These experts can drive improvements in both individual and organisational performance by emphasising key areas such as mental resilience, focus, confidence, and mindset. Enhancing mental resilience enables employees to manage stress and pressure more effectively, reducing workplace stress and fostering a healthier work environment. As a result, mental well-being is improved, and productivity soars. Prioritising your organisation’s and its employees’ mental health is crucial in creating a thriving, high-performing workplace.
Great Business Speakers offer personalised support to help you find the right fit for your organisation. They can create tailored shortlists, ensuring that you hire a speaker who aligns with your specific needs and goals. These experts can provide insightful and actionable strategies, guiding teams to build resilience and foster an overall culture of growth and success. With their expertise, companies can enhance employee engagement and drive long-term success through improved resilience and mindset.
Discover our Resilience Speakers below, or contact the team at Great Business Speakers to enquire or book. +44 1753 439 289
Sir Anthony McCoy OBE, commonly knowns as AP McCoy, is famed as the greatest jump jockey of all time and one of the world’s highest profile sporting personalities, winning almost every big race there is to win.
Recording 4,357 race wins during his career, Sir Anthony is remembered for his success in the 2010 Grand National, the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase & King George VI Chase. Sir Anthony dominated his sport for over two decades before retiring from riding in 2015.
All this while suffering 20 chipped teeth & facial injuries, Broken Cheekbones, Broken both shoulder blades, Broken Vertebrae, Broken Arm, Dislocated Thumb, Dislocated collarbone, Punctured Lungs (Twice), Broken Ribs (Twice), Broken Wrist, Broken Leg and Broken Ankle.
Following his retirement, Sir Anthony took to the radio as a pundit on BBC Radio 5 Live and as a co-presenter on Channel 4 but since 2017 has been part of the ITV racing team covering all big horse racing events.
Tech pioneer and endurance runner, Simon Wheatcroft, refuses to let blindness hold him back. Whether he is competing in ultra-marathons, climbing mountains or going about his day to day life, he combines the use of technology and his fundamental belief and trust in his own abilities and body to overcome what many would consider insurmountable barriers and achieve his goals.
Simon’s unique blend of ferocious drive, along with his background in technology and psychology, enables him to push the boundaries of possibility and challenge the audience to explore what they can achieve.
Luke Tyburski is an ultra-athlete, adventurer, author, and inspirational keynote speaker, who educates his audiences through his positivity, contagious enthusiasm, and his powerful story.
As an ex-professional footballer, Luke’s entire life has been about performing at the top level and overcoming obstacles on the way. He has since run down Mount Everest, ran through the Sahara Desert, and made his way through a Chinese tropical forest without any food, water, or money. He created his own ‘Ultimate Triathlon’ of running, swimming, and cycling 2,000km in 12 day from Morocco to Monaco.
Alongside his sporting career and his adventures, Luke has often struggled with his mental well-being, battling depression, insomnia, suicide attempts, and an eating disorder. Luke manages to combine all aspects of his life into a range of inspirational and motivational keynote speeches that will change the way you view each day.
He’s shared his powerful personal story with actionable frameworks to national sporting teams, embassies, global companies, and conferences – they all experience the same thing; practical tools delivered with rare authenticity and insight. Luke doesn’t don’t hide behind polished stories or stereotypical clichés. He shares his battle with depression, burnout, and personal adversity. He talks about rebuilding after crisis and embracing change. His style is direct, energetic, and refreshingly human — no corporate jargon, no empty inspiration.
Shona Hirons is an award-winning resilience coach and motivational speaker with years of experience in law, physical wellbeing, mental health, and business coaching. She was awarded the Future Fit Training Inspired Award in 2019 for her achievements in fitness and nutrition and was named the Best Mental Health Provider in Somerset just two years later.
Working in law for two decades ended suddenly when she had a work-related breakdown. This stressful period led to a life-changing accident, leaving her with brain damage and needing major facial reconstructive surgery. This was shortly followed by a cancer diagnosis. The combination of these terrible things gave her the wake-up call she needed.
Feeling low, Shona used her recovery period to rebuild her resilience and self-belief, consider what she valued in life, and think about what she wanted to do with her career. First developing strategies to help herself, she now runs Mindset in Motion Ltd and has helped clients in over 55 countries.
Her aim? “To improve the wellbeing of people and businesses throughout the world”.
Sarah Furness is a former RAF Combat Helicopter Pilot, motivational keynote speaker, and inspirational trainer.
After graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in Natural Sciences and Theology, Sarah joined the Royal Air Force, first as an air safety trainer and then as a helicopter pilot. During her two decades there, she worked on tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, commanded a 120-man team across Kabul, and planned special forces operations.
Her experience in such hostile and challenging environments led to her transition into an inspirational and motivational keynote speaker. But she still has her mission: “To share the secret to outstanding resilience, performance and courage under fire”.
Sam Jones combines his unique tools with his years of experience to coach the UK’s brightest public figures and influencers to create more productivity, better performances and improved wellbeing within young people.
He looks at the culture of instant-access information on our phones and devices and how it is affecting our own psychology, as well as how a fast-paced world can impact on our thoughts and feelings.
The topics he focuses on include Generation Z, wellbeing and mental health, retention and resilience of Gen Z, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) from a Gen Z perspective.
Sally Bee is an international motivational speaker, an author, broadcaster and survivor of five heart attacks.
Sally was only 36 years old when she experienced her first heart attack, an episode that started at a children’s birthday party where she suddenly felt extreme pain in her chest. Thinking she was too young to have a heart attack, the hospital sent her home with indigestion tablets.
Sadly, she had a further two heart attacks in the coming weeks and her family were advised to say their goodbyes due to the extensive damage caused to her heart. Having made a full recovery and worked hard on her mental wellbeing, Sally’s world was rocked again 12 years later in 2016, when she suffered two further heart attacks.
Having fought for her life five times, Sally knows the true meaning and importance of resilience and inner strength. What became patently clear to Sally was the need to strip away all the noise and meaningless distractions to gain clarity on what is really important in life, and this is something Sally shares in her inspiring talks.
Lord Chris Holmes is a member of the House of Lords, an ex-Paralympic swimmer, and a proficient keynote speaker.
Awarded an MBE at age 20 for his services to swimming for disabled people, Chris was one of the UK’s most successful Paralympians, winning an astonishing 15 medals.
As well as his swimming awards, he has been named the Midlands Today Sports Personality of the Year, and Bass Midlander of the Year in 1992, was presented the SAF Paul Zetter Award in 1996, and was named Sports Personality of the Year Variety Club of GB in 1997.
A politician with more than a bit of varied life experience, Lord Chris Holmes has knowledge of elite sport, inclusion, wellbeing and the workplace, technology, and politics, and can offer an informative but entertaining keynote speech for all clients.
An Oxford-trained lawyer, Roz Savage spent the first eleven years of her career working as a management consultant, braving nothing more intrepid than rush hour on the London Underground before an environmental epiphany led to a radical personal transformation into a world-class adventurer.
During the seven years of her ocean rowing career, Roz Savage had more chance than most to explore the far horizons of courage. Spending up to five months alone at sea on a 23-foot rowboat, thousands of miles from land and humanity, at the mercy of winds, waves and currents, she evolved from a nervous novice adventurer into the world’s foremost female ocean rower, having rowed – solo – across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
While crossing those 15,000 miles of the ocean she had to redefine her comfort zone on a daily basis and reach deep into her inner sources of strength, self-discipline, and commitment to her goal.
Roz Savage discovered the vital importance of keeping a cool head in life-endangering situations, to optimise her capacity for smart decision-making, accurate risk assessment and creative problem-solving.
In 2024, she was elected a Liberal Democrat MP for the new South Cotswolds constituency.
“Ronan is a world-class resilience teacher” – John Waterfield, Head of Strategic Relationships, KPMG.
Ronan Harrington is an advisor to some of the world’s leading companies on how to create sustainable, high performance cultures.
Using his own experience in burnout, he delights audiences with a fresh take on resilience. His innovative approach helps audiences understand how to boost their wellbeing and their productivity, driving company growth even during times of uncertainty.
Roderic Yapp is an accredited coach and a specialist in developing resilience and leadership skills. He is a former Royal Marines Officer, who led Marines on combat operations including Afghanistan in 2007 and the evacuation of civilians from Libya during the Arab Spring.
Roderic also led the recapture of the 55,000-tonne MV Montecristo from pirate control in 2011, as part of a NATO counter-piracy task force off the Somali coast.
In 2012, Roderic left the Royal Marines to embark on a new career with the aim of using his experience to develop leaders in the corporate world. He joined the Urenco Group where he was responsible for assessing the level of leadership capability within the organisation and coaching leaders to create high performing teams with a focus on delivery and execution.
Given his background Roderic is well suited to developing people in sectors and situations where leadership failure can pose considerable systemic risk. He also works with clients across the world helping them to establish a more resilient human system as a driver to individual and organisational performance.
Rob Moore lives and loves entrepreneurship and property investing and is the host of the successful UK podcasts, The Disruptive Entrepreneur, and Money. He is on a mission to change the way people think about business and aims to support people around the globe through the Rob Moore foundation.
Rob Moore co-founded Progressive Property – the UK’s leading property training company – and Unlimited Success with his business partner, before becoming the host of the wildly successful podcast The “Disruptive Entrepreneur” and now The “Money” Podcast, listened to in 192 countries worldwide. This has grown into a complete digital agency: Progressive Media.
A self-made multi-millionaire by the age of 30, having risen to riches from being heavily in debt in his 20s, Rob has retired and un-retired countless times, each time creating a new innovation, vision, book or entire company.
Richard McCann is a motivational speaker, coach, workshop facilitator and author of three bestselling books that tell his personal story of surviving after extreme adversity.
At the age of just five, Richard experienced the loss of his mother in horrific circumstances, her death at the hands of serial killer Peter Sutcliffe. After his mother’s murder, he was then brought up by his often drunk and violent father, living on a tough council estate in Leeds, England.
This led to turbulent times in foster care and an unsettled school life, which he left with no qualifications. Richard found himself with no prospects, making mistake after mistake, and landing himself in prison, ironically the same prison as his mother’s killer.
On his release from prison, he hit rock bottom, feeling he had zero prospects and no reason to live; he shared a suicide pact with his sister.
“The World’s Greatest Living Explorer” – Guinness World Records
Sir Ranulph Feinnes is one of the most famous explorers and adventurers in the world, having led more than 20 expeditions to all corners of the globe. He reached the summit of Mount Everest in 2009 – becoming the oldest person at the time to do so – was the first man to cross both polar ice caps and climbed the North Face of the Eiger, a mountain in Switzerland.
His expeditions have raised vast sums of money for various charities, so not surprisingly, he was awarded an OBE in 1993 for human endeavour and charitable services. Thanks to the money he has raised, in 2010 he was named as the UK’s top online fundraiser by JustGiving.
Extreme dedication and determination have enabled him to become one of the most prolific explorers in the world, qualities he hopes to share with his audiences. He is inspirational, educational and humorous, and always manages to motivate delegates to achieve their goals.
Rachel Watkyn is an award-winning entrepreneur, businesswoman, keynote speaker, and sustainability advocate.
She started Tiny Box Company from a bedroom in her parent’s home, and went on to receive investment on Dragons’ Den. She is the winner of the 2010 National Small Business Recycler of the Year, the 2020 NatWest Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the 2020 Rural Business Award, and the 2021 Entrepreneurial Business of the Year Award.
Now a popular keynote speaker, Rachel’s mission is to encourage female entrepreneurs to follow their passions and fulfil their dreams.
Phil Holdcroft is a former combat pilot whose 20-year career saw him dodge bullets on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and extend to executive senior leadership of Defence, shaping Britain’s future on the global stage.
With an inspiring story like no other, Phil Holdcroft triumphed over adversity in every chapter of his remarkable life. He has made it his mission to share his powerful and transformative lessons, equipping others with the knowledge, skills, and mindset to achieve extraordinary results.
Phil is committed to pushing the limits of what is possible; he has tested his mind and body through record-breaking feats, as an elite endurance athlete and extreme adventurer, including rowing unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean.
The most daunting challenges have been thrown at him by life itself. Phil talks openly about ‘unravelling’ when his youngest daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia. An event he describes as “more harrowing than the terrors of battle or the fiercest of ocean storms”.
Phil Hesketh is a professional speaker on ‘The Psychology of Persuasion and Influence’. He combines a powerful mix of well-researched and persuasive techniques with his unique sense of humour. He inspires, entertains and informs audiences on how buying, selling and persuading can influence work. He is an inspiration, motivational and thought-provoking and all his techniques can be implemented instantly.
Phil Hesketh read psychology at Newcastle University before becoming a sales graduate from Procter & Gamble. In 1986, he started his own advertising agency – Advertising Principles – where he was also the business director and managing partner. Over 17 years of continuous growth, Philip had grown it from a business with zero clients to one bringing in £48 million with 150 employees, working alongside clients such as the BBC, General Accident, HSBC, Nestle and Walt Disney. He then sold the company with the aim of becoming a full-time professional speaker.
There was no denying Phil’s intentions; he set out to become the best speaker on the planet, and after speaking for more than 1,000 events in over 20 countries from the UK to Australia, it’s clear he has achieved his aim.
Wanting to reach people that couldn’t attend his events, Phil put pen to paper and has written a number of critically successful books including How to Persuade and Influence People, Persuade, The Seven Golden Rules for a Happy and Successful Life, and Life’s a Game so Fix the Odds.
“Proudly swim with the current”
Phil Drinkwater is a Certified Coach, successful online small business owner, entrepreneur, and advocate for neurodiverse individuals, particularly those with ADHD.
Invisible disabilities like neurodiversity lead to challenges and struggles such as ongoing anxiety, stress and imposter syndrome, which he himself continues to work through every week, to say nothing of the huge frustration that comes from procrastination and managing time. Even brushing his teeth can launch a 5 minute inner dialogue! “Try walking in my shoes”, he quips, “because they’ve got a mind of their own, like strong magnets drawing toward and repelling against”.
He notices that neurodiverse people might appear to be lazy or difficult to others, and this can lead to unkindness and a lack of compassion from peers, but through knowledge and understanding about neurodiversity we can all work together using our unique strengths to great effect. His deep empathy for these invisible disabilities drives his work.
For more details on how Phil can add value to your event, contact us on 0044 (0)1753 439289
Perry McCarthy is quite simply unique. He is an ex-Formula One driver, a bestselling author, and he was the original secret racing driver from BBC’s Top Gear – The Stig.
He is now a popular keynote speaker, and has carried out over 1,500 appearances, combining his famous sense of humour with his experiences in motor sport.
His attitude and his story has been inspirational; the 1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill once said of Perry, “I have constant admiration for how he turns a no hope situation in to some sort of triumph”.
Paul McGee is one of the UK’s leading speakers in self-help, particularly in the subjects of change, workplace relationships, customer service, leadership, wellbeing, resilience, communication and motivation. He educates companies on how to survive and thrive in challenging times, how to work under pressure and how to inspire others in the workplace.
His daringly titled book SUMO (Shut Up, Move On) became an instant bestseller, and his book on self-confidence reached number one in the WH Smith business book charts, where it remained for a further 24 weeks. The radio host Chris Evans has described Paul’s books as “a gift to the world”.
He has appeared on BBC Breakfast television, and Question Time alongside David Dimbleby, and is a regular contributor on radio shows for the BBC and Radio 5live.
Building on his psychology background, Paul’s aim is to deliver practical, relevant messages that can make an immediate and long-lasting impact on people’s professional and personal lives. He brings a sense of fun to his sessions, seeking to deliver a memorable and humorous experience that equips people with insights and ideas to increase their personal effectiveness and impact.
“I listened to Pam’s talk and must say it was absolutely inspirational. It was really motivational – thank you”. – Innovus BMS
Known to many as Paddington Train Crash survivor ‘The Lady in the Mask’, Pam Warren’s extraordinary experiences are so much more than that one incident.
Swanning from owning a multi-million turnover financial services company, surviving the crash with life-changing injuries, running a strategised UK-wide rail safety campaign (and winning), living with PTSD, and successfully rebuilding her life, she is the epitome of resilience and motivation.
Pam offers audiences, not just inspiration, but actual strategies to employ to overcome their own challenges. Her passion is to get everyone to fall in love with change.
Owen O’Kane is a psychotherapist, former NHS Mental Health Lead and Sunday Times bestselling author.
He has over 25 years’ experience in physical and mental health, providing him with a dual medical and psychotherapy background. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages worldwide, and he has been described as one of the UK’s leading psychotherapists.
Owen’s natural warm style make him a popular speaker, appearing on panels and talking at wellbeing festivals up and down the country, including at Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place Festival and Jake Humphrey’s High Performance tour.
He has also worked with a number of big corporates, helping their teams avoid workplace stress and burnout.
He is a regular contributor to media including television, radio and print. His TEDx talk “Bombs, Bullets, Bullying and a Piano” offers a powerful first-person testimony on how he transformed adversity into power, with thoughts on how others might do the same.
Natasha Saunders is a testament to the strength and mental power inside all of us; overcoming eight years of domestic abuse, she has gone on to change laws, raise millions in funds and train various police forces and government departments on their awareness, response and wellbeing throughout the workforce.
Alongside extensive media and live tv work, Natasha delivers motivational and keynote speeches for various sectors.
Natasha also has an innovative and engaging training session to educate, support and develop both executives and staff in their approach to business and life challenges. In a progressive business landscape, Natasha can be the element to raise mental well-being and thus, productivity and motivation levels.
Matthew Syed is one of the world’s most influential thinkers in the field of high performance and cultural change. He is an author and highly acclaimed speaker in the field of high performance.
He has written six best-selling books on the subject of mindset and high performance – Bounce, Black Box Thinking, Rebel Ideas, The Greatest, and his celebrated children’s books, You Are Awesome and The You Are Awesome Journal – and has worked with many leading organisations to build a mindset of continuous improvement.
He is also a multi-award-winning journalist for The Times and a regular contributor to television and radio.
