Kevin D’Ambros-SmithKeynote speaker. Entrepreneur. Investor. Business coach.Send your room home with a plan,
not a pep talk.
An inspiring talk that changes nothing wastes your audience’s day. Your owners get 30+ years in business, 60+ global brands and 9 companies founded or co-founded, turned into a plan they can act on the next morning.
Keynotes, workshops and coaching for SME owners across the USA and New Zealand. In person or live online.
- Companies founded or co-founded
- 9
- Businesses coached one-on-one
- 200+
- Client NPS
- +72*
- Global brands worked on
- 60+
- Companies reached through webinars, training programmes and workshops
- Thousands
* Net Promoter Score from coaching clients surveyed through The Icehouse (New Zealand). Average across a large sample, over many years.
Over 30 years in business, including DDB, Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi. Approved Regional Business Partners Network provider and partner of The Icehouse in New Zealand.
From the host of an award-winning NZ business podcast
What a podcast host said after Kevin presented
“It was the most notes I have ever taken from any speaker.”
“Kevin D'Ambros-Smith presented on the Icehouse Owner Manager Programme and he was brilliant… it was the most notes I have ever taken from any speaker.”
Client feedback shared with permission. Results are specific to each business and are not typical.
Kevin’s signature keynote
The Age of the Owner
The old rule said bigger wins. That rule is breaking, and your audience is standing in the gap it leaves.
Back yourself. Run the system.
“I want you to operate like a hard-working pirate ship.” Kevin, on why small beats slow. And: don’t wear Saul’s armor. Pick your stones. It’s the oldest underdog story there is: the young shepherd who wouldn’t fight in the giant’s armor.
The idea behind the keynote: where you, Kevin and AI meet.
Your vision. Kevin’s corporate knowledge and systems. The power of AI. Where they meet is the sweet spot.
your local knowledge,
your customers
and systems, distilled
for SME owners
to work, now
for your business
scaled
automated
OF THE
OWNER
Keynotes, presentations and workshops
Talks that change what owners do on Monday.
Eight topics, each plain-English, story-led and practical, and each built around your audience, your market and the one decision you want them to make.
The Age of the Owner (Local knowledge. Big-brand systems.)
Why the advantage is moving to owners, and how to take it. Kevin’s signature keynote.
Grow It Yourself – Marketing Made Simple with AI
Plan, create and run your own marketing with AI tools, with no agency retainer needed.
Why Your Marketing Isn’t Working (and what to do about it)
Why marketing spend falls flat, and the fixes to make before you spend another dollar.
Truly Understand Your Customer
Who really buys, why they choose you and what they say about you, and how to use what you learn.
Find Your Secret Sauce
What makes your business different and worth choosing, in words your customers will repeat.
Powering Up Your Sales
Sales conversations and habits that win more of the business you already attract.
Know Your Future
Picture the business and the life you want from it, then work backward to the moves that get you there.
Making It Happen (Strategy In Action)
The plan turned into weekly actions with owners, dates and measures, so it gets done.
The stories your audience takes home.
One number changed the whole season.
A mountain-bike park earned money eleven different ways, and the owner couldn’t see where to push. Kevin worked backward from the target: 730 season passes, 300 coming back, 430 still to sell in ten weeks. That’s six a day. “Suddenly you can get on the phone and make six sales a day.” It’s the kind of story owners take home: find the one number, then chase it.
A client story, told as Kevin tells it on stage. Details anonymized. Results are specific to each business and are not typical.
The right message, to the right mom, at the right time.
Long before AI, Kevin built Motherbase Media, New Zealand’s only media company specializing in talking directly to new moms and household shoppers. He ran it for 12 years and sold it in 2017.
Its big idea: age doesn’t trigger buying decisions, life events do, and a first baby is the biggest one. A new parent buys life insurance, may refinance as costs rise and income falls, and chooses the brands the family will stay with for years. Banks, insurers, car companies and brands like Heinz, Kimberly-Clark, Colgate, Johnson & Johnson, Mattel and Hasbro wanted to reach parents at exactly that moment.
Kevin narrowed the target twice. Second-time moms have already chosen their brands, so first-time moms were the prize. Focus on professional women who had paused their careers, and roughly 14,000 first-time moms a year remained. At that size you can find where they live and where they gather. Motherbase reached 7,000 to 8,000 of them every year, around three-quarters of its target market.
Moms trusted other moms more than experts, so Motherbase shared what real moms said worked. And mom made the buying decision, even when dad did the shopping, so mom was the only person worth talking to. The jewel was the new-mom groups: women who meet every week, led by one organizer. For Nestlé, Motherbase organized free café-style coffee for 2,500 groups, up to 25,000 moms, in return for reviews and photos. It could also reach a mom on the day her baby turned six months old with a baby-food sample, and again at 18 months with a toddler-food sample.
The lesson Kevin brings to every stage: niche right down to your bullseye customer, build a relationship, then deliver the right message, to the right person, at the right moment. Big brands paid a premium for that. Today, AI puts it within reach of every owner.
The decision he’d undo.
Kevin and his wife went into business with a partner their advisory board introduced. On paper it was perfect. The partner had the Bentley, the Ferrari and the yacht on the harbor. They didn’t ask enough questions, because they trusted the people who recommended him. The partner’s ethics weren’t theirs. They stopped sleeping. Getting out cost well over $1 million, and it nearly took them down. It took years to rebuild and win back their customers.
“Before you sign the dotted line, let’s do some real due diligence.”
Do I really know who I’m getting into bed with? Whose advice am I taking, and who carries the risk if it’s wrong? Your audience leaves with those two questions, and a story told by someone who paid for the answer.
Who books Kevin.
The Icehouse Owner Manager Programme
Growth Presentations for BNZ clients across New Zealand
MahiTahi / Colab food and beverage workshop
New Zealand Blood Service
In person across New Zealand and the USA, or live online anywhere.
What you get when you book Kevin.
- A pre-event conversation to understand your audience and the one decision you want them to make
- A talk tailored to your theme, market and audience, never a recycled keynote with your logo on the slide
- A one-page speaker sheet you can share with your committee, sponsors or board
The room tells it best.
Owners, program leaders and industry bodies on what happens when Kevin takes the stage.
Darilyn KaneCoaching and Advisory Lead, The Icehouse“When I organised events at The Icehouse, Kevin was the speaker I wanted in the room. He spoke for us at the Tile Space conference, the Kinetic Electrical conference and a full-day workshop for Mahi Tahi in Nelson. Every audience was different, yet each one felt the session had been built for them. Owners left with a plan, not just a good feeling. Kevin’s combination of deep knowledge, broad business experience and ability to connect with any audience means an engaging session with practical impact. I’d book him again in a heartbeat.”
NikkiMahiTahi / Colab“…New Zealand’s leading growth facilitator, The Icehouse and the powerhouse that is Kevin D’Ambros-Smith [worked] with 11 Food and Beverage companies from the region… to scale up their businesses. Feedback has been off the charts… Kevin, you distilled business, marketing and sales strategy into powerful simple concepts and actions with real life stories of your start-up business and corporate life.”
Liz WotherspoonDirector, The Icehouse“One of the highlight presentations during The Icehouse Owner Manager Programme. Really enjoyed your wisdom and insight thanks Kevin!”
Angus & CameronThe Flatpack Co“Talking with Kevin the first time was so valuable and we were learning so much. Within an hour Kevin had us thinking about our business and our goals in a totally different way. In fact we were supposed to be catching a flight but we decided it was more important that we continued the meeting with Kevin.”
Scott PearceNew Zealand Blood Service“We were hanging on every word.”
Micheal NyProperty & Hospitality Owner, Developer, Investor“I could have listened to you for hours.”
Client feedback shared with permission. Results are specific to each business and are not typical.
Kevin has worked with 60+ global brands, including:
Agency years at DDB, Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi
- McDonald’s
- BMW
- General Mills
- IBM
- GSK
- Heineken
- Unilever
- Telecom
- Kimberly-Clark
- Daewoo
- Woolworths
- Lion Breweries
- NZ Dairy Foods
- Monsanto
- NZI
Clients of Motherbase Media, Kevin’s direct-to-mothers media business
- Samsung
- Nestlé
- Johnson & Johnson
- Westpac
- Mattel
- BNZ
- Fonterra
- Colgate
- Hasbro
- Purina
- Heinz
- Reckitt
- Procter & Gamble
- Clarins
- Fujifilm
The only specialist of its kind in New Zealand, giving global brands a personal line to new parents, targeted by life stage and the age of their child.
Meet Kevin D’Ambros-Smith.
Kevin D’Ambros-Smith is a keynote speaker, entrepreneur and investor who turns big-brand thinking into plans owners can act on the next morning.
He began in advertising at DDB, Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi and has worked on 60+ global brands. He has founded or co-founded 9 companies, including Motherbase Media, across eCommerce, digital media, engineering and healthcare logistics. Nine businesses, some very successful and some failures. Those scars are what make his talks practical.
Since 2017 he has coached 200+ businesses one-on-one across 30+ industries. Coaching clients surveyed through The Icehouse return a Net Promoter Score of +72.
He has presented on The Icehouse Owner Manager Programme and led Growth Presentations for BNZ clients across New Zealand.
“Working with Kevin D'Ambros-Smith has given us the space to pause and reflect — on where we are now, where we want to be and how we get there.”
Gabby Kirk, Papier HQKevin’s full storyCoaching clients
What changes for you when you work with Kevin.
Owners across industries on what Kevin's coaching did for their business.
RichardChem Suppliers“I have grown my business 5x since working with Kevin. … Everything Kevin told me to do was the complete opposite of what I had been doing.”
Curtis HaconGive A Sh!t“Kevin is an absolute powerhouse! He doubled our business’s profits in the first month alone with lots more of his recommendations still to be rolled out.”
John RobertsCo-owner & COO, Oragene“I catch up with Kevin once a week and it is definitely the highlight of my week. Kevin being from a creative, advertising agency background, he just sees different opportunities so clearly. I would not have considered the B2C market as an opportunity before working with Kevin and now it is a major focus for us…”
Simon KeepaPhysioACTION“Kevin worked with us at PhysioACTION to develop a positioning that sets us apart, 'PhysioACTION - A better experience', then helped us build the experience to match. In every part of the business we ask how to make it better for our customers and our team, and that's now the standard we hold ourselves to.”
Heidi JohnstonWindowmakers“Kevin understood a manufacturing and trades business from day one. No jargon, no theory, just clear advice on where to focus so that we had clear targets and ideas we could act on straight away to improve our customer acquisition and engagement.”
+72
Net Promoter Score from coaching clients surveyed through The Icehouse (New Zealand). Average across a large sample, over many years.
Client feedback shared with permission. Results are specific to each business and are not typical.
Formats
Built around your event.
- Conference keynote
- Workshop including Grow It Yourself – Marketing Made Simple with AI
- Program session
- Live online
- Bespoke presentation
Work with Kevin
Two ways to start building the business you pictured.
Close the laptop at midday on Friday, with the business still running. Start at the level that fits where your business is right now.
From $97
Simple-Growth Online Courses
Quick Wins, Make It Happen and Know Your Future. Learn the Simple-Growth System at your own pace.
Show me the coursesOne-on-one
Simple-Growth Ultimate
Kevin coaches a limited number of owners one-on-one. Apply to see whether there is a place for you.
Apply for my placeLooking for something else?
The talk is the start.
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Questions owners ask.
Who is Kevin D’Ambros-Smith?
Kevin D’Ambros-Smith is a New Zealand business coach who has coached 200+ companies one-on-one across 30+ industries. He is also a keynote speaker, entrepreneur and investor, has worked on 60+ global brands at DDB, Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi and in his own businesses, and has founded or co-founded 9 companies.
What does Kevin speak about?
Kevin presents eight topics: The Age of the Owner (Local knowledge. Big-brand systems.); Grow It Yourself – Marketing Made Simple with AI; Why Your Marketing Isn’t Working (and what to do about it); Truly Understand Your Customer; Find Your Secret Sauce; Powering Up Your Sales; Know Your Future; and Making It Happen (Strategy In Action). Each can run as a keynote, presentation or workshop, built around your audience.
Can I book Kevin for an event in the USA?
Send the details on the speaker page: your audience, date, location or online format, and the outcome you want. Kevin replies personally. Keynotes and workshops can run in person or live online.
Can I work with Kevin from the USA?
Yes. Kevin coaches owners in the USA and New Zealand, with online sessions on Google Meet. Start with a free 30-minute call to see whether there is a fit.
What is the Simple-Growth System?
A practical growth system for SME owners, built on four pillars: business strategy, marketing and communications, sales, and productivity and implementation. It turns Kevin’s 30+ years across global agencies and 9 companies founded or co-founded into step-by-step plans, templates, training and coaching you can apply straight away.