On behalf of Joe Badolato and the entire ARCS team, I would like to thank Paula Dunn for her four years as both the clinical research monitoring and leadership interest area convenors. During her time as convenor, Paula has been a passionate volunteer always willing to share her knowledge and experience with ARCS members. Our members gained from the exchange of ideas and solutions presented at these meetings. We would like to thank Paula Dunn for volunteering her time, experience, expertise and energy in contributing to the continuing professional development of her peers. Thank you Paula!

Paula has been my mentor through the Inspiring Rare Birds program for about four months and I’ve really enjoyed and benefited from our conversations, particularly in this unique time of COVID-19. Our fortnightly calls help me stay positive and keep focused on the day-to-day situations I face at work, with a view to developing my long-term career objectives. It’s been great to have her as a calming, reassuring presence to help me feel in control during the current work-from-home setup.

I started a new role in a new industry this year, so we have been focusing on building new relationships, developing emotional intelligence to understand personalities that differ to my own, and how to get the best outcome in these professional relationships. More broadly, she’s given me advice on building a network in Brisbane, as I moved from Canada just over 1 year ago. Paula is a great listener who offers practical, easy-to-implement advice, and I would highly recommend her as a mentor to people at any stage of their career.

Most assessments I have had experience working with have focused on personality traits and behaviours to highlight opportunities for development. The Fingerprints for Success assessment was introduced to me by Paula and focuses on attitudes and motivations to leverage change.

When Paula presented my individual feedback, it covered a wide range of information and Paula delivered this in concise sections that were easy to absorb. The structure was clear, logical and effective and talking through the feedback with Paula helped me learn new information about what drives me and my blind spots to give me the confidence to implement new techniques immediately.

Paula is a committed, passionate, generous and authentic consultant who has the capacity to engage with diverse audiences across a variety of topic areas. I was fortunate to be an active observer during a “pitching” workshop that Paula delivered to some of our Year 7-12 school young entrepreneurs, although an online experience, Paula was engaging and enthusiastic, and the girls gained wonderful insights into the development and delivery of a pitch for the product ideas they are formulating.

Additionally, I also participated in Paula’s “Cultivating a Leadership Mindset in Times of Chaos” webinar last week and was once again impressed with her expertise in this space and her ability to connect with the participants who also joined the program. Paula’s positivity, resilience and life story truly is inspirational and I would recommend others connect with Paula if they are seeking to build confidence and capacity in students or staff.

As a school, we are passionate about supporting and providing opportunities for our female staff and students. Paula has started to work closely with several of our identified female leaders at Warrawong High School in a mentoring capacity. Initial feedback has been extremely positive with all parties expressing a strong desire in continuing to nurture this exciting partnership. Paula is highly engaging and her leadership journey has strongly resonated with members of our school community. I would recommend that senior leaders of other educational institutions consider utilising the expertise of Paula whilst seeking to develop and build the capacity of their female staff.

Thanks so much for Saturday it was a really great experience for me to get to know myself more and learn about how to become more confident. I am keen to see you around.

Thank you so much for all you taught us yesterday, it was so incredible to receive such empowerment from an amazing woman like yourself. I look forward to seeing you again to do more confidence building!

Thank you for such an amazing opportunity yesterday. It was such and insightful and eye opening experience and I couldn’t have asked for a better presenter. You were so inspirational and your strength and passion are truly admirable qualities. I can’t wait for the opportunity to get to work with you one on one and I’m so blessed that you even considered working with me.

On behalf of Kate, Lucy, Emilie and Myself I would like to say a huge thank you for yesterday. You have become a role model in our lives and have taught us more about ourselves then we could have ever hoped for.

I got so much out of your ‘Cultivating a Leadership Mindset’ workshop last month.

Your presentation style is warm and authentic, which makes it very engaging.

The parts that resonated with me the most were:

• Don’t believe the “Fake it till you Make it” mentality because it leads to Imposter Syndrome. This is very true for me personally and I did not realise it until you said it.  I have heard the ‘fake it till you make it’ advice so many times and when I try to ‘fake it’, it just leads to a lack of confidence. I have achieved more professional success when I am my genuine self, faults and all.
• When we are stressed our brain goes into fight or flight mode and we cannot focus and learn. It sounds obvious but I never thought of it this way and it explains a lot!

In the past I have been to quite a few leadership and self improvement workshops targeted at women and I have sometimes felt that they can be patronising. Other workshops have made me feel like I am the problem that needs fixing. For example, I was told I need to speak in a stronger, deeper voice like men do.  In your workshop I felt genuinely supported to be myself.

I wanted to say thank you for the seminar last night. My 14 year old daughter, Anna, thought it was fantastic, and of great value to her. We had a great discussion over dinner afterwards about the nature of leadership, and how important it is – particularly for women.

Anna is really keen to have you visit her school and do a session with her classmates. After your talk she recognises that even if you don’t want to be a leader in the traditional sense of the word, ie a ‘boss’, that leadership skills are something every young girl should develop and have on board to make the most of the opportunities they have in their life. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and insights with my daughter. It was one of those learning moments that I don’t think she will ever forget.

Thanks so much for all your help with our Advance MBA project. We received a high distinction and were asked to present our recommendations to the UTS Faculty of Science Industry Advisory Committee (who were very receptive and impressed). We truly couldn’t have accomplished this without you. Thank you again. Kindly, Mirna and the ShakeItUp crew.

Where do I start?! This year has been a difficult year. It’s a parent’s nightmare to watch your daughter go through such difficult time being passive aggressively bullied, undermined and isolated. I felt so helpless and didn’t know who to turn to or what do to. All I wanted was my daughter to be happy ! But then I was connected to you and that’s where it all began.

You have been there for my daughter 24/7 ….you have made her see that she is worthy …..you gave her guidance not to lose her passion and to believe in herself  …you have given her words of wisdom …..you have given strength and courage to continue and not give up  ….you lead her through the toughest time of her life ….you have mentored her…..letting grow on her journey …..most of all you have showed her  empathy compassion and understanding to have someone so beautiful as you is what she needed to get through this.

Your professionalism in every situation was outstanding. You were not only there for my daughter but for me as well! You helped me get through this too! Your work is amazing and you are amazing . Thank you from the bottom of my heart what you did for my daughter and myself. You are amazing example of what an amazing mentor and leader should look like and we were very blessed to have you part of our journey!

You helped my daughter and myself get through a horrible time and I will be forever grateful!❤️

We recently engaged Paula Dunn as a guest speaker at Illawarra Women in Business, speaking on “Cultivating a Leadership Mindset in Teenage Girls”. Paula delivered a powerful message to our audience with her own personal experiences growing up being a victim of bullying.

Paula spoke about the tools she has developed to help teenagers & young adults cope with bullying and to help them develop a mindset of a positive leader.

Paula spoke with enthusiasm, passion, knowledge and from the heart.

We highly recommend Paula as a speaker for students and teaching staff as there is something for everyone to digest from Paula’s powerful message. 

If you’re looking for a keynote speaker to inspire both children and adults, instil courage and capture your audience through their hearts, then Paula is the speaker for you!

“Thank you so much for today Paula. Your visit created such a massive buzz around the school. I am so grateful that you volunteered your time with us when I’m sure you have a very busy schedule- Thank you so much again. Our staff and students were so inspired by your life story of achieving and resilience. It was very impressive your story, your enthusiasm and the way you had channelled your experiences into such a positive place.”

“For anyone looking to develop their self-confidence in their own way, Paula has helped me understand who I am, what I am passionate about and how to use my gifts to make a difference in this world, my way!  Paula always told me that “I am my only limit” so whenever I feel scared about something, I make sure that I work through those fears with the tools that Paula gave me, so I know whether they are real or not.  My old thinking would stop me from being my best self and to worry about what everyone else was doing, but now I know how to change my patterns.  I’m now at UNSW studying Bachelor of International Studies/Law and loving the choices I’ve made.”

“Paula is a rare find! What I love most about partnering with Paula is that, she is approachable, straightforward and offers guidance backed up by extensive knowledge, expertise and real life experience.

I first met Paula at a business networking event and I was impressed by her backstory and overcoming the challenges she faced in life. I immediately signed up my daughter who was currently in year 10 at the time and who was going through a tough time with her self-esteem due to cyber bullying. My daughter was a high achiever and as a result of this bullying her marks had suffered.

Although she goes to a Private Religious School in upper north shore and there’s access to Pastoral Care, Well-being Programs and Psychologist, Paula’s coaching and leadership mindset approach really engaged my daughter’s drive for creating her own sense of leadership mindset.

The spark I now see in my daughter’s eyes and the spring in her step and her determination to be who she is with pride, despite the bullying, was well worth the additional investment. I never thought a “leadership coach” could help my daughter as much as Paula did. Her practical and real life approach to difficult situations as well as being that role model my daughter needed, is what sets her apart from what is currently being offered to girls my daughters age.

As a result of Paula’s coaching and direction, my daughter’s confidence returned with added gusto and she was able to get back to her high achieving scores. On a personal note, for girl who never considered herself a leader, my daughter now has greater aspirations for herself and to me that’s priceless!”

The session with Paula was useful and informative and has given me an insight into the personalities I work with but more importantly ways on how to work with them. Also useful in identifying my work persona.

Paula is an astute business woman with an innate passion and desire to help people be great leaders. I’ve seen her speak publically, which was very informative and inspiring. In addition, she has helped me personally with my own self-awareness of my business strengths and blind spots. Paula provides a safe environment which allows for deeper conversations about the mindset and helps overcome obstacles by offering new perspectives and solutions. I recommend her to anyone wanting to explore their inner strengths and weaknesses. Thank you Paula for identifying the external and internal changes that needed to happen!

I recently had the pleasusre of working with the fabulous Paula Dunn! What an amazing woman, so professional and lots of fun. She is piloting a new service of which I was her first client to engage in the activity. I personally got a lot out of my conversations/interview with Paula. She is great at instilling confidence in your achievements and really made me feel proud of the leadership values that I hold close to my heart. I would highly recommend Paula’s services.

Paula from no limit consulting gives me a very detailed interpretation for the results from the Fingerprint for success assessment tool, to help me better understand my current strength and also blind spots. She also guided me through real life examples and inspired me with certain actions I can take on board straightaway.

Looking forward to grow my business with some good advice from Paula.

I sought the knowledge and expertise of Paula Dunn from No Limits Consulting for very personal reasons. Due to the low self-esteem I have encountered since a young age due to struggling with weight for almost 30 years, experiencing a lot of bullying, I did not think much of myself and this, translated into behaviours that I took with me into the few relationships I have had.

With Paula’s help and guidance, I have not only realised my own self-worth, but she has given me the tools to become a better person who is more confident within myself, and the decisions I make.

Whilst working with Paula I have been able to identify my long and short-term goals and prioritise what I need to work towards. She has helped me further develop my assertiveness and communication skills, which has translated not only into my personal life, but also in my career.

Thank you Paula for guiding me, and working alongside of me in my own personal journey.”

I recently engaged Paula to help me resolve, at leasts in my own head, a difficult job situation.

Paula listened intently, asked intelligent questions and helped me frame the messy situation occuring, helping me assess both the personal and professional aspects I needed to consider to take a decision. What I was impressed by was the fact that she set the foundation for a cedision but certainly did not push me in either direction, she just armed me with what I needed. In the end, a conclusion came suddenly but I’m firm that it was the right one and probably sets me on a better course. I would gladly recommend Paula as someone to sort through a situation, be it life or work, and help you balance the facts. She has beene there before and knows the ropes. Thanks heaps Paula !

Paula Dunn is a kind, drive, intelligent and sharp Leadership Coach who I have lots of respect for. She has incredible ideas and a great tenacity setting a great example. She is ‘can do’ and ‘walks the talk’ and I love her work!