Penny Locaso
Influential Entrepreneur, Behavioural Scientist and Women’s Impact Advocate
Penny Locaso is one of Australia’s most influential female entrepreneurs, a behavioural scientist and women’s impact advocate. She empowers women to own their expertise, amplify their influence and create meaningful change. Penny is a sought-after speaker for organisations committed to inclusive leadership and impact.
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Penny Locaso is one of Australia’s most influential female entrepreneurs and a globally recognised voice on women, impact and influence. She is on a mission to empower one million impact-driven women to confidently own their expertise and change the world for the better.
With over 20 years’ experience as a behavioural scientist, impact expert and mentor, Penny has helped thousands of professional women define their impact, amplify their voices and establish themselves as credible, sought-after experts within systems of power. Her work sits at the intersection of behavioural science, leadership, gender equity and intentional adaptability.
Penny’s impact-driven journey began when she made the bold decision to leave a 16-year executive career in a global organisation, relocate her family from Perth to Melbourne, and found her purpose-led company, HackingHappy.co. This personal and professional transformation underpins her powerful and relatable approach on stage.
Through her speaking, Penny challenges the systemic barriers that limit women’s visibility and influence, while equipping audiences with practical tools to build confidence, credibility and authority. Her work focuses on elevating women into expert roles, creating role models for future generations, and driving more inclusive leadership outcomes.
Penny partners with governments, corporations and educational institutions to design programs that enable diverse women to step into expert status with confidence. Her clients and collaborators include Google, Microsoft, Booking.com, Salesforce, Deloitte and Lululemon.
A published researcher, Penny is the author of Hidden Figures, a groundbreaking study exploring how women’s relationship with the word “expert” affects their likelihood of becoming one. Her research addresses the stark reality that women represent only 30 per cent of experts on global stages and less than 14 per cent of media expert voices in Australia.
Penny is also the author of Hacking Happiness, a contributor to Harvard Business Review, a faculty member at Singularity University, a yoga teacher, an Honours Psychology student, and a trauma-informed therapist trained under Dr Gabor Maté.
Her message is clear: women of impact are made, not born.
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Topics
The Expert Effect
The groundbreaking evidence backed secret to advancing female leaders. Transforming perceptions of the word expert to unlock influence, impact and equality.
Why Busy = BS
Using the science of psychology in a fun and engaging way to reframe our relationship with busy to unlock healthy, happy and sustainable high performance.
Flourishing Is Not a Luxury It’s a Necessity
Learning how to leverage your biology (Central Nervous System) to feel energised often, unlock potential beyond what you can visualise for yourself and live a meaningful life.
Fear Is Your Future
Learning how to use fear as the gateway to shaping the impact you seek to have, living the life you want to lead and becoming the leader you long to be.
The Intentionally Adaptable Leader
Learn how to stop reacting and instead start intentionally adapting. Using Penny’s world-first Intentional Adaptability skills framework, leaders will redefine leadership in a way that unlocks healthy, happy and sustainable high performance in themselves and others.
Bespoke keynotes and facilitation are available to meet your unique needs.
