Zannah Ryabchuk is a sought-after speaker, business culture expert and the CEO of Breakthrough Global, an organisation dedicated to aiding business growth through mindset and behavioural changes. She won Management Today’s 2023 ‘35 Women in Leadership Under 35’ Award and is best known for her energising, interactive talks on culture, transformation and navigating uncertainty in a VUCA world, sharing personal stories and powerful ideas to create practical and actionable frameworks.
After achieving a BA in History from the University of Manchester, Zannah spent time as an Assistant to the Managing Director at The American European Business Association. Upon completing a short stint in another assistant role at Tom Ford, Zannah gained her MSc in Politics and International Studies from SOAS University of London, going on to conduct postgraduate studies at Chatham House, where she shadowed Research Fellows working on a report on food insecurity and famine in Africa. During this time, Zannah served as an Online Assistant for Estee Lauder before beginning her career as a Client Manager at Breakthrough Global, progressing to CEO at just 33 and making history as the first leader to be appointed to succeed the founder. She has made waves as a successful growth architect, strategically supporting the Chadwicks Group in doubling its revenue from €500M to €1B, and as an alignment expert, through delivering an 11% increase in senior leadership alignment for Bel Group.
Through her outstanding work, Zannah worked with several C-level leaders at high-profile organisations such as Unilever, Ferrero, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, and Coty to enhance their business positions and uncover their hidden potential. She has also spoken at various global events, chairing Breakthrough Global’s Breakthrough Speakers Series on AI and the Future of Work, demonstrating her authority at the intersection of business progression and technological influences. Zannah is also the author of 'Energy-Driven Transformation', a definitive guide to organisational change, and is the host of the ‘3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders’ podcast.
A dynamic and engaging speaker, Zannah inspires and captivates audiences with her thought-provoking insights, personal anecdotes, and clear-cut ideas. Zannah’s talks are full of passion for history, health and wellbeing, relationships, nature and feminism, all of which trickle into her perspectives on leadership, culture and human performance. Through the lens of Breakthrough, Zannah helps audiences understand what drains momentum, what builds collective ownership, and what creates the right conditions for teams to act with clarity and purpose.
Zannah Ryabchuk's Official Speaker Topics are listed below:
Culture Is Your Greatest Competitive Advantage
Culture is not the soft stuff, it is the system that decides whether strategy lives or dies. Zannah shows leaders how to identify the few cultural patterns that drive or drain performance, then shift them fast through visible leadership signals, decision rules, and everyday rituals that scale.
Alignment Is a Superpower
Most organisations are not under-skilled; they are misaligned. Zannah helps senior teams create true alignment across purpose, priorities, ways of working and non-negotiables, so the organisation moves with one direction, one tempo, and far less friction.
Leadership, Growth, and Urgency in the VUCA World
In volatility, comfort becomes complacency and activity becomes noise. Zannah equips leaders to build urgency without panic, and momentum without burnout, so growth becomes a disciplined practice rather than a sporadic push.
Become Masters of Uncertainty in a Radically Changing World
Uncertainty exposes leadership defaults, communication gaps, and cultural weaknesses. Zannah provides a practical toolkit for leading through ambiguity, strengthening decision-making in imperfect conditions, and creating cultures that adapt quickly while staying anchored.
Unleash Your Energy to Catalyse Growth
Energy is a measurable organisational force, it fuels performance, innovation, and resilience. Zannah focuses on the energy drivers that sit beneath engagement scores, helping leaders remove hidden drains, unlock ownership, and build conditions for sustained, scalable performance
Engagement Scores are a Red Herring - You Want Fulfilled People
Engagement can be high while accountability is low and progress stalls. Zannah reframes the conversation around fulfilment, meaning, and contribution, and shows how to create the cultural conditions where people bring their best and performance follows.
Zannah is also known to discuss the following topics:
- Mindsets to Achieve Growth
- Complacent or Overloaded? How to Identify and Build a High-Performance Organisational Culture
- Change Management
- Future of Work
- Growth and Scale
- Innovation
- Mental Resilience
- Peak Performance
- Strategy
- Teamwork and Team Building
- Workplace Culture
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
'Attendees have described Zannah as a Duracell bunny of positive energy, an
inspirational woman, and A star. A very insightful and engaging one. You were
Brilliant! Loved your session, Zannah! Culture is indeed our biggest competitive
advantage #FullOn' - Pricilla, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Unilever
'Zannah’s energy was fantastic. She really put our leadership on a path forward,
driving self-awareness and a different mindset.' - Tessa, Global Head of Talent & Leadership Development, Fugro
'As Lipton Teas & Infusions UK & Ireland look to create a successful & ambitious
future, our Trafford Park event in Feb 24, inspired by the brilliant team at
Breakthrough was powerful, insightful, and energising. I cannot think of a better way
to get the whole business into that magical, intentional space! We are all buzzing.
Thank you so much, Zannah, it was much appreciated by the team!' - Liam, General Manager, UK & Ireland, Lipton
- 2026 - Set to publish 'Energy-Driven Transformation'
- 2023 – CEO, Breakthrough Global
- 2023 - Recognised with the '35 Women in Leadership Under 35' Award
- 2021 - Established Her Podcast, '3 Lessons from Breakthrough Leaders'
- 2018 – Managing Director, Breakthrough Global
- 2016 – Client Manager, Breakthrough Global
- 2013 – Online Assistant, Estee Lauder
- 2012 – Communications Manager, Breakthrough Global
- 2012 – Postgraduate Studies, Chatham House
- 2011 – Assistant to PR Manager & Assistant Manager, Tom Ford Beauty
- 2005 – Assistant to Managing Director, The American European Business Association
How to hire Zannah Ryabchuk
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Zannah Ryabchuk for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
