Kathy Dempsey

Kathy B. Dempsey, award winning author, keynote speaker and change expert, is President of Keep Shedding! Inc. As a former hospital executive, she strategically led Memorial Health Care System’s organizational development efforts to become one of top 100 hospitals in America. She has achieved the highest earned speaker’s designation in the world, the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). Dempsey ignites people and organizations with the skills and motivation to lead and manage change.

Her 'signature story' is her transformation as an ER/trauma nurse who became the first health care worker in America to be diagnosed positive for AIDS as a result of workplace exposure. She received national attention as a result of this life-altering hospital-based event that 'made her a poster child’ for the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The diagnosis, a death sentence in the mid-80s, was confirmed with multiple positive tests. Months later, all tests returned negative. A miracle or medical error? No one is able to explain. The 3 months that Dempsey lived with that traumatic diagnosis was a life-altering experience.

Dempsey’s most popular book, Shed or You’re Dead®: 31 Unconventional Strategies for Growth and Change, is the recipient of a Writer's Digest International Book Award. Her survival guide books, including A Fast Acting Change RX for Every Employee and Manager & Healthcare Professional, have been utilized as guides for change by hundreds of individuals and organizations. She is also a contributing author for two of the New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Dempsey is the editor of 60 Seconds of Shedding, a monthly e-newsletter read by over 14,000 people around the world.

Dempsey ignites professionals and organizations to SHED for Success by infusing them with timely change management tools, innovative employee engagement strategies and accelerated methods for building traction and accountability. Her presentations build a touchstone with each member of the audience. Dempsey provides focus, inspiration and practical tools for people to lead and master change in their personal and professional lives.