Viola De Girolami keynote speaker

Viola De Girolami is a keynote speaker, founder, and former marketing executive at Warner Bros., McDonald’s and Carphone Warehouse, bringing over 15 years of corporate experience driving large-scale transformation. Her work focuses on helping leaders and organisations navigate complex transitions, and understand the human and organisational dynamics that determine whether change succeeds or fails.

At Warner Bros., Viola served as Executive Director of Digital Marketing & Data, building the studio’s digital and data capability from the ground up and leading one of its most significant transformations. Her work reshaped how global cultural phenomena, such as Dunkirk, Joker, and Barbie, were brought to audiences while advising the leadership team on major strategic initiatives.

Earlier in her career at McDonald’s, she worked during a defining period of brand reinvention following the reputational crisis triggered by the documentary Super Size Me. She experienced first-hand how one of the world’s most iconic brands pivoted under pressure and rebuilt relevance in a rapidly changing market. At Carphone Warehouse, she was also involved in large-scale digital and customer transformation during a period of industry shift.

Having lived transformation from the inside - across strategy, leadership, culture, and execution - Viola observed recurring patterns in why change efforts succeed or fail. She later deepened this understanding through formal training in Positive Psychology, integrating behavioural science and human performance into her work with leaders and teams.

Today, Viola is the founder of ‘What Clients Really Want’ which supports marketing/digital agencies to improve their retention and upsell rates. She also works as an advisor to organisations and senior leadership teams navigating change and strategic transition.

Alongside her advisory work, she is a regular keynote speaker at corporate events, company away days and conferences, sharing practical insights drawn from her experience inside global brands and her work with decision-makers across sectors.

Viola is fluent in English, Italian, and Spanish and is comfortable delivering keynotes in all three languages.

Viola's Themes:

The 30%: What Successful Change Gets Right

Around 70% of organisational change initiatives fail to achieve their original goals. Viola is interested in what the other 30% get right.
And that is exactly what she explores in her keynote.

Today, AI is accelerating the pace of change and fundamentally transforming how organisations work, compete and evolve. No organisation needs to be told that it has to change, that is increasingly obvious.

The harder question is: how do you make that change successful?

Viola has spent over 15 years as a marketing leader inside organisations like McDonald’s and Warner Bros., witnessing first hand major transformations.

Different eras, different pressures. But the same underlying dynamics around why change succeeds or fails.

Remember Super Size Me, the documentary that publicly tore apart McDonald’s?
Viola was part of the team navigating the strategic reset of this iconic brand.

Years later, as Executive Director at Warner Bros., she led a major digital transformation, completely reshaping how cultural phenomena like Joker and Barbie were launched.

In her thought-provoking keynote, she takes audiences behind the scenes of real change, revealing the patterns organisations often overlook.

From the unchallenged assumptions that quietly kill innovation, to the hidden sense of loss that makes change harder than it looks.

Blending real-world stories with insights from psychology, she challenges leaders to ask better questions and equips them with practical tools to drive change that truly lasts.

A powerful mix of creativity, psychology, and strategy that reveals what it truly takes to make change stick.

Keynote + Workshop: How to Drive Successful Change

For smaller groups of leaders navigating change or transition, Viola combines the inspiration of a keynote with the practicality of a facilitated workshop.

The keynote introduces her practical framework for successful change. Participants then apply that framework directly to a live challenge or transition within their organisation.

Ideal for leadership and executive teams, transformation kick-offs, strategy sessions, executive retreats and groups of approximately 8–16 participants.

Participants leave with a shared framework and language, greater clarity about their current challenge, and practical priorities and agreed next steps.