Photographer & Visual Storytelling SpecialistRuth Gilmour is the founder and creative director of Gilmour Studios, a commercial photography studio based in Hamilton's CBD. With 20 years of experience behind the camera, she specialises in creating strategic imagery that helps businesses, brands and individuals build trust, visibility and connection. Ruth leads a small team from their central Hamilton studio, delivering personal branding, commercial, wedding and portrait photography across the Waikato and beyond. Known for her calm presence and ability to put people at ease, Ruth has a knack for helping even the most camera-shy clients look and feel their best.
2026 SYMPOSIUM SPEAKERS
KIRSTEN TAYLOR
Naturopathic Sleep Specialist, Researcher, SleepDrops Founder
For over two decades, Naturopathic Sleep Specialist and founder of SleepDrops, Kirsten Taylor has been on a mission to help people fall in love with sleep again.
As Aotearoa’s leading expert in the field, she has built highly effective sleep recalibration tools and protocols, recently validating her methods through two rigorous, independent clinical trials. At 52 years old, Kirsten grabbed AI with both hands, using cutting-edge technology to build the world's first sleep recalibration platform. By combining clinical wisdom with artificial intelligence, she is breaking new ground in wellness tech.
Kirsten is excited to share her rare, female-focused research, the story behind her midlife tech pivot, and her ultimate vision for what she plans to do next to disrupt the sleep industry.
EMBRACING AI SO WE CAN HELP THE WORLD SLEEP
Kirsten Taylor has spent over two decades helping people fall back in love with sleep, and at 52, she took everything she knew and built the world's first AI-powered sleep recalibration platform.
In this session, Kirsten shares exclusive findings from two independent clinical trials, including rare female focused research showing reductions in insomnia previously unseen in sleep medicine. She'll also take you behind the scenes of her midlife tech pivot and what she's planning next for the sleep industry. Expect to be educated, entertained, and inspired, delivered in Kirsten's signature light-hearted style that keeps you hooked from start to finish.
DR ALA FARAH
General Practitioner, Co-founder of Cellara Clinic
Dr. Ala Farah is a Waikato-based General Practitioner, speaker, and co-founder of Cellara Clinic. With a special interest in women's health, hormones, metabolic health, and lifestyle medicine, she is passionate about helping women better understand their bodies and feel empowered in their health decisions.
Drawing on both evidence-based medicine and a whole-person approach to care, Ala is known for translating complex health information into practical, relatable insights that women can apply in everyday life. Her work focuses on supporting women through challenges such as hormonal changes, fatigue, burnout, PCOS, menopause, and metabolic health concerns, while helping them build sustainable foundations for long-term wellbeing.
Through her clinical work, speaking engagements, and online education, Ala advocates for a simple but powerful message: women deserve to be heard, understood, and supported throughout every stage of their health journey. Her mission is to help women move beyond simply surviving and towards thriving in their health, work, and lives.
BEYOND BURNOUT: WORKING WITH YOUR BODY, NOT AGAINST IT
Burnout has become so common that many women just accept it as part of life, but it doesn't have to be.
Dr. Ala Farah is a Waikato based GP who focuses on women's health, hormones, and helping women understand their bodies. In this session, she'll explore the realities of burnout, Rushing Woman's Syndrome, and how chronic stress affects our hormones and our health in ways most of us were never taught.
Known for making complex health information feel practical and relatable, you'll leave with real insights into what's happening in your body and how to start working with it, not against it, so you can move beyond simply getting through the day and towards feeling your best.
THIS SESSION IS SPONSORED BY:
ALI MAU
Co-founder and Chief of Advocacy and Engagement, Tika
Ali Mau is an award-winning journalist with more than thirty years in major television, radio, and print media roles. A long-time advocate for gender equity, in the wake of the global #metoo movement, Ali created a groundbreaking investigative journalism project at NZ’s largest news platform in 2018. Over five years, the #MeTooNZ project published dozens of major investigations and supported hundreds of survivors to tell their stories, leading to widespread change in the way sexual harassment is reported by media. Her leadership of the project has been recognised in national and international awards.
In 2023, Ali co-founded Tika, a tech-first access to justice charity designed to remove the barriers survivors experience when seeking justice and accountability. Her #1 bestselling memoir, No Words For This, was released in April 2025.
THE STORIES WE TELL OURSELVES:
RESILIENCE, REINVENTION & BUILDING BACK BETTER
What happens when life throws you a curveball, then another, and another?
Drawing on her personal journey, including surviving five redundancies throughout her career, Ali Mau will share a candid and inspiring perspective on resilience, self-belief, and the stories we tell ourselves in the face of adversity. She will explore how setbacks can shape us, how our internal narratives influence our confidence and decisions, and why some of life's toughest challenges can become catalysts for growth.
Through humour, honesty and hard-earned wisdom, Ali will challenge delegates to rethink failure, embrace reinvention, and back themselves through periods of uncertainty, emerging stronger and more authentic on the other side.
RUTH GILMOUR
COURTNEY HAINES
Personal Brand Strategist & Communications ConsultantCourtney Haines is a Brand and Communications Consultant specialising in personal branding, strategic communications, and visibility for women in business. Through her consultancy work and FaceFirst Hub, Courtney helps women build personality-led brands with greater clarity, confidence, and boundaries. She works with organisations, business owners, and professionals across New Zealand to develop communication strategies, strengthen brand positioning, and create practical pathways for authentic visibility. Alongside her consulting work, Courtney serves as Board Chair of Wāhine Safety Centre and is a passionate advocate for women’s leadership and economic empowerment.
SHOWING UP WITHOUT THE CRINGE
“Showing Up Without the Cringe” is a high-energy, interactive keynote designed for women in business who know visibility matters, but often feel awkward, over-analytical, or uncomfortable showing up on camera, in photos, or online.
Combining expertise in personal branding and photography, symposium speaker Courtney Haines and Ruth Gilmour bring humour, practical advice, myth-busting, and real-world storytelling together in a session designed to help attendees feel more natural, confident, and authentic in front of the camera.
Rather than focusing on “becoming confident,” these symposium speakers reframe visibility as a practical skillset that can be learned, developed, and personalised.
THIS SESSION IS
Fun and relatable
High energy and audience-focused
Practical rather than overly motivational
Interactive and memorable
Supportive and confidence-building
TOPICS
Camera Confidence Is a Myth
How to Show Up as the Best Version of Yourself
3 Camera Rules to Live By
Taking Camera Confidence Into the Rest of Your Personal Brand
Why Most People Feel Awkward in Photos
Small Changes That Create Big Differences On Camera
Looking Natural Without Feeling Fake
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Attendees will leave understanding that visibility is not about becoming louder, more polished, or more performative.
It is about learning how to show up comfortably, clearly, and confidently as themselves.
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