Katrina McCarter has always been fascinated by how people think, choose and buy.
From collecting and reselling golf balls as a child to saving for her first international trip by working at KFC at 16, she has long understood one simple truth. If you understand people, you understand what drives every decision.
Today, Katrina is an international keynote speaker and consumer insight strategist who helps organisations understand today's customer and what it takes to drive growth in a rapidly changing environment.
With more than 25 years' experience across corporate leadership and entrepreneurship, Katrina is known for her practical, data-driven approach to understanding customer behaviour and translating it into low-cost, high-impact growth strategies. She began her career on the ground, working her way up from a graduate role in sales to leading a $140 million division for a Fortune 100 company. Having worked at the coalface of business, she brings real-world credibility and commercial insight to every stage she steps onto.
Katrina's work focuses on turning customer behaviour and research into clear actions that improve trust, strengthen relationships and drive measurable results.
She is the creator of The Trust Deficit, her landmark keynote exploring why customers are more sceptical, more selective and quicker to walk away, and what organisations must do to become the obvious choice in a market where trust has become the ultimate growth driver.
In addition, Katrina delivers a suite of highly requested keynotes including Meet Your Customer Where They Are, Different or Die, Marketing With No Money and Get More Clients.
She has worked with organisations across Australia, the US and Europe and has shared the stage with global brands including Google, Facebook and Audible in New York and Paris.
A five-time B&T Women in Media Awards finalist, Top 50 Small Business Leader and recipient of a Noble Platinum Award for Outstanding Leadership in Marketing, Katrina is also a bestselling author and trusted advisor to organisations seeking practical ways to grow.
Katrina holds a Bachelor of Business in Marketing and an MBA in International Business.
Known for her engaging and relatable style, Katrina delivers presentations that are practical, relevant and immediately usable. She connects quickly with audiences because she combines commercial experience with deep customer insight and shows exactly how to apply it in the real world.
Her focus is simple. Help organisations understand their customers better so they can make smarter decisions, move faster and grow.
Talking Points
The Trust Deficit: How Today’s Customers Decide Who to Trust and Why It Drives Growth
Customer behaviour has changed. Most organisations have not caught up.The Trust Deficit: How Today’s Customers Decide Who to Trust and Why It Drives Growth
Today's customers are more informed, more sceptical and more selective. They no longer ask, Who is best? They ask, Do I trust this enough to choose it?
This is The Trust Deficit — the growing gap between how much organisations believe they are trusted and how much customers actually trust them. And it is quietly costing them
conversion, loyalty and growth.
In this keynote, Katrina reveals how customers decide who to trust, why organisations are unintentionally losing credibility, and what it takes to become the obvious choice in a sceptical market.
Drawing on global research, generational insights and real-world examples, she introduces a practical framework for how trust is built, lost and assessed — often before a customer ever engages with your business.
Trust is not a brand value. It’s a commercial growth driver.
Your Audience Will Learn:
• Why trust has become the most powerful driver of customer choice
• How customers assess credibility before they buy
• How trust expectations differ across generations
• The signals customers look for when deciding who to believe
• Where organisations unintentionally lose trust
• Practical ways to strengthen credibility, conversion and customer confidence
Available as keynote presentation, half day workshop or full day workshop.
DIFFERENT OR DIE: How to Stand Out in a Market Where Customers Have Endless Choice
Customers don’t have a shortage of options. They have a shortage of reasons to choose. DIFFERENT OR DIE: How to Stand Out in a Market Where Customers Have Endless Choice
They compare more, switch faster and have little tolerance for brands that feel the same. In this environment, being good is no longer enough. If you are not different, you are invisible.
In this keynote, Katrina McCarter explores why differentiation has become one of the most critical drivers of growth and how today’s customers decide which brands stand out and which get overlooked.
Drawing on consumer insight and real-world examples, she shows how organisations can identify what truly sets them apart and communicate that difference in a way that customers understand, value and trust.
Because customers don’t choose the best option.
They choose the clearest and most compelling one.
Your Audience Will Learn:
• Why many organisations struggle to stand out, even when they are good
• How customers choose between similar brands
• How to identify what truly makes your organisation different
• Practical ways to communicate your difference clearly and confidently
• How differentiation strengthens trust, loyalty and long-term growth
MEET YOUR CUSTOMER WHERE THEY ARE: How Different Generations Choose, Engage and Decide
For the first time in history, organisations are navigating a marketplace shaped by multiple generations, each thinking, communicating and making purchasing decisions in very different ways. This creates a fundamental challenge. The same message does not land the same way. The same channel does not reach every audience. And the same strategy does not drive the same result. In today's market, you don't choose how your marketing is received. Your customer does.MEET YOUR CUSTOMER WHERE THEY ARE: How Different Generations Choose, Engage and Decide
In this keynote, Katrina McCarter unpacks the behaviours, expectations and decision-making patterns that shape how different generations discover, engage with and choose brands.
Drawing on research, consumer trends and real-world examples, she shows how organisations can better align their messaging, channels and customer experience to stay relevant in a rapidly changing marketplace.
Because growth is not just about what you say.
It is about where, how and to whom you say it.
Your Audience Will Learn
• How the expectations and behaviours of different generations differ
• How each generation prefers to discover, research and engage with brands
• Why messaging that works for one audience can fail with another
• Practical ways to align channels, messaging and customer experience
• How to stay relevant as customer expectations continue to evolve
Marketing with no money: How to Grow Your Business Without a Big Budget
Think your business needs to spend big to have a big impact?Marketing with no money: How to Grow Your Business Without a Big Budget
Think again.
Award-winning consumer insight strategist and author Katrina McCarter has a proven track record of growing businesses on minimal marketing spend, including building a community of more than 150,000 members on a remarkably small budget.
In this practical and energising keynote, Katrina shares proven strategies to attract, convert and retain customers using creativity, partnerships and customer insight rather than large advertising budgets.
Drawing on her experience as a Fortune 100 team leader and entrepreneur, she shows how customers discover, engage with and recommend businesses today, and how to use the assets you already have to drive growth.
Because growth is not driven by how much you spend.
It is driven by how well you understand your customer.
Your Audience Will Learn:
• Practical strategies to attract customers without increasing spend
• How partnerships and collaborations can accelerate growth
• How to stand out and attract the right customers
• Why visibility and digital presence matter for discoverability
• How testimonials and social proof influence customer decisions
• Practical ways to strengthen customer experience and word-of-mouth
Get More Clients How to Get Found, Chosen and Recommended
Getting more clients today is not just about marketing. It is about being easy to find, easy to trust and easy to choose.Get More Clients How to Get Found, Chosen and Recommended
Customers are searching differently. They rely on reviews more than ever. And they make decisions long before they ever contact you.
Which means if you are not visible, credible and relevant at the right moments, you are being overlooked.
In this highly practical keynote, Katrina McCarter shares the key actions every business can take to improve how they are discovered, how they are perceived and how they turn interest into enquiries. Drawing on real-world examples, she shows how to strengthen your presence, build credibility and create the kind of customer experience that drives recommendations and repeat business.
Because customers don't choose the business that shouts the loudest. They choose the one that feels easiest to trust.
Your Audience Will Learn:
• How customers search for and discover businesses today, including AI and digital platforms
• How to optimise your presence to be found at the right moment
• Why testimonials and social proof are critical to being chosen
• Practical ways to generate more reviews and recommendations
• How to re-engage past customers and unlock missed opportunities
• How to strengthen customer experience to drive repeat business and word-of-mouth
Video
Katrina McCarter - Your Business Wingwomen | Saxton Speakers
From her first job collecting golf balls to saving enough by age 16 from her after-school job at KFC to fund a trip to New York, Katrina McCarter has always known how to make money. Now, as an award-winning international speaker, bestselling author and business coach, she wants everyone to know the strategies and secrets she learned from her days running a $140 million team for a Fortune 100 company and building her own successful businesses. More, she wants to share her philosophy that good business equates with happiness and health. You don’t have to smash yourself to smash goals.About Katrina McCarter | Saxton Speakers
Armed with over a decade of running successful businesses, global marketing expert Katrina McCarter – a Fortune 100 corporate chief turned entrepreneur, international award-winning speaker and author – has helped hundreds of clients build businesses, reputations and visibility. With over 25 years’ experience, Katrina brings absolute clarity, outrageous confidence and true commercial success. She’s reached audiences of thousands across Europe, the US and Australia and is a five-time B&T Women in Media Awards finalist and 2021 Top 50 Small Business Leader.Katrina ROCKED our stage. In less than 5 minutes she had 350 people in rapturous applause! What more could I ask for? ... keep reading Dent Global
Katrina delivered a highlight presentation to almost 500 delegates helping our audience of optometrists and their teams better understand Gen Y and Gen Z in order to attract, engage and retain these future eyecare customers.
Katrina is a global expert whose passion and prowess is boundless and borderless. Her signature speaking style is smart, clear, logical, and action orientated full of case study examples.
Katrina’s presentation was full of great content and plenty of practical examples. We will definitely be working with her again.
Katrina McCarter is one of the most insightful voices on customer behaviour and trust in the market today. In the line of my work, I see many professional speakers around the world. In my view, Katrina McCarter is one of the best at a true global level. The depth of her knowledge and experience, strongly reinforced with research and data makes every topic that she shares incredibly valuable and practical to every single audience. Katrina shares deeply relevant and accessible stories, examples and case studies in a powerful way. If you want a professional speaker to educate, inspire and challenge your audience— Katrina McCarter will tick every box, every time.
It’s been an absolute privilege to work with Katrina who is an expert in her field. Katrina presented at our annual Franchising Conference where she educated, inspired and supported all Franchisees with her 8 Steps program. Katrina’s warm, approachable style makes her relatable and someone I would highly recommend.
Katrina has worked closely with APPA over several years across research, strategy and member engagement. She brings a deep understanding of today’s customer and an exceptional ability to translate data into clear, commercially relevant action. From leading multiple research projects to facilitating our Board Strategy Day and delivering conference keynotes and member programs, Katrina consistently delivers insightful, practical work that connects directly to growth. She is also an engaging and highly professional speaker who connects quickly with audiences and delivers content that is both thought-provoking and actionable. Katrina is a trusted partner to our organisation and I would highly recommend her.
We had the pleasure of working with Katrina as the keynote speaker for Unitron's 5-city national roadshow, and she was absolutely outstanding. From the outset, Katrina was collaborative, professional, and a joy to work with - making the planning process seamless and enjoyable. On stage, Katrina delivered with energy, warmth, and authenticity. She engaged audiences across all cities with practical insights and an inspiring message that resonated deeply. The feedback from attendees was consistently glowing, with many remarking on how relevant, engaging, and actionable her keynote was. Katrina is not only an exceptional speaker but also a true partner in ensuring an event’s success. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a keynote who can captivate audiences and leave a lasting impact.
10/10! Katrina went above and beyond to ensure our sessions were a success.
Working with Katrina has been a dream. She delivered great, tailored content with actionable takeaways. Her session was extremely popular with our delegates, receiving the highest score in our post event feedback surveys, 4.9 out of 5. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Katrina for anyone looking to add the wow factor to their event.
We were thrilled to welcome Katrina McCarter back to Lincoln Institute’s Omega Summit in June 2024 for the second time. Katrina’s presentation on protecting brand reputation, particularly handling one-star Google reviews, was incredibly insightful and resonated deeply with our audience. The feedback from attendees was overwhelming positive, with many praising her practical advice and expertise in brand management. Katrina is a reliable and safe choice when it comes to booking a speaker. She is professional and proactive in the lead-up to the event, delivers with huge impact on the day, and her post-conference follow up can’t be faulted. We highly recommend Katrina for anyone looking for a speaker who consistently exceeds expectations.
Katrina’s delivery was polished and insightful. In a world where technology is personalising everything around us, it’s important that marketers think about the different segments deeply and clearly.
