Sometimes we find ourselves in places we never imagined. For keynote speaker Brenda Denbesten, that place was a remote mining town, far removed from her original ambition to work at L’Oréal.
“I became a chemical engineer because I wanted to work with L’Oréal... I wanted to help women to look and feel beautiful,” she said. Denbesten related how she started her career in the mining sector, far removed from the cosmetics industry. “But working with L’Oréal was never about the lipstick, it was about helping women remember the value they hold inside.”
Denbesten, was speaking at the Women in Packaging Awards 2025, where she addressed a full room of finalists, winners, and industry leaders across the packaging sector.
As founder of Speakworthy, Denbesten helps professionals refine their message, build their confidence, and speak with purpose. At the Women in Packaging Awards event, her message was centred on the three principles of confidence, courage and community, which resonated strongly with attendees working in what is still largely a male-dominated field.
“Today we get to shine a light on the outstanding work that women are making across the packaging sector,” she said. “You’re not here by accident. You’re here because you’ve shown us what power truly looks like.”
Denbesten referenced a KPMG study revealing that 75 per cent of executive women experience imposter syndrome. “That’s not a personal flaw, it’s a systemic signal,” she said, urging women to back themselves even if their voice shakes. “Confidence isn’t about waiting. It’s about deciding that you’re enough, that you’re worth it, and that you’ve got what it takes.”
On courage, she described her transition from technical expert to people leader as the hardest shift in her career. “As a technical leader, my value came from what I knew and could do. But as a people leader, I had to consult, delegate, and let go of control,” she said. “I had to start saying no to overextending myself, to rescuing others before they took accountability, and to doing just one more thing to be helpful.”
She also challenged attendees to reflect on where they are operating from their comfort zone and what might shift if they moved into the unknown. “What if it all worked out?” she asked.
The final ingredient, she said, is community. “We can’t do the big things alone.” Drawing from her time in the remote region of Roxby Downs where she planned to stay two years but remained for five, Denbesten spoke about the power of building a support system of mentors, peers and sponsors. “Women with sponsors are 27 per cent more likely to ask for a raise and 22 per cent more likely to ask for stretch assignments.”
She shared the story of a mentee who, despite going above and beyond, felt unseen by her boss until she started communicating the impact of her contributions. “Communication moves careers. Sharing your goals, naming your value, and connecting your work to business outcomes that’s what shifts things,” Denbesten said.
Closing her keynote, she left the room with a challenge and a call to action, citing an African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” she said. “Today, this room is proof that when women back each other, celebrate each other, and package their power collectively, we don’t just go far, we go all the way.”
