Kristy von Minden is a workplace wellbeing and performance specialist who uses evidence-based strategies to help leaders and teams redesign the modern workday—improving focus, resilience and sustainable high performance by working with the brain’s natural wiring, not against it.
Drawing on neuroscience, psychology and behavioural science, Kristy helps leaders and teams tackle one of the biggest challenges facing today’s workplaces: protecting attention in an increasingly distracted world. Through practical, evidence-based keynotes and workshops, she equips organisations with simple strategies to improve focus, build resilience and create the conditions for sustainable high performance—without sacrificing wellbeing.
Before founding Mind Bright, Kristy spent more than 15 years in senior marketing and communications roles, leading large teams and working with some of the world’s largest brands. Having experienced burnout and chronic stress firsthand, she understands both the commercial realities of modern work and the science behind helping people perform sustainably.
Over the past decade, Kristy has delivered more than 400 keynotes and workshops across New Zealand and Australia for organisations including Air New Zealand, McDonald’s, Foodstuffs, Sony, Bosch, The University of Auckland, The CEO Institute, Southern Cross, Public Trust, The Iconic, ASB and HSBC.
Kristy holds a Bachelor of Communications, multiple mindfulness teaching accreditations through Ovio, and has completed the University of California, Berkeley’s Science of Happiness programme.
Talking Points
Minimise Distraction, Maximise Productivity
Why focus is the new frontier of workplace wellbeing and performance.Minimise Distraction, Maximise Productivity
Distraction isn’t simply an inconvenience or a productivity issue—it’s one of the greatest wellbeing and performance challenges of the modern workplace. Because distraction and stress share many of the same neural pathways, every interruption—whether from emails, notifications, colleagues or even ourselves—activates the brain’s stress response. Over time, constant distraction doesn’t just reduce productivity; it wires the brain for chronic stress, leaving us feeling more reactive, overwhelmed and mentally fatigued day after day.
In this engaging, neuroscience-based keynote, Kristy challenges conventional thinking about productivity and explores why protecting attention has become essential for both human and organisational performance. Participants gain greater awareness of how the modern workday is shaping their brain and leave with practical strategies to intentionally redesign the way they work, protect focus and create the conditions that make wellbeing and business success possible.
Resilience Rewired
How to rewire chronic stress into calm, clarity and sustainable performance.Resilience Rewired
Most of us already know the wellbeing tools—exercise, mindfulness, breathing, sleep and gratitude. What’s often missing isn’t knowledge; it’s a practical strategy for using those tools in a way that leverages the brain’s neuroplasticity.
Many professionals unknowingly spend their days wiring their brains for patterns of chronic stress and anxiety. In this engaging, neuroscience-based keynote, Kristy demonstrates how evidence-based practices that take just 1–5 minutes can be woven throughout the workday to activate the brain’s relaxation response, optimise performance in the moment and, in a matter of weeks, begin rewiring the brain for greater calm, resilience and clarity.
Participants also rethink what it means to perform at a high level. Rather than constantly working harder and faster, they discover why strategically building moments of recovery into the workday not only protects against burnout but also improves focus, decision-making, creativity and performance. It’s compelling science that demonstrates that when people are well, they perform better—creating a genuine win-win for both organisations and the humans behind them.
The Secrets of Sustainable High Performance
Redesign your workday to improve performance, optimise brain function and prevent burnout.The Secrets of Sustainable High Performance
High performance isn’t about doing more—it’s about creating the conditions that allow your brain to perform at its best.
Participants begin by completing a Whole-Person Wellbeing Audit, identifying which of the four dimensions of wellbeing is currently having the greatest impact on their energy and performance.
Kristy then introduces three evidence-based principles for sustainable high performance, showing participants how to redesign their workday in line with the brain’s natural wiring. By balancing focused work with intentional recovery, protecting energy and activating calm, participants learn how to get more done in less time, optimise cognitive performance and reduce the risk of burnout.
The session challenges the traditional belief that working harder is the path to success, replacing it with compelling scientific evidence that when people are well, they perform better. Participants leave with a practical blueprint for improving both wellbeing and performance—benefiting the individual, their team and the organisation
Additional Keynotes & Workshops
Additional topics include:Additional Keynotes & Workshops
Self-Leadership Through Change & Uncertainty
Emotional Agility at Work
User Guide to Your High-Performance Brain
Digital Chaos to Calm & Clarity
The Habits Blueprint
Sleep: Your Performance Superpower
The Gratitude Advantage
Mindfulness for Modern Work Life
The Energy Edge
The 60-Second Reset To
I've had the pleasure of hearing Kristy speak over the past five years on a wide range of topics, and she never fails to impress. At the recent Air New Zealand conference, Kristy was truly e ... keep reading Air New Zealand
We have run three of Kristy's workshops a year for the last two years for our Pinnacle Programme students and both myself and the students got so much out of these workshops! We love that they are engaging, evidence-based, clear and we all walked away inspired for change with actionable insights.
Just a quick note to say thank you so much for coming and talking to our team earlier this week and for sending us the resources and toolkit as follow up. We had a lot of positive feedback about your session and I think everyone came away feeling like this was an area they wanted to work on both for themselves and their teams.
Kristy delivered a highly engaging session with a compelling narrative that really landed with our audience. She translated the science of focus and distraction into practical, realistic strategies and a simple workplace framework teams can actually apply. The feedback was excellent, a great blend of wellbeing and performance outcomes.
Thanks for that session Kristy, was the best presentation we have had at the CEOi, group really enjoyed it. Thank you for your time! Thanks again for your time presenting to the group yesterday, it was a really insightful session, and the feedback has been incredible. The only problem with being a 10/10 speaker, is all the other Chairs will want you to speak to their groups too!
A lot of impromptu positive comments about the content and our MD, Brendon, specifically said you were one of best speakers we have invited in, so that's wonderful feedback to pass on to you.
That was such a great workshop Kristy, thank you so much, my favourite speaker we've had in for the whole series.
Meeting you was a pleasure, and I've had the opportunity to speak with the team about your presentation. I'm delighted to report that everyone found the content engaging, the tools useful, and they've taken away valuable insights from your concise and scientifically grounded presentation. It was music to the ears of our room full of engineers! During lunch, there was discussion of the green zone and mindfulness, indicating that positive change is already underway, and I'm confident it will continue. With this in mind, I plan to bring up your session at our upcoming board meeting to gauge the directors' perception and hopefully gain their support for the remaining workshops. We will definitely look to build on these learnings with more workshops.
I've never seen my team so excited after having a speaker in. Kristy inspires, motivates and moves people with her workshops. This is the third year we've worked with her and every time we are blown away with the way she delivers her content.
Kristy it was SO awesome to have you to our team day, you were the highlight and the team were so grateful for the opportunity. They said you were really relatable, enjoyed the fact that it was science based and the suggested practices were able to be implemented and not a one size fits all. We'll have you back for sure.
I'm loving hearing all the chatter this arvo about your workshop. It has really resonated with everyone, fantastic content and fantastically presented, thank you.
Kristy's presentation was informative with very practical tools. Kristy was warm, positive and a had a wonderful energy about her. She engaged well with the group and encouraged interaction.
Kristy delivered an outstanding workshop for our senior marketing leadership team at THE ICONIC. What stood out most was that it was so much more than a traditional wellbeing session—she seamlessly connected neuroscience, wellbeing and sustainable high performance with real commercial outcomes, making it highly relevant for our leaders. Kristy is an incredibly engaging speaker, combining science, practical tools, meaningful discussion and her own corporate burnout story in a way that was both authentic and impactful; one leader even messaged me afterwards saying it was "life-changing" and "10/10." The feedback was exceptional, and it was so relevant and well-received that we've decided to bring Kristy back to deliver the workshop to the rest of our marketing team.
Kristy has now presented for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand on five occasions, and she continues to be one of our highest-rated speakers. Delivering engaging online sessions for an hour is no easy feat, yet Kristy's interactive style, practical strategies and ability to keep members actively involved consistently receive exceptional feedback. Her presentations are evidence-based, highly engaging and immediately applicable, making them a favourite with our members. We look forward to welcoming Kristy back again.
Thank you for the insighful session. Kristy's session was clear, interactive and full of practical takeaways. We have learned a lot without feeling overwhelmed.
Kristy was a fantastic facilitator and we loved the practical strategies shared. So far I’ve had amazing feedback from the leadership team - a new and different type of learning in the offsite setting and one that was appreciated. The tools were valued and can be shared with team members, which was a bonus.
It has been a pleasure working with Kristy. She has a down-to-earth, practical approach to wellbeing in the workplace (and at home), with people and the business in mind. Kristy has a wealth of knowledge in this field and our team really enjoyed her presentation style. The content was relevant and interesting and staff were able to walk away with a tool kit that is simple to implement.
We wanted to provide some practical tools for our people to help them in life and work. The mindfulness sessions followed on nicely as a continued learning experience after our stress less wellness programme that we rolled out last year. The content is beautifully simple and backed by scientific research. The practical, no-fuss approach has been one of the factors that made this programme so popular amongst our staff. The ability to provide a programme that is practical, engaging and simple for people to implement is often underestimated. Kristy beautifully brings this to life because she has worked in an office environment at senior management level, so she understands the demands of corporate life. She is able to hold this space for people to share their own experiences. Kristy is relatable and pragmatic in her approach which people appreciated. She also has a lovely calm energy which is a testament to what she is teaching people. I have had several people tell me how they have now implemented the learnings from the programme into their life and how that has personally really helped them to move forward. We are holding some more sessions in a couple of weeks and have had a 60% uptake in the business which is a testament to how impactful this has been for our people.
Such a great session, the team loved it. Personal, clear, good, simple suggestions. So many Aha moments! I loved that the content was science-based and focused on the brain but with a real-life lense.
Kristy delivered another outstanding keynote for NZ Golf's Annual Summit. We are very pleased to report that our delegates scored her 95% - a remarkably good rating.
I just wanted to thank you for today’s conference. Hit the mark perfectly in terms of the science and the practicality of what people can do. We've had remarkably good feedback.
Kristy was an extremely engaging presenter. She is obviously very passionate about wellbeing and health. I especially appreciated that she backed up all of her statements and examples with the scientific basis, which was great for an audience of scientists! Everyone I talked to after the presentation was very happy and motivated to put a few little steps in place to help make our lives that little bit better and healthier. We would love to work with Kristy again if we get the opportunity.
Kristy brought the most amazing energy. We listened to her speak about mindfulness and stress management. Her wisdom and understanding of these areas really connected with all of us. Kristy has the ability to deliver powerful messages in a way that is easy and enjoyable to comprehend, there were some fantastic golden nuggets. The theory of mindfulness can often feel a bit airy-fairy, but Kristy was able to use science-based facts to help really connect her thinking, which was incredibly powerful.
I found the whole experience to be so professional, insightful, easy to understand and empowering. I loved that the key messages were simple, intuitive and human-centric. Kristy was exceptional in her delivery and manner, really easy to listen to and follow.
