Chad E. Foster is a motivational keynote speaker, sales/finance leader, and inspirational change agent who works at Red Hat/IBM. He was the first blind executive to graduate from Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development and has been featured with NBC, CBS, Forbes, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA Today, and Chief Executive Mag.
“People are often surprised at what I was able to achieve in spite of being blind but to the contrary, I feel I am successful because I am blind, not in spite of it,” says Chad.
After losing his eyesight while attending college in his early twenties, Chad started at a top consulting firm, and has built a career in the technology industry where he has directed financial strategies and decisions resulting in more than $45 billion in contracts.
Determination, ambition, and resilience are the key drivers of his incredible journey. The Atlanta Opera has commissioned an opera inspired by his life story and his first book, Blind Ambition: How to Go from Victim to Visionary.
Today, Chad speaks to corporate audiences and professional athletes to help them develop resilience in the face of uncertainty and show people how to overcome their own blind spots. He lives with his wife and his 2 children in Atlanta, GA and is a daredevil of his own, enjoying snow skiing every winter.
Speaking Topics:
BLIND AMBITION™: HOW TO GO FROM VICTIM TO VISIONARY™
In this signature keynote, Chad will entertain, inspire, and move your audience, while teaching them how to shift their mindset from victim to visionary™. Going blind at 21-years-old and facing a life with seemingly limited opportunities, Chad had to reinvent himself before even having a shot at success. Turning obstacles into opportunities, he became a Harvard-educated rainmaker, created countless jobs, and now he teaches teams how to cultivate resilient mindsets, adapt and thrive in change, and set ambitious goals with the right mindset to achieve them. This program gives your people the tools and inspiration to overcome difficult circumstances and create a promising positive future. More than just a motivational talk, this session connects inspiration to implementation.
Chad Foster is as authentic as they come. He could have easily gone the other way but instead when he lost his vision, he decided to use it to show people that you decide your story, not the life events we go through. Happiness is a decision we make every day when we wake up. His positive spin on life with a no bs attitude is something we can all benefit from. He raises the question of “is being in the dark & losing your vision a blessing?” For him, it seems like it may have been! He is very relatable and good at what he does. Highly recommend him for any business/professional event.
Chad Foster is as authentic as they come. He could have easily gone the other way but instead when he lost his vision, he decided to use it to show people that you decide your story, not the life events we go through. Happiness is a decision we make every day when we wake up. His positive spin on life with a no bs attitude is something we can all benefit from. He raises the question of “is being in the dark & losing your vision a blessing?” For him, it seems like it may have been! He is very relatable and good at what he does. Highly recommend him for any business/professional event.