She has captivated Microsoft leadership summits and Fortune 500 boardrooms. Yet the woman honoured with Toastmasters International’s Golden Gavel chose the quiet of the Mornington Peninsula to call home.
Keynote speaker, author, and founder of mental health platform The Support Pages, Norliza Pavlakos has built a life rich in purpose. What few realise is she started with nothing.
At 16 she was homeless, with no family and no safety net; at 19, a survivor of abduction and assault; soon after, a teenage single mother; later, a survivor of domestic violence. But where others might have seen an ending, she found a beginning. “Sometimes you have to experience a total breakdown to reach a breakthrough.”
With no capital and no connections, Norliza launched Australia’s first Miss India International pageant, drawing 4000 attendees. She turned a failing café profitable. Alongside her business partner, she drove Finest Alterations into five stores, offering everything from expert alterations to bespoke suiting and corporate uniforms for the Australian Open, Crown Towers, Marriott, international designer labels and celebrities. Today that legacy continues as Melbourne Luxury Tailoring, a family-run tailoring house with its flagship in the heart of South Yarra.
Those experiences became the frameworks she now teaches on stages worldwide. She has delivered keynotes for Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo and other Fortune 500 companies, been ranked among the world’s Top 10 Female Speakers, and written two books, Conviction and The Indefatigable Entrepreneur. “I speak so people know that when you find your conviction, it leads you to your purpose.”
But the venture closest to her heart is The Support Pages. Norliza personally funded it and rebuilt it again and again until it was right, because she had lived what it feels like to have nowhere to turn. The national directory makes finding mental health support simple: search by what you need, find a verified practitioner, and send an enquiry in minutes. “Having survived my own darkest moments, I know how hard it is to reach out,” she said.
Norliza continues to build, to speak, and to make sure support is always within reach. To find out more, visit www.norliza.com
