Although Ms Bella St John initially retired when she turned 50, the realisation soon came that she loves what she does so much, ‘retirement’ didn’t last long.

Bella has several decades of experience working with both small to medium-sized enterprises, and with some of the world’s top companies, helping organisations to increase shareholder value by focusing on and leveraging their strengths, possibilities, and successes — specialising in personal and professional development, innovative think tanks, summits, and leadership development programs. She is also a sought-after branding expert, focusing on buyer psychology, and has a passion for coaching and mentoring programs that are innovative, collaborative, practical, and that demonstrate a tangible link between ‘respect’ and ‘profitability’.

Despite having health and mobility challenges, often needing a wheelchair to navigate long walks and meander through galleries, Bella’s story is a testament to resilience, lifelong learning, and finding joy in every moment.

Artificial Intelligence

A leading voice on AI — and what it means for all of us.

Bella stays on the cutting edge of technology — and more specifically its impact on people, organisations, and society as a whole — and is a leading voice on the impact of AI, AGI, and ChatGPT, having published her book AI/AGI Revolution — Will This Change What It Means To Be Human? She is the go-to expert for a number of well-known companies when it comes to advising on the potential business, psychological, and societal impact of AI — and more importantly, what to do about it.

She is also currently building a platform to house her various AI training programs and resources.

Executive and Elite Coaching

Decades of experience. An unparalleled depth of insight.

Bella has been a consultant for many years in the areas of business growth, marketing (and specifically the importance of branding), personal and professional development — working with a variety of successful executives and entrepreneurs, high-net-worth, and high-profile individuals. Her successes across a variety of disciplines and industries, both online and bricks-and-mortar, combined with having lived in several different countries, and her lifelong study into ‘what makes people tick’ — collectively give her an unparalleled insight into spotting hidden opportunities, identifying unforeseen challenges, and finding new and innovative ways to succeed.

Bella’s media and presentation background includes a career in radio, hosting movie premieres at Warner Bros, black-tie charity events, and week-long corporate professional development retreats. She has spent just as much time in front of the camera and microphone as behind it.

She has worked with corporate executives, successful entrepreneurs, coached international trade delegations on behalf of government, and more. Her writing credits include authoring both non-fiction and fiction books, serving as an expert columnist with one of the leading small business magazines, photojournalist with a major metropolitan newspaper, editor of her own publication, and author of hundreds of published articles.

In addition to her own publishing credits, she has coached numerous business people and executives through the process of writing, publishing, and turning their books into bestsellers across multiple platforms.

Branding & Etiquette

Elegance is not a performance. It is simply who she is.

Ms Bella St John brings a wealth of experience and a passion for excellence to her etiquette training programs. Known for her sophisticated approach and attention to detail, she has helped countless individuals and organisations achieve their highest potential through the power of proper etiquette — coaching politicians, executives, and high-school students alike, and accompanying international government trade delegations on the finer points of protocol and cultural sensitivity.

Although she had no idea of her lineage until a decade or so ago, it perhaps explains something: Bella is directly related to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and HRH King Charles III of England, and can trace her ancestral lineage all the way back to Charlemagne — King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 800. A discovery that, she says, explained rather a lot.

Bella lives and breathes what she calls ‘relaxed elegance’ — writing with a gold fountain pen, sealing her handwritten letters with her own personalised wax seal, and moving comfortably through the world of private flights, royal events, and black-tie evenings (including hosting several).

Currently

The art of business. The business of art.

Bella currently successfully manages two worlds — the art of business and the business of art. She is both a highly sought-after elite coach for those looking to completely redefine how they view and achieve success, and a professional artist followed by several collectors.

Passionate about keeping history alive — Bibliophile, Anachronist, Philosophus, Socratist, Solivagant — these are all words that have at different times been applied to Bella. She spent almost a decade travelling the world as a Luxurious Nomad, despite having some mobility challenges, and has completely redefined success — living a life most only dream of living — in a manner befitting the elegance and style of a now almost forgotten era.

She currently lives elegantis vitae daily — travelling with crystal glasses, gold-plated cutlery, a vintage Edwardian cup and saucer, her gold fountain pen (actually two, after she thought she had lost the first and bought another, only to find it exactly where she had left it), her personal wax seal, personal letterhead and envelopes for handwritten notes, and an assortment of books from her collection — including several published in the early to mid 1800s — ranging from classical literature to mythology to history and beyond.

What makes people tick

A lifelong question. A lifelong pursuit.

Born and raised in Australia, Bella had a very dangerous and challenging early life — but she chose to see it as a blessing that led to a choice: either allow her past to define her present, or learn from it and move forward by finding the blessings in every situation. She chose the latter — exploring all facets of what it means to live with a positive mindset, and how an abundance mentality can fuel success in every area of life.

This lifelong quest into studying human psychology — including studying the psychology of happiness at Yale — has given Bella a unique perspective when it comes to coaching people to achieve, and also with regard to success in learning and development, marketing, and branding.

A writer at heart

Published since 1990. Still writing.

During her early life, Bella’s refuge was books — both reading them and writing them, although it was not until 1990 that she published her first book, Non-Profit Profitability. Since then, she has published a number of books (the majority as a ghost-writer), including three Amazon bestsellers.

Until the end of 2016, all her published works were in the areas of business and personal development. In 2017, she published her first work of fiction — Quantum Lace — combining her loves of writing, history, quantum physics, serialised novels, and otherwise forgotten historical facts. Three books in the series have followed, with more in progress.

Books authored by Ms Bella St John include:

Fiction:

Quantum Lace — Books One, Two & Three (Book One: Amazon #1 Bestseller)

Non-Fiction:

Achievements

More than most will achieve in a lifetime.

Despite not having finished high school — finding herself homeless while still a teenager — Bella invested in her own education as an adult and subsequently taught for many years at the Mt Eliza Centre for Executive Education (listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the world’s top 25 business schools, and by the Financial Times as the No. 1 executive educator in Asia Pacific).

Bella is a member of Mensa, and with a passion for learning she describes simply as a ‘love of learning’, she has studied or is currently studying at: Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, MIT, Babson College, the University of Pennsylvania, UNESCO, the Smithsonian Institution, Rolls Royce Digital Academy, IBM, Arizona State University, the University of Maryland, Deakin University, Monash University, and more.

She studied Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University for a semester — for fun.

She is also an artist, an award-winning photographer, and a member of the British Royal Photographic Society — with several exhibitions to her name and work shortlisted as a finalist in the International Historic Photographer of the Year Awards.

Selected projects, appointments & memberships:

A life well lived

Adventures that make one wonder how old she actually is.

Bella’s adventures make one think she must be at least 179 years of age — and all of this with physical and mobility challenges. Among other things, she rode in a husky sled in the Scottish Highlands; spent time down in a Romanian salt mine; raced speedway stock cars; chartered private planes between countries; travelled overnight by rail from Vienna to Rome; attended a Royal Russian Summer Ball; explored Vienna in a horse-drawn carriage; attended the Winter Olympics in Whistler; cruised the River Danube; stayed overnight alone in a ghost town in the Nevada Desert; bought a Victorian horse-drawn carriage (as one does); was a guest soloist with the Sydney Conservatorium Choir; road-tripped across America multiple times in a classic Jaguar convertible; took a vintage five-star fine-dining rail journey from Wales to Scotland; cruised the Mississippi on a paddle steamer; visited the Altaussee salt mine in the Austrian mountains where WWII art treasures stolen by the Nazis were found by the Monuments Men… and much more.

Guiding ideals

Respect  ·  Freedom  ·  Redefining Success  ·  Keeping History Alive  ·  Bringing Elegance Back to Life

These are not marketing words. They are the principles Bella has built her life around — and continues to build her work around, every single day.

“I look forward to hearing from you.”

— Ms Bella St John

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