Keynotes for companies and organisations
An energetic, entertaining keynote built around your event theme. Kim reads a room in seconds and sends people back to their work aligned and ready.
Speaker · Author · Teacher
Ancient wisdom for modern problems
Kim Gilson helps teams work out what they are actually built for — and then put it to work.
30years teaching and speaking
With 30 years of experience in teaching, training and speaking, Kim inspires teams to learn, grow and lead with purpose.
She created the Giftivate Framework, a research-informed model that helps people identify and activate their core motivations.
Kim brings clarity, connection and humour to every session, leaving audiences aligned, energised and ready to perform at their best.
Speaking
What Kim is booked for
Every session is built around the room it is given in — the theme, the people, and what the day is meant to change.
Giftivate workshops for teams and leaders
The framework in the room: people identify their top three motivational gifts, map them against what their role actually asks of them, and leave knowing where they add most and where to ask for help.
Church and women’s conferences
Kim serves on the preaching team at Harvest Hill Church and speaks regularly at churches and women’s conferences, on purpose, calling and living the abundant life.
Her own story, told honestly
Kim lost her husband Paul suddenly in 2014. Her testimony about finding goodness in the land of the living is the session audiences write to her about afterwards.
The Giftivate Framework
Seven ways people are built to contribute
A research-informed model that helps people identify and activate their core motivations. Most teams are not short of talent. They are short of a shared language for it.
Perceiver
Discerns right from wrong. Passion for justice and truth. Points out errors with the goal of restoration, and offers guardrails.
Professor
Loves knowledge. Values accuracy and clarity. Researches, organises and shares information, and needs to know the why.
Encourager
Relationship-oriented and visionary. Encourages and inspires others, communicates in practical ways, brings cohesion to a team.
Ruler
Administrator and organiser. Plans and implements, analyses and delegates, and moves everyone toward a common goal.
Servant
Meets practical needs, often behind the scenes. Dependable, loyal and reliable, and can see other people’s projects through to completion.
Giver
Creates out-of-the-box solutions and gives in secret. Identifies and provides resources, thinks generationally and values stewardship.
Mercy
A strong sense of compassion and a safe place for those hurting. Emotionally sensitive, ministers to the suffering, draws from prior experience.
Which three are yours?
Most people run on three of the seven. Knowing which three — and which three your organisation runs on — is where a session starts.
Find out →What a session actually does
Participants name their own top three gifts and their organisation’s top three, then set them against the work their job really asks of them — including the parts nobody wrote down. The gaps between those lists are where stress, imposter syndrome and quiet resentment usually live, and naming them is most of the fix.
Watch
Kim in front of a room
Experience the energy and expertise firsthand.
Testimonials
What people say afterwards
“There are very few people on this planet who can ignite an entire room of people in mere seconds the way Kim Gilson can.”
“Kim provided a concise, helpful discussion to help leaders be their best versions of themselves, build the teams of their dreams, and align their strengths with their mission.”
“Her interactive communication is encouraging, inspiring, thought provoking and ALWAYS funny.”
“I’ve heard Kim speak and I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside her on projects. She has a true communicative gift and an ability to synthesize ideas into a useful, relatable format.”
“Kim is a connector. She is uniquely gifted at helping others realize their strengths and potential. She identifies practical approaches to build fulfilling skills that help us, our families and our careers.”
“This program helped me understand my strengths while feeling grace for those weaknesses I struggle with. I have a better idea of how I can help move forward with both and be successful.”
“Kim’s class helped me recognize the unique, God-given gifts I have and how needed they are in the Body of Christ.”
Scroll for more →
About
Thirty years of making hard things clear
Kim spent her first career in public education, teaching band and mathematics before moving into adult education — where she found what she was actually built for: making difficult topics easier to understand.
She retired from public education in 2022 and became a certified trainer, speaker and coach, working with organisations and congregations to revitalise what people want from their working lives.
In 2014 her husband Paul died suddenly of a blood clot. Working her way back from that loss is what pushed her into personal development and, eventually, into sharing her zeal for life with everyone else.
Kim lives in Midlothian, Texas with her husband Don and their dogs Duchess and Cosmo. She has two grown sons, Trent and Cade, serves on the preaching team at Harvest Hill Church, and will take any excuse to drive somewhere new in Texas.
The book
Made for Community
A biblical model to activate your purpose
Achieving God’s purposes for your life means helping others achieve theirs. Isolation, loneliness and divisiveness are derailing His plans for our lives. Life is a group project.
Booking
Tell Kim about your event
Conference, staff day, leadership retreat, Sunday morning — send the date and the theme and she will come back to you.