February 2022 | Keynote Entertainment Blog

February 22, 2022March 6, 2022

Top 5 Winter Olympians for a Gold-Medal Worthy Event

Becoming an Olympic athlete requires much more than excellence in a certain sport. It takes a strong, resilient mindset to overcome injury and failure, strategic long-term vision and expertise in setting and achieving goals. You can bet your bottom dollar that along with the dizzying heights of success, these champion athletes have also overcome extreme adversity to reach the pinnacle of their careers – so how did they do it?

Get a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make it to the very top. These 5 Winter Olympians are no strangers to enthralling big crowds, and each would make a perfect addition to your next event line-up.

Lydia Lassila

Lydia’s insight into winning, goal mapping, striving for excellence, decision making, risk management and overcoming adversity is both captivating and inspiring.

Lydia has represented Australia in four Olympic Games, courageously returning from serious injury to win gold and bronze medals, capturing the hearts of a global audience in the process. She currently holds three world records, including the history-making quad twisting triple somersault that landed her in the record books as the first woman ever to accomplish the feat.

Lydia has won the Don Award, Athlete of the Year, Snowboard Athlete of the year and in 2012 was awarded an Order of Australia medal. Off the slopes, Lydia runs a successful business, has authored two books and is a mother to two boys… not a lot of down time in the Lassila household! Read more about Lydia here.

Steven Bradbury

The lasting impression you get from this genuinely entertaining Gold Medallist is that much of the prize is in the journey, and that success takes passion, persistence and teamwork.

One of the world’s most colourful Olympic Champions, Steven Bradbury created history when he won the Southern Hemisphere’s first ever Winter Olympic gold medal. He also won fans the world over for the honesty and humility he showed after his unexpected speed skating win.

Steve overcame serious injury in his journey to the top, including a race accident that required 111 stitches and a training mishap in 2000 that resulted in a broken neck. Perseverance and hard work had that same neck displaying an Olympic gold medal just 18 months later! Steve received ‘The Don Award’ for Australia’s best sporting performance in 2002, and in 2007 was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his services to Australian Sport.

Steve is one of Australia’s most in-demand and entertaining speakers, having presented at over 650 conference and events in 14 countries over the last 10 years, receiving wonderful feedback from clients. Read more about Steve here.

Alisa Camplin

Australia’s first female Winter Olympic Gold Medallist, Alisa is a passionate high-performance mental health advocate, as well as respected leader in business, sports administration and corporate governance.

In 2002, Aerial Freestyle Skier Alisa Camplin became the first female Australian to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. She’s a tough competitor who broke nearly every bone in her body on her way to winning back-to-back Olympic medals in world-record-breaking style, and her courageous story is one of inspiration, adversity and determination. Alisa received the personal honour in 2007 of being awarded the Order of Australia Medal and became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2018.

With over two decades of accomplishments as a global corporate executive under her belt, Alisa teaches practical solutions and small changes that can lead to positive sustainable outcomes. Her powerful presentation covers mindset, resilience, goal setting, high-performance, mental wellbeing and sustained success, and is relevant to both personal and professional life. Read more about Alisa here.

Jess Gallagher

Jess was the first Australian athlete – Olympic or Paralympic – to medal at both a Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Her story is one of perspective, trust and creating a positive, empowered mindset to achieve goals.

Jess Gallagher began to lose her sight at the age of 17 due to a rare, degenerative eye disease. Letting go of her dream to become a professional netballer, Jess discovered the world of Paralympic sports and learnt to put her life into perspective. She also learnt the importance of trust – it’s a pretty handy skill to have when you’re hurtling down a mountain at over 100km/hour, with someone else acting as your sight!

Jess became Australia’s first female winter Paralympic medallist at the 2010 Paralympic Games, and has since created history by going on to medal at both summer and winter Paralympics.

As a high-performance athlete in the dangerous world of Alpine Skiing, Jess shares the practical ways she shaped her risk appetite and turned fear into a must-have component of her performances, mindset and skill. She gives audiences tips and tools to create positive and sustainable habits to live their best life, and she does it with rare style. Read more about Jess here.

Jacqui Cooper

Jacqui is the greatest aerial skier of all time. Her story is one of self-belief, passion, the ability to overcome adversity and the strength of the human spirit. Your lasting impression will be that “success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”

Jacqui Cooper represented Australia in the sport of aerial skiing for over 20 years, dominating and revolutionising the sporting world. She competed in 139 World Cup Events, nine World Championships and was selected to five Winter Olympic teams – the first Australian Woman in history to have enjoyed this honour. With a record five world titles, 39 World Cup medals, 25 World Cup wins and three major World Championship medals to her name, Jacqui is indisputably the greatest aerial skier of all time.

Overcoming numerous serious injuries, including multiple reconstructions of her knee, elbow, shoulder and hip and a broken back sustained during a stunning World Title win, Jacqui’s career was marked by triumph, tragedy and sheer determination. She spent twenty years planning, learning, failing, overcoming adversity, developing, reinventing, striving and succeeding, and now she shares her incredible knowledge and experience with audiences around the world.

Outside of sport, Jacqui also found the time to start her own successful company, write two books based on her experiences with IVF and create a range of gluten-free products inspired by her daughter’s Coeliac diagnosis. Her journey is unique, and her story will leave you mesmerised. Read more about Jacqui here.
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All of these Olympic athletes are captivating motivational speakers, passionate about sharing their stories and inspiring others to succeed. If you’d like to engage any of them to bring out the inner champions in your team or audience, get in touch with us for a chat.

February 10, 2022August 8, 2022

Rosie Batty to Host One Plus One Interview Series on ABC TV

Rosie Batty is the epitome of the ‘accidental leader’. When her 11-year-old son Luke tragically lost his life at the hands of his father, Rosie became a tireless and inspirational crusader against domestic violence, turning her personal tragedy into a fight to help others. Now, Rosie will host a special eight-part series of One Plus One on ABC TV, speaking with other accidental leaders who have unexpectedly forged new paths inspiring others.

Rosie’s story is well known, with her courageous campaigning against domestic violence earning her the title of Australian of the Year, as well as the Pride of Australia National Courage medal and Order of Australia honours. Her relentless dedication has also seen her inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women and named by Fortune Magazine as one of the world’s top 50 greatest leaders.

Rosie’s journey from abuse victim to high-profile leader, along with her empathetic and engaging speaking style, makes her a captivating motivational speaker. It also makes her the perfect person to host the upcoming series of the popular ABC NEWS interview program.

“With the death of my son Luke I never set out to be so widely known in Australia and I realised that my story has been an inspiration for others,” says Rosie. “Mine is just one story and there are so many other inspiring and courageous people who never sought the limelight or to have a public profile. I wanted to hear more about their stories and what impact it’s had on their lives – the good and the bad.”

Rosie will interview accidental leaders from a variety of fields in the forthcoming series of One Plus One, including self-deprecating comedian Hannah Gadsby, Dr. Richard Harris, known for his heroic involvement in the Thai Cave rescue, writer and artist Amani Haydar, cook and food writer Stephanie Alexander, performer and domestic violence campaigner Russell Vickery, gun control advocate Walter Mikac, plus more.

Annie White, Editor of ABC NEWS channel Programs, says of their new host, “We are very honoured to have Rosie join the One Plus One family – she has all the skills of a great interviewer, with empathy and curiosity in spades. Her conversations with others who found themselves in unexpected leadership roles bring new insight and understanding.”

We look forward to tuning in to ABC on Thursday February 24 to watch Rosie’s TV hosting debut, and learning more about the fascinating accidental leaders who have risen to prominence in the most surprising of ways.

If you’d like to engage Rosie Batty to share her inspirational journey to accidental leadership with your team, get in touch with us for a chat. We also have many more trailblazing women we can introduce you to, all with incredible stories to tell – perfect for your International Women’s Day 2022 event if you’re yet to secure a speaker!

February 3, 2022August 8, 2022

Dylan Alcott Calls Game, Set, Match on Tennis Career, but More to Come for Australian of the Year.

“It’s time for you to challenge your unconscious biases, leave your negative perceptions at the door and lift your expectation of what you think people with disability can do. Because it’s always more than you think.” – Dylan Alcott

While the 2022 Australian Open will aways be remembered for Ash Barty’s drought-breaking championship win, it was also the final curtain for tennis legend and recently crowned Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott. It wasn’t the fairy-tale end to his career he would have liked, but it was a fitting stage to farewell the history-making athlete.

The Australian Open was always going to be Dylan’s final act. The scene of a record seven quad singles titles and a thunderous home crowd the rightful way to cap off a career haul encompassing 15 grand slam singles titles, eight grand slam doubles titles, four Paralympic gold and two silver medals.

Really, there wasn’t much left to accomplish after a record-shattering 2021. When you follow an Olympic gold medal with Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open wins to claim the illustrious Golden Slam, where on earth do you go from there?

To put it into perspective, Dylan was the first male in history to claim a Golden Slam. Ever. Of any ability. Steffi Graf is the only other player to have managed that elusive feat, topping her four majors with gold in Seoul back in 1988. So quite the achievement for the humble dual athlete from Melbourne, whose larger-than-life Aussie larrikin personality has endeared him to crowds as much as his exceptional ability.

Dylan’s astonishing achievements in tennis, matched by his equally impressive accomplishments in basketball, are undeniably awe-inspiring. But it’s his off-field efforts to alter the way people with disabilities are perceived in the wider community that really sets him apart. And that’s where Dylan will concentrate his efforts now that’s he’s officially called time on his illustrious tennis career.

As a TV commentator, radio DJ and popular motivational speaker, Dylan uses his public stage to normalise and destigmatise disability, sharing his unwavering belief that absolutely anything is possible.

While not every person with a disability has the skill or desire to become an Olympic athlete, Dylan is proof that being disabled is no barrier to success, nor to happiness. Dylan’s projects off the court, which include The Dylan Alcott Foundation, Ability Fest and Get Skilled Access, are testaments to these fundamental beliefs of his.

It’s these beliefs, along with his relentless dedication to changing perceptions, that earned Dylan the 2022 Australian of the Year award – the first person with a visible disability to secure the title in the award’s 62-year history. Another magnificent achievement, and one that may just mean more to Dylan than any of his other accolades.

As Dylan said in his acceptance speech, “Winning grand slams and gold medals isn’t my purpose. It’s like the 30th priority of my life. My purpose is changing perceptions so people with disability, people like me, can get out there and live the lives that they deserve to live.”

And what a role model he’s been. Whether he’s playing a world-record setting 24hr charity tennis marathon, wheelchair crowd-surfing at music festivals, chugging back beer from his US Open trophy or advocating for the disabled, Dylan Alcott has earned his Aussie legend status. He’s aced life on and off the court, and if he says being disabled doesn’t have to be a disadvantage, who are we to argue?

We can’t wait to hear what’s next for the Aussie champ, but for now? All we can say is well played Dylan, well played.

If you’d like to engage Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott to share his unique and inspiring journey with your team, get in touch with us for a chat. We also have a number of other worthy Australian of the Year winners we can introduce you to, including Rosie Batty AO, Dr. Craig Challen, Dr. Richard Harris and Grace Tame – all wonderful motivational speakers with incredible stories to tell.