prove that we're enough, prove that we're worthy of love and success. While your true and authentic self, untamed and creative self hides away, kept small and afraid to be seen. I believe that with each defining moment, we become more and more the person we're meant to be, and we are closer to full expression. Amal shares riveting stories, powerful practical tools for deeper authentic self-discovery, untamed self-expression, and the principles to foster a community where authentic leaders belong. Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Through Understanding Your Brain. For many of us, imposter syndrome has become an impossibility syndrome. Keeping us playing small, self-sabotaging, feeling like a fraud in our careers, afraid to speak up and be seen, and undervaluing our skills, experiences, and accomplishments. Then, at the end of the day, we sit and judge ourselves for not being more “successful”, “creative”, or “further ahead”. You know in your bones there’s more to you, to your life, and to your career. You have dreams and visions for yourself, your community, and our humanity. Yet, you are feeling overpowered by imposter syndrome and self-doubts. Join us to reclaim your power. Learn how to recognize impostor syndrome in yourself and others, understand your brain and nervous system, and explore practical tools and strategies to triumph over your impossibility syndrome. In this session, Amal will guide you through a profound tool to embody a more empowering mindset. So that you can fully show up and flourish in your life and your career. Audacity & Hope: Resiliency In the Face of Uncertainty. This keynote is a call to vulnerability and audacity to show up no matter what. We all want certainty. We want certainty that our attempts at success would guarantee no failures, that our love would be met by love, our honesty would be met by honesty, and our devotion, our hard work, our dedication, would be seen, acknowledged and celebrated. Here’s the thing, there’s no certainty ahead. There’s just raw vulnerability, and sometimes it’s really painful. While we can shelter ourselves from failure, heartbreak, and hard things happening to us and those we care for and about, we all know that never works. Life happens, and with no awareness, we can spiral down into endless worries, anxiety, overwhelm and burnout. Amal uses the power of storytelling to inspire and empower her audience with tools to get to know their edges, their nervous system, cultivate trust, courage, and. have the audacity to take action, colour outside the lines, and show up hopeful for themselves and our humanity.