Penny Power

Entrepreneur & Founder of Ecademy

  • Founder of the First Business Community in the World
  • Co-Founder of BIP100
  • Author of Business is Personal
  • OBE for Services to Entrepreneurship
  • Pioneer of Human-Centred Digital Culture

Discover Penny Power’s biography of published work below.

Business in Personal, book cover
Business in Personal
A Friend in Every City
Success Secrets of Entrepreneurs, book cover
Success Secrets of Entrepreneurs
Success Secrets for Wellbeing, book cover
Success Secrets for Wellbeing

When Penny Power is booked for events, they are known to discuss the following speaking topics:

Human Touch in a Digital World
Community First
Business is Personal
Nothings In Your Way

Penny Power OBE is a celebrated entrepreneur, author, and mental health advocate known for her inspiring work as a speaker. With a deeply personal and empathetic approach, she speaks powerfully on the intersection between business, digital life, and mental health. Penny brings authenticity and emotional depth to stages across the UK and beyond, encouraging individuals and organisations to reconnect with the human side of enterprise. As a speaker, she creates safe spaces where vulnerability is embraced and where mental health is discussed with both courage and compassion.

Penny’s journey began in the early days of the internet boom, when she founded Ecademy in 1998, one of the world’s first online business communities. This pioneering platform brought together over 650,000 entrepreneurs across 52 countries and shaped the foundation of social networking for professionals. Her work championed not just commercial success but emotional wellbeing, highlighting the challenges many businesspeople face behind the scenes. Penny’s early experiences of burnout, digital overload, and personal setbacks became the driving force behind her commitment to mental health advocacy, shaping the voice she brings to audiences today.

In recent years, Penny has become increasingly recognised for her message on emotional resilience in the business world. She published “Business is Personal” in 2019, a candid exploration of the psychological toll of entrepreneurship, which resonated widely with professionals seeking balance and purpose. In 2024, she was again recognised for her services to digital enterprise and mental wellbeing. Penny also co-founded BIP100, a trusted mastermind network supporting personal and professional development. Her talks for organisations like Microsoft, BT, and Salesforce often centre around fostering mental safety in leadership, using digital tools with consciousness, and building emotionally intelligent cultures.

Penny is hired because she speaks from lived experience and offers more than theory—she delivers a relatable, heart-centred narrative that empowers people to prioritise mental health without compromising ambition. Her blend of business insight and emotional intelligence offers a rare and much-needed perspective in today’s high-pressure, digitally-driven world. Whether addressing CEOs, educators, or emerging entrepreneurs, Penny leaves her audiences with a renewed sense of connection, purpose, and mental clarity.

Official Testimonials

Penny Power is regularly booked to engage audiences at events, read their latest feedback below:

“Penny recently delivered a phenomenal closing keynote speech at our recent Paraplanner Conference to a diverse audience pitching to the theme of the conference accordingly. In the session, Penny discussed the critical importance of connection, compassionate and human-centric practice in an era increasingly dominated by screens and virtual interactions by providing engaging and thought-provoking talk with good humour, leaving attendees inspired and curious”

Becky, Conference Manager, Chartered Institute of Securities & Investments

“I wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Penny for her wonderful keynote speech and great facilitating at our Digital Marketing Conference 2022 at the Leicester Marriot Hotel. The event ran smoothly and professionally with her help and support and the conference was a success. The feedback was excellent. Please could you kindly pass on my email thanking her”

Kam, Events and Engagement Officer, East Midlands Chamber

“I only have positive feedback all round for Penny – she was fantastic. Very engaging with the audience, professional and approachable. She was great to deal with personally, and with other team members organising the event. Also, she adapted so well to the last minute changes that we had for the event such as the recordings and the agenda switch. Please pass on my thanks to Penny, she was a pleasure to work with.”

Kayleigh, D2N2 Growth Hub

“After seeing Penny Power OBE speak on two different occasions, and both times feeling hugely inspired, I invited Penny to be one of the keynote speakers at a 3-day entrepreneurial conference I organised. Penny’s contribution to the entrepreneurial world is commendable and her experience is vast. There is no wonder she is a holder of a prestigious OBE title. Better still, she combines this with absolute honesty, open heart and at times, “powerful vulnerability”, as I call it. As such, Penny leaves her audience deeply inspired and with a treasure trove of useful ideas for their business and life. Penny is a true gift to us – and I warmly recommend her as a speaker to every event organiser who wants to bring the caliber of speakers to the next level, and make a long-lasting impact for their audiences.”

Lenka, Managing Director & Principal Coach

“What I love about Penny Power is that she draws you in from the very beginning. Her honesty and vulnerability engages everyone immediately. You feel ‘she is like me’.  Experience always delivers pearls of wisdom that are priceless. Penny’s journey as a working mum, entrepreneur and pioneer in the digital community space with Ecademy and now as a new breed if business owner is inspirational. Her expertise on how to be a successful business person is really welcome. I’d like to think she is in ‘my tribe”

Anita, Family Business Place

“We booked Penny to speak at our Female Speakers Conference this year and could not have wished for a better speaker to open the event. Penny has achieve SO MUCH in her business career and still is on of the most humble human beings I know. Her talk was deep, honest, insightful, inspiring and so much more. If you are looking for a speaker at your next event that really shows POWERFUL authenticity combined with business knowledge: go for Penny! We can’t wait doing more work with her in the future.”

Annik

“This was my first time seeing Penny speak at the Female Speaker Conference and my overwhelming thoughts were around how bloody wonderful it is to hear a story about a woman in business who has achieved so much and who is NICE! She spoke a lot about the importance of connection in business and that business is personal. This proved to me what I already hoped was true about success in business. I wrote in big letters across my page ‘The most enriching thing you can do is be yourself.’ Something I have always tried to live by and a great reminder. Thank you Penny.”

Helen

“Thank you again for arranging for Penny Power to speak at our event today. She was fantastic, and many of the attendees made a point of telling me how much they were inspired by her knowledge and honesty. As I don’t have her contact details, I would be extremely grateful if you could pass on my thanks for an incredible job at such short notice. I also sincerely hope that we work together again soon. Considering I found you guys via a Google search in something of a last minute panic, your support and knowledge was hugely appreciated. Thank you!”

Paul, The IPM

“Just a quick email to say how excellent Penny was as our conference keynote speaker yesterday. Penny was a hit with our independent business owner members with her refreshing and emotionally charged talk enabling her to immediately engage with her audience who left energised to take on board her message that humanity in business is critical when we are all under pressure and overcome by the many challenges in both business and personal life. It is also so refreshing to have a speaker who, without hesitation, was willing to support our conference in other ways by both presenting our awards and giving a breakout session.”

John, Sightcare

“Thank you for being our guest speaker today! Your personal experience and wise words helped magnify our efforts to improve and evolve gender equality within our workplace. You truly invigorated our team to continue the conversation around this important topic and I look forward to our next session!”

Michelle, Salesforce

To enquire about Penny Power for your event or corporate function, simply contact us via agent@mentalhealthspeakers.co.uk or call a booking agent on 0203 9816 296.