Barbara Demone, author and keynote speaker

Happiness Keynote speaker | Author | Toronto & GTA

Happier teams make better decisions

Barbara Demone brings her practical Happiness Formula, built over 25 years leading in financial services, to corporate events, conferences and wellness programs.

Selected speaking engagements

Inspireship

Sport + Spirit

OSFI

Peel District School Board

Nassagaweya Presbyterian Church

Happiness keynote topics for workplaces

Every talk is built around the Happiness Formula and tailored to your group’s objectives — the examples below are starting points, not a fixed menu.

The Happiness Formula at Work

Barbara’s signature talk. She shares the practical formula she built over three years of morning journaling while leading teams in financial services — and how any audience can apply it the next morning.

  • A repeatable practice for staying steady under pressure
  • Ways to handle difficult conversations without carrying them home
  • Less time lost to drama, more to the work that matters

Keynote

Mindful Leadership Under Pressure

For leadership teams and managers. Drawing on 25 years in a regulated industry, Barbara shows how mindfulness sharpens decision-making rather than softening it.

  • How to make cool-headed decisions in heated situations
  • A way to lead with authenticity without losing authority
  • Practices that fit a full calendar

Keynote or Interactive Session

Happiness Habits for Busy Professionals

An interactive workshop for employee wellness programs and professional networks. Participants leave with a small set of habits that survive a demanding job and a full home life.

  • Three habits that take minutes, not hours
  • How mindfulness and happiness reinforce each other
  • A realistic plan for the first thirty days

Workshop

The Happiness Formula

Barbara didn’t find happiness by changing her life. She found it on a commuter train, journalling each morning while running teams in financial services and raising two boys. Three years later she had a formula that works day in and day out.

  • Presence
  • Gratitude
  • Purpose
  • Balance
  • Intention
  • Let go
  • Do your best
  • Love
Barbara Demone

Why organizations book Barbara

  • She has done the job her audience is doing — 25 years in financial services, in leadership and banking regulation. She isn’t describing workplace pressure from the outside
  • The method is practical, not theoretical — A formula built over three years of daily journalling, broken into steps an audience can use the next morning
  • She’s a published author — Good Morning, Life! (FriesenPress, 2020), available in paperback, hardcover, ebook and audiobook
  • She’s local — Based in Oakville, speaking across Toronto and the GTA — no travel costs, and easy to meet before the event

More about Barbara →

What event organizers say

  • Barbara’s unique and insightful formula for happiness was not only inspiring but also incredibly practical. She masterfully broke down the concept of happiness into tangible steps, making it feel accessible and within reach for everyone in the audience. Her engaging delivery, combined with her deep understanding of the subject, left us all feeling empowered and ready to implement her strategies in our daily lives. Barbara is a remarkable speaker whose wisdom and warmth resonate long after the event has ended.
    Garen Jemian
    Founder – Inspireship
  • Barbara Demone was the ideal keynote speaker to open our Sport + Spirit Women’s Retreat weekend. Barbara’s personal journey to happiness and timely message resonated with the audience and the aim of the retreat, inspiring our guests beyond the weekend.
    Sophie McLaughlin
    Founder – Sport + Spirit
  • Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Good Morning, Life! I knew I wanted Barbara to speak to my team. Her perspective, as well as the perceptive and thought-provoking questions she posed to us, resonated with the entire team and prompted much conversation during and after her visit. Do yourself a favour — read GML and then have Barbara inspire you in person. Thank you, Barbara!
    Stephen Manly
    Managing Director, Model Risk Division – OSFI
Good Morning, Life! book cover

The Book – Good Morning, Life!

One Woman Waking up to Happiness, One Moment at a Time

Barbara’s memoir on confident leadership, guilt-free parenting and letting go of everyday drama — the same formula she brings to the stage.

Where to buy

Speaking highlights

Barbara Demone presenting at the Sport + Spirit Women's Retreat

Sport + Spirit Women’s Retreat

Planning an event?

Tell Barbara your date, your audience and what you want them to walk away with. She’ll reply within two business days.