Erik Weihenmayer is a world-class adventurer, the first blind man to summit Mount Everest, and one of only 150 mountaineers to climb the Seven Summits. His latest and most demanding adventure is kayaking the 277 miles of the Grand Canyon. One of the most exciting and well-known athletes in the world, he never let his lack of vision interfere with his quality of life. Weihenmayer’s feats have earned him incredible press coverage and dozens of awards. He is also the author of two books and addresses leadership, teamwork, overcoming adversity, motivation, and inspiration.

Steve Baskis is an inspirational blind veteran and adventurer. Just eight months into his deployment to Iraq, his squad was attacked. A roadside bomb severely wounded Baskis, but, despite his injuries, he amazed his doctors with his recovery and attitude. An “adrenaline junkie,” he was eager to test his potential and push the boundaries of what disabled people are perceived capable of doing. He has since competed in athletic competitions and summited mountains. Baskis addresses motivation, inspiration, overcoming adversity, humanitarian efforts, and pushing the limits of human potential.

An adventurer, record-setter, and boundary-breaker, Darcy Gaechter is best known as the first woman - and member of the first team - to kayak the Amazon River from source to sea. The journey required her crew to paddle over 4,000 miles across the widest part of South America, a voyage that took 148 days to complete. She is also the author of The Kayaker’s Guide to Ecuador and Amazon Woman, an adventure memoir detailing her Amazon River expedition and the life challenges she faced to get there – the rights of which have been purchased to turn her story into a movie. Gaechter inspires audiences with her personal journey of overcoming obstacles and making the impossible possible – sharing useful tactics to take on even the most daunting of challenges and demonstrating how a strong belief in yourself and in your goal are key ingredients to any success.

A 21-year veteran of the United States Air Force, Colonel Nicole Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) wanted to fly military jets from the moment she saw them at her first air show when she was five years old. She achieved that goal – and then some. A leader, a combat veteran, the first woman pilot on the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron, an instructor, a White House Fellow, and an inductee into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame, Nicole’s Air Force career exceeded her wildest dreams.

Amy Purdy had a typical childhood until losing her legs at 19 as a result of Meningitis, which has led to an adulthood of extraordinary accomplishments. Amy is the top ranked adaptive snowboarder in the US, a three-time World Cup Para-Snowboard winner, the 2014 Paralympic Bronze Medalist, and the 2018 Paralympic Silver Medalist. She is the co-founder of Adaptive Action Sports (AAS), a non-profit organization which helps disabled youth, young adults, and wounded veterans get involved with action sports, and the author of the New York Times best-selling book, On My Own Two Feet. Amy has evolved into a powerful inspirational and motivational speaker who has been seen by millions of people and invited to share her story to audiences around the world.

Jeff Skiles, the co-pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 (otherwise known as “The Miracle on the Hudson”), is no stranger to intense training, re-training, preparation, and organization. Before the fateful collision with the Canadian geese that caused the plane’s engine failure, Skiles had logged over 20,000 hours in the sky and had worked more than 23 years as a U.S. Airways pilot and first officer. Skiles recounts how he reacted to the crisis and the events that led to the Hudson River landing and addresses leadership, teamwork, adaptability, and the need for training and preparation.

As the first female F-14 Tomcat Fighter Pilot in the U.S. Navy, Carey Lohrenz is used to working in fast moving, dynamic environments where inconsistent execution can generate catastrophic results. The same challenges are found in business: markets change, customer needs evolve and if you do not adapt quickly, your company is at risk. In her motivating and engaging keynote presentations, Carey shares her fascinating experiences operating in one of the world’s most challenging environments – an aircraft carrier. She is uniquely qualified in the fundamentals of winning under pressure, reducing errors and overcoming obstacles. Her mastery of these fundamentals can help your team triumph in this high-risk, time crunched world.

Molly Bloom is an inspirational keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and bestselling author of Molly’s Game. She is best known for her memoir, Molly’s Game, which was adapted into an award-winning film of the same name by Aaron Sorkin. Bloom’s memoir chronicles her journey from college student to LA waitress to building and operating the largest and most notorious private poker game in the world. Her games featured hundreds of millions of dollars and players like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, A-Rod, and Ben Affleck. Bloom began her career as a world-class skier. While training as a pre-teen she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis and had to undergo surgery that the doctors said would end her athletic career. A year later, fully recovered, she was back on the slopes. She later joined the U.S. Ski Team and at 21 years old was ranked No. 3 in North America in moguls, but her Olympic dreams would go unrealized as she left the team to pursue other projects. This led her to what she thought would be a year sabbatical in LA. Bloom was finishing her degree in Political Science from the University of Colorado – Boulder, and was in the process of applying to top tier Law Schools, when her assistant job turned her into an accidental entrepreneur, running one of the most exclusive, high-stakes underground poker games in the world, pulling in as much as $4 million per year. What happened next is where her story truly begins. The film Molly’s Game, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, stars Jessica Chastain (as Molly), Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Brian d’Arcy James, and Chris O’Dowd. Bloom has appeared on numerous shows and in media outlets such as Ellen, Vice, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, Vulture, and has been asked to speak at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, for companies like Blackrock Financial, SiriusXM Radio, and will deliver the 2018 commencement speech at Colorado State University. Bloom is now focused on building WeWork for female entrepreneurs. For years

Referred to by his fans as “the Artist for the People,” Phil Hansen is an internationally recognized multimedia artist, speaker, author and innovator—at the forefront of bringing art to a wider audience. Crashing irreverently through conventional boundaries, Phil works at the intersection of traditional art, electronic media, offbeat materials, and interactive experiences. He is most widely known for his meta-art, videos that document the creation process (sometimes even through destruction), showing millions that art is action, not just result. For the tens of millions who have seen Phil’s art on TV and online, it’s hard to imagine that his artistic journey nearly came to an end when a tremor developed in his drawing hand. In exploring new ways to create art, he discovered that by embracing his shake, limitations could become the passageway to creativity. His inspirational story was first shared on the TED stage to a standing ovation, and then shared around the world including on PBS, BBC and CCTV. He’s the author of Tattoo a Banana, a guide to exploring creativity through art with everyday materials and he’s the founder of Goodbye-Art Academy, providing high quality and free art education videos to teachers and students everywhere.

A geopolitical strategist and forecaster, Mr Zeihan combines topography, economics, demographics, history and culture to craft the future. He approaches the world from his clients' points of view, distilling global complexities into actionable items, leaving audiences with clear concepts of what cannot happen, what must happen eventually, and what will happen very soon.

For twenty years, Billy McLaughlin astounded audiences around the world with his complex and rhythmic music. In 2001, Billy was diagnosed with Focal Dystonia, an incurable neuromuscular disorder that rendered him unable to play his own music. By 2002, Billy’s career was over. Then in 2006 he did the unthinkable, he launched a comeback by learning to play the guitar with his opposite hand. He helps audience members learn how to prosper by adapting and refreshing their approach to accomplishing their goals, and he does this through a combination of masterful stories and music.

Jeff Evans has always followed the call of the excitement and wildness of outdoor adventure. This pursuit of passion led to the formation of MountainVision Incorporated and a career which includes guiding clients up mountain peaks & across the globe, professional speaking, and practicing as an emergency medicine Physician Assistant.