Jessica Watson - Motivational Speakers - Inspiring Australians youths as one of the younges ...

Travels From Victoria

Speaker Topics

Harnessing Fear: How anyone can turn fear into courage

Many are surprised to learn that when she first dreamt of sailing around the world, Jessica was scared of just about everything. She believes that three things enable anyone to turn their fears into courage, the ability to identify the fear that holds you back, a powerful motivation or reason why, and the realisation that anyone can choose the way they react. But as Jessica discovered when she created a media storm by colliding with a 63,000 tonne ship on her first night at sea, courage also requires practice. Read less

Managing Risk: Why the ability to understand and manage risk is powerful

on mitigating risks. She explains that to manage risk, you must analyse the consequences and likelihood of the different dangers involved, an approach that is equally relevant to risks in the business world and in our everyday lives. Jessica also urges audiences to consider whether there may be a risk in inaction. Read less

Participative Leadership: How saying we and giving others ownership wins support

Like many adventurers, Jessica credits much of her success to her support team. But seven years on, with many other projects under her belt, she realises that it was the diversity of her team that was its true strength. Jessica believes that the key to her being able to gain the extensive support that she did was her willingness to say we and share the project. She explains a collective goal is important in many contexts, on and off the water. Read less

Resilience: How to develop the grit to cross oceans and take on audacious goals

Resilience was instrumental to Jessicas ability to overcome the many challenges faced during more than three years of preparation and 210 days alone at sea. She discovered that the key to mental strength was to break big goals down and focus only on the next few miles or the next small goal during tough times. Sharing insights from the many adventures and elite sportspeople she has learnt from, Jessica explains that the same approach is equally effective when it comes to tackling seemingly impossible and audacious goals. Read less

Jessica Watson

Inspiring Australians youths as one of the youngest solo sailor in the world

Australian sailor Jessica Watson has made history as one of the youngest persons in the world to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted across the globe. Being the Young Australian of the Year in 2011, as well as a recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2012, Jessica Watson remains one of Australia’s greatest sporting inspirations.

Born and raised in the Gold Coast, Jessica spent a lot of her childhood years on the water with her family. Inspired by Jesse Martin and Kay Cottee’s adventures sailing around the world, Jessica set her eyes on beating their achievements.

At the age of 16, Jessica departed Sydney and spent 210 days alone at sea, making her the youngest person to sail around the world non-stop.

In recognition for her incredible effort, Jessica was awarded the prestigious Young Australian of the Year title in 2011. In the same year, she skippered the youngest crew ever to compete in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, ultimately finishing second in their category. In 2012, Jessica received an Order of Australia Medal for her services to sailing and being a role model to the youth of Australia.

Jessica continues to inspire with her writing through her viral blog, as well as with her best-selling books “True Spirit” and “Indigo Blue”. She also filmed a documentary about her solo trip, which was narrated by Sir Richard Branson. “True Spirit” has also been adapted into a Netflix movie which was released in February 2023.

An adventurous and inspiring speaker, Jessica draws on her experiences to encourage others to achieve their dreams.

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Testimonial

The theme of our conference was Inspire to Lead. Jessica certainly fulfils that theme in what she has achieved in her life to date. Her story of determination and following her goals and dreams was truly motivating for us all. The confidence she displayed combined with her charming personality was fully visible in her most entertaining presentation. Jessica explained that whilst she was the figurehead of the effort, she would not have been able to achieve success without planning and backing by a professional support team. Everyone present was left feeling that if you believe in yourself and your support team nothing is impossible.

Electrolux

Jessica has been an outstanding key-note speaker. Warm, authentic and well prepared. Jessica has spoken several times for us to a variety of audiences and each time the room has been captivated with her compelling story. I highly recommend her for any speaking event.

Domain

Thank you for your time and sharing your experiences. Your story is truly inspiring and really resonated with the team to help push us out of our comfort zones and take on the challenges ahead of us. I really valued the time you spent with us, and the open discussion with the team was humbling and extremely motivating.

IBM Australia & New Zealand