Travels from Massachusetts, USA
Wendy Booker's speaking fee falls within range: $5,000 to $10,000
In many ways an “accidental athlete,” Wendy Booker’s story of overcoming disability to achieve beyond most of our dreams is an inspirational tale of achievement, adventure, travel and empowerment. In 1998 Wendy was diagnosed with relaxing remitting multiple sclerosis. After the initial shock, she decided to turn her casual running hobby into a serious endeavor and has completed ten marathons to date.
Next diverting her incredible determination into mountain climbing, Wendy became the first person with MS to summit Mount McKinley in Alaska. She then set out to climb the Seven Summits, the highest mountains in the world. Within just five years she had set another record for a person with MS by climbing six of them; after two attempts on Mount Everest she decided she was happy with 6.5 summits!
However, Wendy still got to stand on the top of the world, by reaching the North Pole with a team of sled dogs, naturally following this up by skiing to the South Pole. Her latest ambition is to take on the Iditarod, a dog sled race over 1150 miles of some of Alaska’s coldest and most formidable terrain.
Wendy Booker is a life-long adventurer, author, speaker and advocate within the global MS community. Wendy has 16 years of experience in patient advocacy, community engagement, marketing communications, media, events and public affairs in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical sector. Over the years she has anchored a wide variety of patient relations campaigns, corporate events, community engagement initiatives, training sessions, media campaigns, fundraisers and public relations functions. Her unique skill set incorporates company mission and philosophies with varied global experiences and challenges, while leveraging connections to patient communities, non-profits and healthcare industry partners.
Back in 1998 when she was diagnosed with MS, Wendy had no way to anticipate the twists and turns that her life would take. The message she shares speaks to her formula that allowed her to become the person she is today.
As Wendy travels the globe, she tells a story of determination, transformation and triumph to audiences large and small. She is available to make presentations, keynote addresses and emcee events. Wendy is using her own journey to carry a message of determination, humor and hope to the world.
Wendy Booker explains how being diagnosed with MS has made her take on the incredible challenges she has not only attempted but overcome. She says, “I have come to define my life by the three S's, self-discovery, serendipity and a whole lot of stubbornness. Those three S's have shown me that my life with MS is far broader than I originally expected, and the journey is not mine alone to take." Talking of her climb of Mount McKinley (the first person with MS to succeed in this feat) she says, “Mount McKinley has come to represent more than just a climb for me. Mount McKinley came to be a metaphor for how I view my life with MS. We can't always do what we want when we want. Conditions often mandate that we take a little longer, try a little harder and dig a little deeper." Explaining the relevance of her own life to her audience, she says, “I'm not here to talk you into running a marathon or climbing a mountain, but I am here to tell you to find your own mountain."
Wendy Booker takes her extraordinary experiences as a person who refuses to be held back by multiple sclerosis, and turns them into some of the most inspiring keynotes by any speaker. She also recognizes that she would never have reached the heights she has reached without help from a close-knit team. She describes how to bring a winning team together for achieving such astonishing feats as skiing to the South Pole.
Having had to give up on her dream of climbing Everest, after conquering the second through to the seventh highest peaks in the world, Wendy decided she would stand on top of the world by traveling to the North Pole by dogsled. She shows her audiences how there is always a way of achieving a dream, even if it’s not quite the way you envisaged at the start.
I Get By With a Little Help from my Friends We can’t do it alone. Every great undertaking in life - whether for career, family, or personal achievement - requires teamwork. Wendy Booker will teach your team to value the power of teamwork and leverage connections to accomplish goals. Leadership, healthy collaboration in spite of differences, seeking out expertise through degrees of separation and maintaining a positive attitude are all pillars of this powerful presentation.
The Three S′s Wendy Booker’s story is about overcoming obstacles, whatever they may be, through a journey of self-discovery, serendipity and stubbornness. Join her in examining the impact that three little S’s have had on her life. Self-discovery: know thyself, find ingenious ways to leverage strengths and the bravery to acknowledge and overcome your challenges. Serendipity: open yourself up to opportunity, destiny, and the random strangers you meet along the way. Stubbornness: sometimes you have to power through or adjust how you measure success to thrive in trying times.
The Other Side of Everest It’s easy to get stuck in the past – or to allow one monumental goal to eclipse everything else and define your life. How do you move beyond glory days or unattained goals? How can you avoid conceding defeat by uncovering a new approach to a mission? Learn how Wendy Booker faced down the other side of Everest after two unsuccessful attempts by shifting her focus from altitude alone, and finding a new way to reach the top of the world: the North Pole. Discover that beautiful moment beyond a disappointment when you embrace a new day and a new mission.
“We are so grateful for your words of inspiration and motivating energy at the National Conference… You really helped our Silpada girls discover that a hero truly does live in each of us.” Bonnie Kelly & Teresa Walsh Silpada Designs, Co-Founders
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