Alexis Zahner

Alexis Zahner is an author, speaker and consultant working at the intersection of business psychology, social media, leadership and work-life. She is the founder and director of Human Leaders, an Australian-based consultancy that helps create workplaces where people thrive through what she calls Human Leadership, and she is based in Lennox Head, Australia.

Her approach grew out of her experience of management, "the good, the bad and the ugly", which sparked a passion for a more conscious, mindful and human-centric approach to leadership. She holds a Master of Business Psychology and a Bachelor of Business (Honours), and is a Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy practitioner. Her Insight Timer page says she loves helping people reduce stress, manage emotions and lead a life of integrity through mindfulness and compassion. Her career has spanned local government, marketing, media consultancy and management at Patagonia, and she has worked with organisations including Patagonia, Workforce Australia and ING.

Alexis describes herself as a recovering millennial social media addict. She explores identity, attention and authenticity in a digital world that rewards performance over genuine presence, writing from having been shaped by social media in real time, working inside the industries that fuel it, and being academically trained to understand its psychological effects. Her book, Real: Reconnecting to Yourself in a World of Likes and Lies, is published by Wiley and blends lived experience, psychological research and cultural critique.

She writes on social media, digital culture, leadership and work-life, with articles featured in outlets including Fast Company, Big Think, Harvard Business Review, Forbes and HRM Online. She co-hosts the podcast We Are Human Leaders (also presented as Live+Work More Human) with Sally Clarke, with guests including Daniel Goleman, Amy Edmondson and Kim Scott. She regularly speaks and facilitates at conferences, workshops and retreats.

Alexis has travelled to more than 40 countries and names adventure, continuous learning, collaboration, truth seeking, being of service and gratitude as her core values. A keen surfer and snowboarder, she spends much of her spare time outdoors in the Byron Bay region.