Inspirational Speakers - May 2023

Summer seems to have arrived… finally! The great thing about having a remote business is that we can work wherever the sun takes us. 
For our team this month that has included Norway, London, Devon and the back garden!

We have a selection of incredible new speakers to introduce, and have been enjoying building our relationships with all our speakers – including days out to watch speakers in action.

Claire Rackham

Claire Rackham

Inspirational Speakers Manager

New Speakers

Kate is a business futurist with a retail, consumer, brand, hospitality and technology specialisation, making complex societal shifts and emerging technologies relatable for any audience.

As CEO and founder of Business Futurist consultancy GDR, Kate is a ‘wayfinder to the future’ with a tech, consumer, retail and brand specialisation. GDR is the innovation partner to around 30 of the world’s largest consumer brands, including: Target, P&G, Costa Coffee, Coca-Cola, Clorox, Danone, Carlsberg, Google, Microsoft, Jaguar Landrover, Tesco, Sainsburys and Lego.
Laura Kennington is a British adventure athlete, author and speaker with a passion for the endurance capability of the human body.
 
Previous adventures include solo kayaking a section of the Volga river in Russia, solo cycling all 1600 miles of the world’s longest coastal route in Ireland, solo cycling Scotland’s North Coast 500 route, running the length of Fuerteventura (100 miles) in 4 days and circumnavigating three of the Channel Islands using three different sporting disciplines.
Shaun Dellenty (NPQH, FCCT, FRSA, B’ed Hons, HonDrEd) is a multi-disciplined and multi award- winning speaker, storyteller, trainer, writer, educator and advocate for LGBT+ inclusion.
 
In 2010 he was widely reported as the one of the first UK gay state school primary school leaders to ‘come out’ to his whole school community in the national and international press. Shaun wrote the acclaimed 2019 Bloomsbury book ‘Celebrating Difference- A Whole School Approach to LGBT+ Inclusion’ recommended in UK Parliament by Lord Michael Cashman and recorded in Hansard.
Katherine Baldwin is a wellbeing speaker, mental health advocate, transformational coach and author who shares her personal experience of an eating disorder, addictions, burnout and breakdown.
 
Katherine Baldwin is a former international correspondent for Bloomberg and Reuters, a career that took her around the globe with British prime ministers and VIPs. She worked in Mexico and Brazil, travelled to Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Japan, the United States and Europe and reported on elections, wars, tsunamis, earthquakes and terrorist attacks.
Rhys Thomas is a former International Rugby Player, Inspirational Speaker, Mental Health Ambassador, Mentor and Charity Co-Founder.
 
A former Welsh international rugby player turned inspirational speaker, mentor and co founder of a mental health and wellbeing charity. Rhys’ quite astonishing life story is like no other. With his extraordinary life experiences his perspective and knowledge on his topics is relatable and very thought provoking!
Helena Rowland is an England Rugby international player, Olympian & Six Nations Grand Slam winner.
 
Helena has enjoyed a meteoric rise in international rugby. Already an Olympian, she was also a key player in securing England’s second place finish at the 2022 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. She is also a triple Six Nations Grand Slam winner – all of this by the age of 23. Helena made her England debut in November 2020, and since then has not lost a game in an England shirt. She has represented England at fullback, flyhalf and in the centre and it is her versatility in England’s world class back line that is making her a player to watch.
Anita Asante is a former England defensive midfielder/centre back with 71 caps international caps under her belt, spanning 14 years, including competing for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.
 
The 37-year-old made her England debut in 2004, and she went on to compete in two Football World Cups and three UEFA European Championships. Anita also kicked off the first ever women’s Olympic football match for Team GB at the London Olympics in 2012. Away from the pitch, Anita has become a familiar face in the media, working for the BBC, ITV and Sky Sports. She is also a columnist for the Guardian.
Sarah is England’s most capped player of all time – in men and women’s rugby. She reached this huge milestone on rugby’s greatest stage – at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2022.
 
And at that World Cup, the England captain went on to lead her team to final where the Red Roses came up agonisingly short against the hosts in one of rugby’s greatest games. England’s efforts did not go unnoticed though with a record breaking crowd of 40,000 people at Eden Park, and 1.7million people in the UK watching on television.
Philippa is the face of Welsh Women’s rugby and since her playing retirement, she has become a fan favourite in the commentary box and one of the most respected female pundits in the world.
Before retiring from international rugby in 2018, the winger represented Wales in Seven Six Nations championships and at the 2014 Rugby World Cup in France. She was also captain of the Cardiff Blues. Her long career led to her becoming one of the highest capped Welsh international Sevens players, representing her country on the World Sevens Series and then achieving her dream of captaining Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
J Grange is a British Musician, Songwriter, International Public Speaker and Neurodiversity advocate born in East London.
After facing many mental health challenges during his time in education, a lack of support, being permanently excluded from schools, going to court and being diagnosed with ADHD, J finally found his passions. J is more than just a musician. He is also a respected international public speaker and neurodiversity advocate who goes into PRUs, schools and colleges such as Kings College London to speak to students and staff and is an ambassador for numerous organisations & charities including the ADHD Foundation, UK Youth and the Princes Trust.
David Garrido is a Sky Sports presenter, documentary-maker, big-name interviewer and climate champion.
 

Along with speaking to and guiding elite athletes on their environmental sustainability journey, David has also worked with many clients: European football governing body UEFA, climate-positive sports like SailGP and Formula E, motorsport racing team McLaren and EV manufacturer Polestar. David’s broadcasting career started at Oxford University where he studied French and German. He joined student radio station Oxygen FM, won the BBC Talent competition and then worked for BBC Sport.

Kate Mikhail is a sleep expert and the author of Teach Yourself to Sleep: An ex-insomniac’s guide. She is a subject matter expert on Peak Performance & Sleep Leadership, Employee Wellness & Productivity and Health & Wellbeing.
 
After years of being awake half the night with chronic insomnia, at the mercy of recurring burn-out days, while working for national newspapers, and with three young children to look after (including twins), Kate knows what it’s like to survive on too little sleep.
Danni Brooke is an author of to best-selling book – The Girl for The Job and starred in 8 series of Channel 4 series Hunted and Celebrity Hunted.
Having joined the police force at just 18 years old, Danni Brooke’s aptitude shone through and she was Quickly recruited into the elite undercover officer unit at New Scotland Yard in London. The youngest covert operative in the Uk. For over a decade, Danni became the girl to work covertly infiltrating across the UK. From drugs, gangs, firearms and prostitution, Danni has experienced all forms of criminality throughout her experience.
Markus Kramer is a brand expert, entrepreneur and author working with and for brands such as Harley-Davidson, Aston Martin, DHL, Miele and Ferrari and many more.
 
His solid business acumen and academic rigour takes brands to the next level. A recognised thought leader in the fast-paced world of cutting- edge brand and marketing management, he advises and strategizes with boards, leaders and operational teams to give them the competitive edge to advance their business for better impact. Markus combines deep client-side experience working in executive marketing positions and global consulting roles across multiple sectors, ranging from financial services, technology, luxury, automotive, governments to civil society. 
Kayode Damali (BSc, MPSA) is a Professional Speaker and Entrepreneur, who achieved the accolade of being listed in the Top 10 of the “Top 100 Most Powerful Young Entrepreneurs in World”.
Enjoying over 15 years of experience speaking on stages to audiences in the thousands, Kayode is known for his energy and enthusiasm, where Lord Alan Sugar himself describes as being “great in front of an audience” and “a great presenter”.  Kayode has previously been described as the “Smoothest Talker on TV” after appearing live with Victoria Derbyshire,
Jason Bradbury is the former host of Channel 5’s ‘The Gadget Show’, a prominent tech specialist and renowned public speaker.
As a prominent tech specialist in the UK, Jason Bradbury is a familiar face to many. For over two decades, Jason has been sharing his technological expertise with diverse audiences as a speaker, entrepreneur, and media personality. With a flair for engaging and entertaining content – he has been known to enter the room on a hoverboard and has even arrived in his Back to the Future DeLorean. 
George Bullard is a renowned world record-breaking explorer and internationally recognised speaker.
 
George Bullard is a renowned world record-breaking explorer, endurance athlete and internationally recognised speaker. Known by fellow explorers as a pioneer in the world of adventure. George’s remarkable early feats were eternalised by the world’s greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who described his achievements as “genuinely ground breaking” – and that was when George was just 19 years old.
Robin Tarr PLY has represented Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby in every major event, including 3 Paralympic Games, 3 World games and 3 European Championships culminating in the captaincy in Athens 2004.
In 1981 Robin Tarr was involved in a devastating road traffic accident, he was thrown through a car window screen breaking his neck on impact and severing his spinal cord. Rob was rushed to a spinal unit in Sheffield and told the agonising news that “He would never walk again”. During the next 9 months stay in hospital he faced many medical complications. He then started the long road to recovery, coming to terms with paralysis and learning to adapt to a life confined to a wheelchair.
Leela Bassi is a worldwide trilingual speaker and a overcoming adversity & inclusive leadership expert.
After surviving an Arctic Expedition in minus 43 degrees as part of an initiative to challenge how people think about diversity and inclusion, Leela founded her own organisation: Above & Beyond Resilience, speaking on the topics of overcoming adversity which encompass areas such as: ​Beyond Resilience, Turning Failures into Success,​ Growth Mindset and Conscious inclusion. Leela Bassi is a distinguished “Beyond Resilience” thought leader, a Diversity & Inclusion Consultant and a Keynote Speaker who presents in English, French & Italian.

Featured Testimonials

Enda O’Doherty

Excellent presentation from Enda at the recent Wellness conference at Sanofi Waterford. He balanced humour, insight and wisdom without ever losing sight of the seriousness of the subject matter. Enda will inspire your team with his accounts of overcoming challenges to become a winner. Highly recommended!

D Kelly, Head of Quality, Sanofi Waterford

Enda O'Doherty

Gemma Oaten

Gemma Oaten recently agreed to be the guest speaker at our event to launch a youth mental health education project. She was excellent, well prepared, passionate, warm and humorous. The audience were totally charmed by Gemma and she helped enormously to make the evening very successful. I think she is an outstanding natural

Lady Gilda Levy - Chairwoman

Gemma Oaten

Action Jackson came to Harris Academy Bermondsey and restored the hope in our students. He got them to focus on their “Whys?” which caused them to understand that the GCSE’s were just a part of the journey to their “ bigger picture”. As a result of this, their faith was renewed, and they have said that they feel as if there is purpose during this stressful time. We are grateful.

Filishia, Harris Bermondsey

Action Jackson

Featured Showreel

Adele Bates

Adele Bates is a Behaviour & Education specialist who helps school leaders, classroom teachers, home schooling carers, and parents support pupils with behavioural needs and SEMH to thrive with their education.

Adele works with teachers, school leaders and educators who are struggling to engage pupils with challenging behaviour; who want to create inclusive classrooms where learning is the focus.

Adele’s vision is for education is one in which all differences are included and welcomed; education is flexible, relevant and leads towards positive social change.

Featured Speaker Quotes

“How can I make today better than yesterday? Success is a choice. It’s about consistently making the right ones, and asking this question each morning helps you stay on track and shape the direction your life will take.”

Danielle Brown MBE

Bertalan Meskó

“The technologies with the biggest impact are those that allow the patient to become the point of care.”

Dr Bertalan Meskó

BOOK OF THE MONTH

THE CRAZY BUSY CURE - ZENA EVERETT

A PRODUCTIVITY BOOK FOR PEOPLE WITH NO TIME FOR PRODUCTIVITY BOOKS

How we spend our time is one of the greatest indicators of how successful we will be. We achieve our goals when we ruthlessly prioritise tasks and people that are important to us.

This book is for you if:
* You feel unrelentingly busy and overwhelmed.
* 3pm arrives and you’ve not done any of the tasks you intended.
* When you’re not working, you’re still ‘on’ – checking emails and always thinking about what you haven’t done.
* You over-commit and find it hard to say no.
* You sacrifice your own priorities for disorganised people’s urgent demands.
* Meetings, emails, and constant interruptions suck the life out of you.
 Your HR department’s emails about wellness week are the final straw: meditation won’t help your wellbeing, less meetings would.

The Crazy Busy Cure is full of intensely practical tips to save you from this addiction and get productive again. It will show you how to have a laser focus on your priorities, manage others so they can get on with the work and find more head space. With tips for remote working and office working alike as well as productivity hacks for people with learning and thinking differences, this lively read is jam packed with solutions.

Featured Reviews

Early Years Alliance
Kath Duffy
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From start to finish communication was excellent even when deadlines were very tight, information was supplied in a timely manner. Thank you Claire.
Care Concern
Care Concern
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Claire was great to work alongside to source a guest speaker for our annual conference. She understood our brief and budget and was most responsive. Would definitely recommend her services.
Merseyrail
Merseyrail
Sally Ralston
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Everything went really well and Jamil was excellent. Loads of lovely feedback. Working with Claire was great and simple! No negatives at all!!
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PODCAST OF THE MONTH

The Television Podcast from RTS London

This month it’s all about the Eurovision Song Contest and The Coronation.

In the first episode hosts Andrew Eborn and Nadine Dereza discuss the Eurovision Song Contest and The King’s Coronation with their guests, plus take a look at some of the big media stories and upcoming tv highlights for May.

Contact us today!

You can call us on 0207 993 2724 or click the link below to send a message

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