Pierre du Plessis

Pierre cares deeply about the things we build and the people we become. He is the founder of Be Brave which for 2 decades has been helping teams and businesses grow to build stuff that matters.
He has spoken to audiences around the world about becoming better humans, building teams, and making stuff that matters in a chaotic world.
He is a designer, an author, a systematic philosopher, and above all a teacher.
Pierre has been featured on 4 TEDx stages and has spoken at Alan Gray, FNB, Nedbank, Tencent, HATCH Engineering, Yum!, BP, and many others. He has written 4 books and won the Desmond Tutu, Gerrit Brand Prize for literature in 2018.
He believes he is the love child of Gertrude Stein and Jason Bourne and lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with his wife, two kids, and his iPhone.
Testimonials:
“Pierre delivered a unique perspective that altered our team’s understanding of all the different money stories, proving to be a game-changer in how we will approach our clients from now on.”
— LOUW BARNARDT, CO-FOUNDER & MD OCFO
“Pierre’s talk was truly engaging – he was easy to listen to and his advice was highly practical. The audience was captivated, and 178 attendees were in awe. Thank you for a soul-touching deliverance of a well-appreciated topic, especially in challenging times.”
— BRIGOTT BRUINTJIES ALLAN GRAY
“In a time where speakers all seem to sound exactly the same. Pierre manages to sound completely different. He’s the Ernest Hemingway to their Dan Brown, the Pink Floyd to their Nickelback.”
— RICHARD MULHOLLAND, MSNGLNK
“A completely new angle on leadership, with practical applications we can immediately implement in our teams.”
— SAREL VAN ZYL, CEO, FNB NAMIBIA
“Fresh, thought provoking, and captivating”
— JACQUES FOUCHE – DIRECTOR, SOUTHERN AFRICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE CONFERENCE INDUSTRY
“You will not regret booking Pierre, he is one of the best speakers I have ever heard, and I have heard many.”
— MARINDA VAN ZYL, HEATWAVE STORY AGENCY
“I am jaded, I have been in the industry a very long time (20 years feels like a lifetime), I have seen a lot, heard a lot, had my intelligence challenged and my mind bent and often been bored. There are not many speakers out there that make me stop (mid running around on an event) and listen. Pierre is one of those Pierre du Plessis has a “je_ne_sais_quoi” he is genuine, he is kind in nature and he is deep. What he talks about hits home and makes the neurons fire. He inspires me and makes me think. He is the 1st person I recommend when a client requests a speaker. A consummate professional, always on time and always interesting.”
— KELLY MCGILLIVRAY – THE SQUAD EVENTS
““Pierre, like all good trend spotters, looks at the world with infinite curiosity and an open mind. As such, he has a knack of pin pointing a trend on the rise, but most importantly its roots and trajectory. Without these two elements you don’t have context, and Pierre has the ability to provide that all important context.”
— DION CHANG, FOUNDER FLUX TRENDS
“The true power of this talk is in how it touches on the simple yet poorly understood – or personal yet most potent – aspect of our being…managing the self”
— VICTOR KGOMOESWANA, AFRICA BUSINESS SPECIALIST
“Pierre du Plessis is most probably one of the best speakers I have encountered, anywhere in the world.

I have been lucky enough to see the likes of Nir Eyal, Eric Qualman, the great Tony Dungy, even that guy Bill Clinton, but do I do anything different after listening to them? Nope.
Pierre du Plessis is a class act….and pretty damn world-class. I do walking meetings now. I search in “darker” places for insights now, I randomly pick cinema numbers and watch that movie sometimes, now when travelling I stroll around a city or town and try to also observe the world.
I do stuff differently, both with my team at KFC Africa and in my personal life, because of Pierre du Plessis. His talks are like those movies you simply will watch over and over and over. I am a fan.
He is not a typical “speaker circuit” guy, that sounds like a radio recording. Pierre is real. Pierre is authentic. Above all, Pierre lands a message so delicately, that weeks later little nuggets from a talk will still pop up in your head like popping candy. Pierre is also a nice guy. And I like nice guys. Our business does nice….when often in the rest of the business-world nobody does nice.
Think different. Apple said it. Pierre makes you do it. ”
— DEWALD DU PLOOY, MARKETING DIRECTOR KFC AFRICA