Petra Velzeboer

Leaders today face a critical challenge: keeping teams performing at their best while navigating digital overload, AI disruption and the growing mental health crisis in modern work. Petra Velzeboer is a TEDx speaker, author and CEO of consultancy PVL who helps organisations replace surface-level wellbeing initiatives with practical strategies that build resilience, trust and psychological safety at scale. Having rebuilt her life after growing up in a notorious cult and recovering from addiction, she brings sharp insight and lived experience to high-pressure environments. Author of Begin with You and Digital Wellbeing: Recharge Your Focus and Reboot Your Life, Petra equips leaders at organisations including Deloitte, PwC, Microsoft and Novartis with tools to strengthen performance without burnout, leaving audiences energised and ready to lead differently.

Burnout, distraction and digital overwhelm are draining performance across organisations. Teams are stretched by AI disruption, hybrid working pressures and constant connectivity, while leaders struggle to sustain focus, trust and psychological safety in cultures that demand more with less. Petra Velzeboer is a TEDx speaker, author and CEO of consultancy PVL who helps organisations build high-performing teams by addressing the mental health and digital wellbeing challenges reshaping modern work. Known for her sharp insight and no-nonsense delivery, she challenges superficial "bubble bath wellbeing" approaches and equips leaders with practical strategies that strengthen performance, resilience and culture at scale.

Petra's credibility is rooted in both lived experience and professional expertise. Raised in a notorious extremist cult and later recovering from addiction, she rebuilt her life from rock bottom to become a globally recognised thought leader on workplace mental health and digital wellbeing. This personal journey underpins her work with organisations operating in high-pressure, high-risk environments, where fear, silence and disconnection drive burnout and talent loss. As a psychotherapist and business consultant, Petra advises global clients including Deloitte, PwC, Microsoft, KPMG, Channel 4, Novartis, US Bank, Monzo and Warner Media, delivering keynotes, leadership programmes and strategic culture advisory. She is increasingly sought after at cybersecurity conferences for her expertise on human risk, psychological safety and trust in high-stakes environments. Author of Begin with You and her latest book Digital Wellbeing: Recharge Your Focus and Reboot Your Life, Petra's insights have been featured in Newsweek, Harvard Business Review and The Huffington Post, and her TEDx talk continues to be used by organisations and educational institutions as a trusted learning resource.

Petra equips audiences with tools to tackle technostress, AI anxiety, hybrid working strain and the growing mental health challenges of modern work. Her focus is on clarity under pressure, healthy authority and honest conversations that help people perform at their best without burning out. Whether delivering a keynote, advising boards through change or facilitating leadership development, Petra leaves audiences energised, challenged and clear on how to lead and perform differently. Her work empowers leaders to create mentally healthy cultures where connection, productivity and fulfilment drive sustainable success in a world of work evolving faster than ever before.