Gabrielle Reece

SPEAKING.COM: What would you like people to learn and take away from your presentations?

REECE: I’ve come to a place where I want to talk about how we have to individually figure out a way to take care of ourselves so that we can contribute more to our community. We’ve arrived at a time and place where we can no longer just get away with, “What is good for me?” or, “I can ignore taking care of myself and just try to keep working, working, working.” We have to figure out a way to take care of ourselves and take care of our immediate group whether it’s our family, our block, or our neighborhood, because as a culture, this is where we’re headed.

If nothing else, I want people to come away from my presentations thinking, “Yes. I’m going to find time and figure out how to move more often and eat better, and I’m going to figure out a way to connect with others and collectively we can all try to do the same.” Because it does take a community; you cannot do that alone. I call it the “all hands-on deck” now. Everybody needs to get involved with our children and our children’s health, and food and things like that.

The idea of,“Hey, let’s be perfectly fit” doesn’t interest me. There’s something much bigger than that.

SPEAKING.COM: So when you’ve addressed groups in the past, what are some of the points you’ve made in your speeches, and how was that received by the audience?

REECE: I make it a habit when I speak to groups not to ever tell people what to do, but to only make suggestions. I use anecdotes from my own life to potentially inspire them. For example, I did not have a great childhood. My mother left when I was very young and my father passed away. I’ve always joked that, “You know, you have low cards and you have aces.”

I always start with people and say, “Hey, listen. Let’s figure out what our aces are individually and let’s figure out how to play those aces so that we can thrive.” The notion behind that is reminding people that we can’t be afraid of the hard work, and that we do have to trust our own voice. My past for example, has been unique to me, and at times, it’s been very scary because I didn’t know, “Hey, was it going to work out? Was I going to be successful?” I started off though by trusting my voice.

I do believe that when we define ‘success’, a lot of times it’s through accomplishment or money, but I think success is living a life that reflects who we genuinely are, because that’s how we can be happy.

Andre Agassi’s book explores the concepts of “I win. I win. I win. I’m wealthy. I’m wealthy. I’m wealthy. I’m famous. I’m famous. I’m famous. Oh, yeah, those 15, 20 years I was completely miserable.” So, I think that’s another thing that I’m interested in is: How do we really ultimately define success? What are we saying is successful? That I have a big house and a clean car? Or, that, “I’m healthy, I have meaningful relationships, and I have something in my life that I’m passionate about, that I like to work hard at.” For me, that interests me more than, “Hey, win at all costs,” and “Step on someone’s head to get to the next place.” That for me is not the long play to success.

SPEAKING.COM: What types of audiences would most benefit from your message?

REECE: Well, I think because I’m a female obviously women respond. I’m 45, I have children, and I’m still trying to keep it together. Obviously, I can relate to working professional women, or even women that are trying to do that major dance. Additionally I can relate to professional people that are trying to find their own personal foothold and take the chance or the risk to kind of create an environment that is true to them, not just the formula that exists already.

Obviously if you want to talk about straight health and fitness, that is where I live, but I try to make the message bigger than that because I think it is bigger.