Kathy Dempsey

Keep Shedding!

Kathy B. Dempsey, award winning author, keynote speaker and change expert is President of Keep Shedding! Inc. Kathy ignites people and organizations with the skills and motivation to lead and manage change. Adapt Quicker...Get Results!

Her most popular book, Shed or You're Dead®: 31 Unconventional Strategies for Growth and Change has been awarded with a Writer's Digest International Book Award.

Kathy Dempsey knows change...

Her “signature story” is her transformation from working as an ER/trauma nurse to becoming the first healthcare worker in America to be diagnosed positive for AIDS as a result of workplace exposure. Kathy received national attention as a result of this hospital-based event that made her a “poster child” for the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

The diagnosis, which was a death sentence in the mid-80s, was confirmed with multiple positive tests. Months later, all tests returned negative. Was it a miracle or medical error? Nobody can explain it. What’s certain is that the three-month period Kathy lived with that traumatic diagnosis was a life-altering experience.

This event forced Kathy to learn about hard changes in life and how to adapt to them. What emerged was a new life philosophy: SHED. Today Kathy’s presentations reach far beyond that experience. They are a wake-up call to provide focus, inspiration and practical tools for people to lead and manage change at work and in life. Kathy’s message has inspired hundreds of thousands of people to SHED in places around the world including Europe, Canada, Africa, Mexico and across the United States.

A native of Washington, DC, Kathy now resides in Scottsdale, AZ.