Kim Austen Director, Improving Connections  Kim has been involved in the experiential training and development, facilitation and learning industries since 1994. During this time she has consulted to a wide range of clients; from hairdressers to miners; from engineers to sales & marketing; from public to private companies and every level of corporate hierarchies — all areas of the spectrum and everything (and everyone!) in between. Coming from a business background, Kim has worked for three of the top advertising agencies in Australia in creative and account management roles and 10 years experience in the Information Technology industry in marketing and training capacities. She then moved into the challenging role of Business Development Manager for Outward Bound Australia, heading their Sydney office and concentrating on promoting and facilitating their corporate and personal development outdoor training programs. It was during her involvement with Outward Bound that Kim was inspired by the philosophy that everyone has more potential than they realize, and this spurred Kim’s passion particularly in the areas of team development, leadership and creative thinking. With a post graduate degree in Management Psychology, Kim is also an accredited Workplace Trainer and Assessor, Accredited Toastmaster and practices accelerated learning techniques. Currently Kim is enjoying the challenge of bringing up a young family, however there is always time found to cycle, read a good book and find a new bush track.