Win or Learn: Taking Risks, Pushing Boundaries, and Developing a Growth Mindset.
Chemmy Alcott
- Overcame a life-changing injury to become a legendary skier, competing in four Winter Olympics and paving the way for the next generation of British winter sports athletes
- Takes audiences through the ups and downs of her highly decorated career to share lessons on developing a growth mindset to achieve extraordinary goals
- Inspires groups to take risks, push boundaries, and live life to the fullest
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Widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest-ever skiers, Chemmy Alcott is a four-time Winter Olympian who has defied the odds in sport and life to inspire the world and show people that anything is possible when they’re willing to take risks. She represented Team GB throughout her 20-year sporting career, during which she became the eighth ranked skier in the world and the first British ski racer to win a run in the World Cup.
Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Alcott shares her inspirational story of taking risks and overcoming the odds on her journey to becoming a sporting phenomenon. She brings audience members along for a ride filled with ups, downs, twists, and turns as she speaks candidly about recovering from a childhood ski accident that resulted in 50 broken bones and nearly left her paralysed, and risking it all by facing adversity head-on throughout her career, battling back from subsequent injuries and obstacles that repeatedly left her future as once-in-a-lifetime skier in doubt. She takes the audience behind the scenes of some of her greatest triumphs and challenges, and shares lessons learned along the way, demonstrating how anyone can reframe their mindset and step outside of their comfort zone to achieve extraordinary goals. Alcott’s key takeaway (and life motto) is that is there’s no “win or lose,” only “win or learn.”
A trailblazing athlete, Alcott was among the pioneers who elevated the popularity of skiing in Great Britain and showed British athletes that it was possible for them to compete on the world’s biggest stages in winter sports. She is a seven-time British National Overall Champion and won 44 gold medals during the course of her international career. Since retiring from alpine skiing following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Alcott has continued to find new ways to challenge herself. She competed in the World’s Toughest Ski Race in Greenland, the 100-mile RideLondon road race, and other sporting endeavours, while being promoted to lead presenter of BBC’s “Ski Sunday” television programme and fronting BBC’s Winter Olympics coverage.
Alongside her sporting and media work, Alcott created the X-Elle initiative to develop young girls’ confidence in, and through, sport. She is also a proactive ambassador for international humanitarian organisation Right to Play and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro on its behalf, raising more than £25,000 in the process. In addition to her numerous charitable and philanthropic pursuits, Alcott is a champion for sustainability and making the right choices to protect the world we live in and the mountains she calls home.
Alcott is frequently featured in the pages of national newspapers and on red carpets, holds three Guinness World Records, and placed 5th on the very popular ITV show “Dancing on Ice.” As someone used to racing downhill at more than 80 miles per hour, she continues to seek new challenges while balancing motherhood to two young boys, and doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon.
Win or Learn: Taking Risks, Pushing Boundaries, and Developing a Growth Mindset. As four-time Olympian skier Chemmy Alcott shares with audiences, without risk, there is no success. Returning to the slopes following a life-changing injury was the biggest risk of all for Alcott — one that paid off as she went on to have a successful 20-year career with Team GB and became a 44-time gold medallist in international events. In this talk, Alcott draws from her own experiences taking risks and using her setbacks to re-route her path to success to demonstrate the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone and pushing past the boundaries we set for ourselves. In an energetic, paradigm-shifting session, she helps audience reframe the “win or lose” way of thinking to a “win or learn” mindset that will help them extract the lessons from their losses and use those lessons to guide them to their next success.
Overcoming the Fear of Failure to Live Your Fullest Life. Think back to a time when fear stopped you from chasing a new goal. Do you wonder how things may have turned out had you moved past those fears? Growing up, Chemmy Alcott’s dream was to make her mark in the world of skiing — a tall order given that few British winter sports athletes before her had tasted success on the world’s stage. Why should she think it would be any different for her? Despite the fears and self-doubt, Alcott pushed on — even refusing to let an accident that led to 50 broken bones derail her on her journey. Alcott reinvigorates the audience towards their goals and passions in this talk as she reflects on the ways she was able to overcome the fear of failure and shares actionable strategies anyone can use to do the same. Alcott explains to audience members why it’s better to fail than not try at all, while opening their eyes to what can be achieved when the desire to succeed overpowers the fear of failure.
Balancing Your Personal and Professional Lives. Things haven’t slowed down for Chemmy Alcott since retiring from her legendary ski career. Between taking on new sporting challenges, serving as a well-loved sport commentator, acting as an ambassador for various charities, and raising her two young boys, life continues to move fast and furiously. Yet, somehow, she’s able to balance it all. In this talk, Alcott shares practical steps anyone can implement to create harmony in all areas of their life, while reminding audience members that it’s impossible to be everything to everyone at once.
Behind the Scenes at the Olympics with Chemmy Alcott. An enthusiastic and engaging presence on television screens and on stage, Chemmy Alcott takes audiences behind the scenes of her journey to competing in four Winter Olympic Games and shares never-before-heard stories of what it’s like to compete on the world’s biggest stage with all eyes on you. Her story of recovering from a disastrous ski accident to become one of Britain’s greatest-ever skiers and pave the way for the next generation of winter sports athletes is inspiring, and the lessons she shares will empower audience members to push the boundaries and pursue their goals at full speed.
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