Cally Beaton

Cally is a performer, broadcaster, entrepreneur, best-selling author and one of the UK’s most experienced and sought-after corporate speakers and hosts.

Early in her media career, she headed an independent TV production company that was bought by ITV. She joined the board of the UK’s main commercial broadcaster as both the youngest, and the only female member (and for a while sat alongside David Cameron). She left ITV to start an award-winning creative consultancy and went on to do a 10-year stint at US studio giant ViacomCBS as Senior Vice President of International Programming.

At ViacomCBS, Cally oversaw a $500 million budget for brands including Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount; if you want someone to blame for bringing South Park and SpongeBob SquarePants to the world, you need look no further!

Responsible for selling and producing programmes and formats around the world, she combined working with on-screen and production talent with business planning and strategy, bridging the divide between creative and financial priorities – until a chance conversation with the legendary comedian Joan Rivers changed her life. And so began Cally’s parallel life, at the age of 45, as a stand-up comedian. Despite joining the circuit after already establishing an impressive corporate career, the move has seen her achieve substantial success as a world-class comedian – performing at clubs and venues around the world, taking her own shows to the Edinburgh Fringe and on sold-out tours, and appearing on shows including QI, The Apprentice You’re Fired, and Live at the Apollo.

With a social media following of over 400k, her popular Instagram reels have amassed over 100 million views and in 2021 she launched her hit Namaste Motherf*ckers podcast. Her subsequent Namaste Motherf*ckers book came out in the summer of 2025 and immediately became the number one self-improvement title in the UK, as well as featuring in the prestigious Sunday Times Top 10 Bestsellers list. The book is accompanied by an ongoing sell-out UK tour of the same name, and came out in paperback in May 2026. Her second book will be published by Hachette in 2027.

Having left the corporate world for comedy, Cally explores ideas of reinvention, change and embracing uncertainty and discomfort. Bringing humour and energy to her business insights, Cally considers the nature of workplace and leadership culture. She looks at how to engender change (both personal and organisational), inspire teams and develop a positive, agile, and inclusive environment. She also tackles the working priorities and expectations of multigenerational teams, and reveals how to be creative whilst keeping an eye on the bottom line.

Her personality, love of performance and business knowledge has also seen her coach and train senior figures from a range of industries.

KEYNOTE THEMES:

Cally prides herself on immersing herself in a speaker brief and delivering bespoke content that hits the spot for the client, and delights the audience. Her themes include: change and transformation, high performance, resilience and discomfort, exceptional leadership, innovation and future-proofing, cross-generational engagement, employee wellbeing, outstanding communication and workplace culture.