IKIGAI KEYNOTE SPEAKER - NICHOLAS KEMP
A keynote that offers your audience something they'll carry with them — a new way of thinking about what makes life and work worth it.
NICHOLAS KEMP
Nicholas Kemp is a keynote speaker, corporate facilitator, podcaster, and author. He is the founder and head coach of Ikigai Tribe, a professional community of educators, psychologists, coaches, and facilitators applying the concept of ikigai in leadership and organisational settings.
His keynotes offer a thoughtful alternative to conventional motivational speaking. Rather than hype or slogans, Nicholas introduces audiences to ikigai as a grounded psychological concept that explores how people experience life and work as worth living.
Drawing on cultural insight, research, and carefully chosen personal stories, his sessions create space for reflection while remaining practical and relevant. Audiences leave with clearer language, fresh perspective, and usable tools to support purpose, wellbeing, and meaningful contribution at work and beyond.
Ideal for organisations seeking a more considered, human-centred approach to leadership, engagement, and sustainable performance.
KEYNOTES
IKIGAI - A LIFE WORTH LIVING
Ikigai has been popularised as a search for one grand life purpose.
But after living in Japan for a decade, Nicholas Kemp discovered the real ikigai is far more practical — and far more relevant to the pressures of modern work.
In this keynote, audiences learn how everyday moments of contribution, connection and progress fuel resilience, engagement and sustained motivation.
Rather than chasing a single defining passion, participants gain practical ways to create meaning in the work they are already doing — helping individuals and teams show up with greater energy, ownership and purpose.
IBASHO - YOUR PLACE TO BE
As workplaces become more distributed and pressure continues to rise, many people feel increasingly disconnected from the teams and organisations they serve.
In Japan, the concept of ibasho describes the place where you feel you truly belong — where you can contribute without pretence and be valued for who you are.
Drawing on Japanese psychology, cultural insight and personal experience, Nicholas Kemp reveals how a genuine sense of belonging fuels engagement, resilience and collective performance.
Audiences gain practical ways to create environments where people feel psychologically safe, connected and motivated — helping leaders strengthen culture while unlocking more consistent results.
PURPOSE - BEYOND THE WHY
The modern search for purpose has become both a pressure and a distraction, leaving many high-achieving professionals questioning whether they are doing enough — or even on the right path.
In this keynote, Nicholas Kemp challenges the myth that purpose can only be found by discovering a single defining mission. Instead, he offers a more grounded and empowering perspective: while meaning is often experienced in everyday moments of contribution, progress and connection, a deeper sense of purpose ultimately comes from consciously choosing what we want to dedicate our time, energy and lives to.
Drawing on insights from ikigai psychology and wellbeing research, Nicholas helps audiences move beyond the endless search for the “perfect calling” and re-engage with the roles and responsibilities they already hold.
Audiences leave with practical ways to create moments of meaning in their current work — strengthening motivation, resilience and ownership, while gaining greater clarity about the larger contributions they want their careers and lives to stand for.
Ikigai goes beyond popular Western misconceptions and involves daily rituals, living your values, building intimate relationships, fulfilling your life roles, engaging in activities with a sense of purpose, expressing your creative self and pursuing a life goal with a healthy sense of urgency.
Nicholas Kemp ‧ Keynote Speaker
BOOK NICK FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT
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IKIGAI AUTHOR
Nick is the author of three books: A Year of Ikigai, Ikigai-Kan: Feel a Life Worth Living, and Rolefulness.
Grounded in Japanese psychology and lived experience in Japan, his writing focuses on meaning as it is felt and lived in everyday life, rather than something defined by work or productivity. His books explore roles, relationships, contribution, and belonging as central elements of a meaningful life.
Across his work, Nick challenges simplified or Westernised interpretations of ikigai, offering a more nuanced and culturally informed perspective. His writing draws on research, observation, and dialogue to help readers develop clearer language for experiences that are often felt but difficult to articulate.
