Jeremiah Brown
One of Few Olympians Ever to Have Started Learning His Sport Only Four Years Before Winning a Medal at the Olympics
It only took Jeremiah Brown four years learning his spot to win a medal at the Olympics. Yet, that is not his whole story. Jeremiah was a commercial banker before he competed in the Olympics and from there he became a Canadian sport leader to bestselling author and professional speaker. He is available for both in-person and virtual presentations.
Each transformation taught Jeremiah the crucial strategies that are the difference between failure and success. He helps organizations overcome adversity and adapt in their lives and careers. He believes change is inevitable and everyone needs resilience to reach their goals.
The heart of his message is to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and past your quitting points. That can mean businesses too as they move into digital transformation, competitive shifts and other changes. Jeremiah is a messenger for courage in making those changes regardless of fear and risk.
He believes the courage is the conviction to stand up and face adversity and find a way through it. Jeremiah believes leadership is a responsibility that belongs to everyone.
Jeramiah started in commercial banking with TD Bank with the job of managing the lending risk for an $80 million loan portfolio for SME businesses on Vancouver Island. After his success in the 2012 Olympics, Jermiah was picked by the Canadian Olympic Committee to lead the development and implementation of a holistic athlete wellness and transition program called Game Plan. It was created to support more than 3,000 national team Olympic and Paralympic athletes who were transitioning out of their sports and into the next phase of their lives.
This effort includes development of the Game Plan Education Network, which included many of Canada’s leading universities to support national team athletes and Game Plan Employer Network. He also developed a partnership with Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, which directed more than $11 million in scholarships to retired Olympians and Paralympians.
His work in these efforts has been featured by news outlets including the Globe and Main, Toronto Star, CBC, CTV, Al Jazeera and Radio Canada. His expertise continues as he consults with the International Olympic Committee.
Jeremiah authored a book on his Olympic experience, The 4 Year Olympian, which was the #1 bestselling sports memoir in Canada for five weeks.
Starting Over with Jeremiah Brown
In the span of a couple months, we’ve been forced into unfamiliar territory, and many of us are groping in the dark for the way forward. If you look closely enough there’s a small gift, too. It’s the opportunity to reassess our approach. To reflect on what has been, and truly reset our minds and commitment to new ways, to different ways, of moving forward.
Jeremiah Brown has spent most of his adult life starting over from scratch every four years. From commercial banker, to Olympic medalist, to Canadian sport leader, to author and speaker. And, most recently, from speaking at 40+ events per year to having his calendar cleared overnight from COVID-19. Jeremiah now has an opportunity to put his money where his mouth is. To adapt.
Jeremiah will take us on his remarkable Olympic journey and use the power of story to articulate the psychological, emotional, and environmental factors and insights that give each of us the best chance at turning this adversity into opportunity.
Resilience: What Can You Achieve in the Next Four Years?
Hot off the release of his national bestselling book, The 4 Year Olympian, Jeremiah has recreated his amazing journey into an emotionally captivating experience that has become his most requested inspirational keynote of 2019.
The passion that drives an Olympian is the same passion that drives an organization’s leaders. With his humour, authenticity, and energetic delivery, Jeremiah captivates audiences as he draws parallels between the worlds of Olympic sport and business.
Jeremiah takes audiences on an incredible one-of-a-kind journey of personal transformation and team unity. He challenges common notions of what it means to lead and to be led in the pursuit of excellence. He shows how to adapt to forces outside of one’s control and stay the course when the pressure is on, all while encouraging a healthy dose of self-compassion and humility. Using vivid real-life Olympic setbacks, failures, and ultimate success, Jeremiah illuminates the true markers for success in any competitive setting.
OUTCOMES
• Inspire audience to dig a little deeper, go a little further, and reap greater rewards
• Redefine resilience to strengthen one’s ability to endure massive change
• Learn a new framework for managing interpersonal conflict and team cohesion challenges
• Discover the one key shift in mindset that will keep you committed to the goal for the long term
• A powerful reinforcement of the need to stretch individual and organizational goals
Leadership: Building World Class Teams
When Jeremiah traveled across the country to learn how to row and take his moonshot at Olympic glory, the Canadians were defending Olympic rowing champions. By the time he earned an opportunity to compete, the team had fallen to ranking seventh in the world. With the unique perspective of an outsider who joined the team at its lowest point in decades, Jeremiah takes audiences through the dramatic turnaround that saw the team climb back onto the podium. Ripe with lessons on the psychology of performance, and how to maintain great results, and combining real organizational applications as a business leader, Jeremiah masterfully articulates the key difference-makers that helped a rebuilding team row its way back to the podium.
OUTCOMES
• Learn the phases of trust-building within teams
• Takeaway highly actionable tactics to accelerate team bonding
• The surprisingly counterintuitive approach to getting more out of your team
• Learn how to command respect for any vision or strategic plan
• Discover Olympic methods for maintaining consistent, focused, output
Transformation: Navigating Reinvention and Dealing With Change
After winning an Olympic medal, Jeremiah faced his next big challenge – what comes next? In 2015, he was selected by the Canadian Olympic Committee to lead the research, implementation, and development of an athlete wellness and transition program called Game Plan. An international leader and expert in the area of athlete transitions, Jeremiah draws on his own experience with transition post-Olympics as well as hundreds more Olympians he’s interviewed and consulted around the world. Using these personal and professional insights, Jeremiah carefully deconstructs the components of identity that contribute to our sense of self and general well being, and how to manage mental health risks in the face of overwhelming change. Known for his deep honesty and candour, Jeremiah deconstructs common misperceptions between mental health and high performance, and provides actionable steps that individuals and organizations can take to improve one’s mental health in any setting.
OUTCOMES
• Destigmatize mental health challenges in competitive environments
• Learn a simple, powerful framework for developing personal resilience in the face of change
• Understand the top three team dynamics that support mental wellness
• Become aware of how any leadership style can support or harm mental wellbeing
• Learn from the world of sport through case studies that can be applied to your business
“Jeremiah ratcheted things up for us ten notches – he was phenomenal! We brought him in to help us build resilience into the fabric of our team. We are a business that is changing every second of every day, and Jeremiah’s keynote presentation allowed us to think radically different about how we approach our business. His message fired everyone up, but it was also wildly applicable, with so many granular tips, advice and tools that we can use every day in our office and in our work. Jeremiah’s humanity and humble approach was so relatable. If you’re thinking about taking your business to the next level, and instilling a sense of mission and purpose in your organization, I would definitely recommend him!”
Twitter Canada
“On behalf of Morneau Shepell, thank you for your outstanding presentation to our clients at our Employers Connect 2016 event. Your presentation was noted by attendees as among the best parts of our day. Your clarity, warmth and humor were extremely engaging. In addition, your story and the way you made it relevant to the audience, made it relevant and meaningful. I personally enjoyed collaborating with you, and look forward to opportunities to do so again.”
Morneau Shepell
“Your speech was motivating and powerful!”
TD Bank
“Jeremiah is a very powerful presenter. I have seen lots of keynote addresses, and this is the best of the best. He is incredibly gifted at drawing you in and feeling what he felt as he went through that four-year journey. It’s really a powerful talk. If you want to learn about resilience, and you want a keynote about resilience, grit, determination, focus, and perseverance, Jeremiah would be an outstanding presenter. He draws the audience in. His stories and the way he tells them is so powerful. He’s just a phenomenal keynote. I’d recommend him to anyone who wants that kind of message delivered to their audience.”
Heart and Stroke Foundation
“Jeremiah’s story was fantastic for our annual leadership forum. It was a story of true perseverance, resilience, and fighting through in pursuit of a very high goal. It’s a great human interest story, but even better as it relates to being part of a leadership team. It’s about understanding what it takes to change, adapt, fighting through roadblocks, and never giving up from the pursuit of your goal. Jeremiah is a very engaging speaker who really connected with our people. I highly recommend him!”
Fortis Alberta
“To say Jeremiah was one of our most inspiring and engaging speakers in an understatement! He had us from the first sentence. His passion, drive and determination as well as his heartbreak and disappointment were all shared. We felt each lesson learned through his articulate and engaging, often humorous and heartfelt delivery. This year our theme was “Be the Inspiration” and Jeremiah left us all wanting to do more to be the inspiration for others. I would highly recommend his presentation to any group of individuals as an inspiring and valuable message! I can’t wait to finish reading his book now!”
RBC
“I’ve seen so many keynotes over the years. The best keynotes are emotional, relatable, and thought-provoking. Despite how unique his accomplishment, Jeremiah is so relatable to all of us. He took us on an emotional rollercoaster – my heart was pumping so hard by the end of it. His humour is great, he’s thought-provoking, articulate, and he had a truly lasting impact on our people. To any event planner: I highly recommend Jeremiah. He made me look like a rock star for bringing him in!”
Northumberland Manufacturer’s Association
“Jeremiah’s talk was awesome! He was the best speaker we’ve had! His four-year journey, and the drive that it takes to succeed, is so relevant to sales. When being turned down so often is the norm, it’s so motivating to hear what you can accomplish with a plan, the commitment to try hard enough, for long enough, and to adapt until you succeed. So relevant to our industry. I highly recommend Jeremiah!”
Royal LePage
Loblaw Digital
PenFinacial Credit Union
Canadian Tire
Investors Group
Harris
Rexall Drugstore
Rural Municipalities of Alberta
Ontario
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