Lynda D. Kavanagh’s – Down & Dirty Bio
The skills and knowledge Lynda brings to all her training and coaching clients are enhanced by a broader perspective on life and business by bringing experiences from her “textbook of life”as well as academic strategy. She has been involved in Branding, Marketing and Sales since 1971 and has conducted business in North America and Europe. Her career path has been interesting …
- Her first job, at 17.5 years old, involved being the front line receptionist and salesperson at a cow rendering plant that was also a junkyard…. think about it … think about it… now think about what that place smelled like in July!!
- Next, she was a salesperson at a steel company buying and selling steel across North America. After a year she was promoted to sales manager.
- Then she pivoted and jumped into an entirely new career in the media after upgrading her post-secondary education as a mature student. Her positions were in sales, design, production, copywriting and general management (print and electronic).
- And then, she worked in public relations and fundraising (selling Motherhood and Apple Pie) for a post-secondary institution.
- She progressed into teaching post-secondary instruction on Branding, Marketing, Sales, Graphic design, Multi-media and Non-profit management.
- And then finally, in 1994 she became true to her Entrepreneurial spirit – she started her own company helping businesses define their Brand so their Sales and Marketing efforts are more effective. She helps businesses, organizations and governments do that through Brand Strategy coaching (face-to-face and vitual live), Training (workshops, seminars and Webinars) and through paperback and e-books.
- The company has always been based in Lethbridge, Alberta Canada and in 2005, she opened a satellite office in Calgary. Her home-base does not limit her from working for clients across Canada, North America and Europe.
- In 2000, Lynda and her husband D’Arcy started WOW Tours International Inc., a travel location consulting company helping people take the stress out of planning their bucket list vacations. The company provides this service through Webinars and online coaching.
Lynda’s mega Bio…with intriguing pictures
Presenting at a conference in Toronto, Ontario where she was dubbed “The Wildly Outrageous Woman” of WOW Communications & Training.
Where did WOW come from…
Life is all about business, bicycle travelling and wearing high heel shoes… well according to Lynda D. Kavanagh that is. And before we go any further… yes, she has ridden her bike wearing high heels to client meetings!
She has been dubbed by her clients and training audiences as The “WOW” Gal (Wildly Outrageous Woman) because of her energy and excitement about life, Branding, Marketing and Sales. Others have named her Woman Of Wisdom (she’s been around for a while and knows stuff), Woman On Wine (she does enjoy a glass of French Rose’), Woman On Wheels (she is an avid touring cyclist).
Lynda’s company specializes in understanding consumer behaviour and how that knowledge can be transferred into her clients’ Branding, Marketing and Sales activities.
Lynda cycling in Scotland. She will lose her vanity if a story and picture will help reinforce key points in her training or coaching. How could you forget this picture about roadblocks people find when starting a business?
Travel brings a broad perspective…
It’s an interesting combination… bicycle.. travel… high heels … Branding … Marketing … Sales … Consumer Behaviour. How can anyone tie these together? Lynda can.
As anyone who has worked with her, or attended one of her training workshops knows, she has a unique ability to take normal activities, like buying high heels in Germany or ordering wine in Venice and easily weaving the stories and photos into a workshop, seminar or keynote. This skill keeps the audience engaged, entertained and are excellent for the retention of key points.
Or, while working with coaching clients she makes the meetings entertaining and thought-provoking when she explains how lessons learned in cycling the far western isles of Scotland can be applied to a business where for both, cycling and business, one mistaken turn will cost time and energy to fix.
For all WOW’s clients sharing her travels experiences enables her to bring the world to her clients through a cosmopolitan approach to Branding, Marketing and Sales issues.
Where in the world has Lynda travelled? Since 2000, she brags she has cycled over 65,000 km on her bicycle.
Recognized as an expert …
Lynda has hosted a daily Marketing tips program on SHAW TV, has written for numerous print and ezine publications and has been quoted in the Globe and Mail, Alberta Business Link, Calgary Herald, National Post and Lethbridge Herald as well as in the Canadian SOHO Business and Speaking of Impact magazines.
She is listed as an “Expert Author” on ezinearticles.com. Lynda has helped over 7000 individuals, businesses and organizations from Canada, United States and Europe with their Branding, Marketing and Sales issues.
She is the author of two paperback books, “Be THE Unicorn, it starts with your Brand and “Sales suck… NOW WHAT?” and the author and producer of two Audio Books; “The 5 HOUR Entrepreneur” and the “The 4 HOUR Marketer”, as well as on-demand learning modules and the creator of The WOW Business Booster Webinar Series.
She is currently working on another book not on business but as a humorous book of travel tips for women called “ABroad Escapes”.
Credentials and street smarts…
Since 1971, Lynda has been involved in a variety of business sectors. Her background has been one of sales management, print and electronic media marketing, media buying and public relations. Her instructional background is with post-secondary instruction in media, marketing, graphic design, entrepreneurship and multimedia. Since 1999, she has provided training to start-up entrepreneurs in the Government of Alberta’s self-employment program.
Lynda holds credentials in marketing, communications and non-profit management. She is also a graduate of the Dale Carnegie Public Speaking Program and is a national, professional member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS), as a member of the Calgary chapter.
Lynda has been recognized as a college Distinguished Alumnus and spoke to an audience of over 1000 people at that convocation. In 2005 she was recognized as one of only 100 people chosen to be an Alberta Ambassadors during Alberta’s Centennial. She has also received numerous marketing and communications awards.
Lynda loading her bike onto an Austrian train – now that’s one tough broad!
Business and fun…
In 2000, after multiple requests to help people who were not sure how to travel to Europe efficiently, safely or stress-free, Lynda and D’Arcy Kavanagh started WOW Tours International Inc. wowtours.com
The company started by taking people to cycle the Danube River bike path from Passau, Germany to Vienna, Austria. Our largest group was 20 people. We stopped providing tours as it became too difficult for the airlines to handle a large number of people all wanting to travel with their own bikes.
We now offer ideas, through Webinars and consulting, for people who want to take a Bucket List trip but don’t know where to start. We aren’t travel agents – we can direct you to some reliable agents – what we do is introduce people to the idea of travelling to… Paris, Barcelona, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Austria…. and how to plan a stress-free trip. Our webinars are designed for people who don’t want to travel with a group, but just don’t know where to start. Our Bucket List Webinars have taken people to Paris, Barcelona, Scotland, Provence, Germany, Catalonia, The Netherlands and more.
The goal of these Webinars is to offer an inexpensive way for people to shortlist a variety of locations and narrow down their #1 Bucket List location before they go to a travel agent for pricing. These Webinars plan out a seven-day trip or combine it with another Webinar to make two or three-week trips. This allows people to not waste time planning but to also help them know what to see, what’s not worth seeing and how to travel stress-free.
Recognized by her community…
Fall 2019 was the publish date for Shabella Publishing (Quirk Magazine)’s first issue of the Top 21 Women in Business from southern Alberta. Lynda says, “It was an honour to be included with the other 20 women.” The picture shows the fun and energy these women bring to the challenge of being a woman entrepreneur.
Here is the digital copy of our section of the WOW_Magazine Story. It made her blush! Thanks to Faye Braden for her accuracy in capturing me.
What a performer…
And finally, where it all began. She was destined to be on stage and in front of people because at the age of three months she (Linda Oliver) was in Ripley’s Believe it or Not for standing on her grandfather’s hand.
The issue went around the world as her Aunt was in Australia at the time and saw the story. The story was also picked up by the local newspaper.
Her older brother, Brian did the same trick when he was younger but didn’t get any press. She knows how to get attention (for herself and her clients)!
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BTW, on this website, you will see Lynda with a variety of hairstyles, from this picture – bald – to helmet head from cycling – to curly on some of the online learning modules – to straight on some of the Webinars!
What’s up with the hair? Well, she likes to change her hair every three months – email Lynda and tell her what hairstyle you like the best!