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Robyn Benincasa

World Champion Adventure Racer, Firefighter, Top Leadership and Teamwork Speaker, CNN Hero, and Bestselling Author

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When the challenges are steep, and the competition fierce, Robyn Benincasa provides individuals and organizations the tools they need to inspire themselves and one another to their greatest heights and to cross their most challenging finish lines. For the last 20 years, she and her teammates have been competing at the front of the pack in the most unique and compelling classrooms on earth: The jungles of Borneo, the Himalayan peaks of Tibet, the rivers of Fiji, the rainforests of Ecuador and the deserts of Namibia, studying the good, the bad, and the not-so-pretty of Extreme Teamwork. It is through these harrowing, life-affirming, and often hilarious experiences in the world's most grueling challenges that she has emerged with her truly unique perspective on what it takes to build the kind of world-class teams that succeed against all odds, triumph in the face of adversity and win as one in times of great challenge and change. Robyn accepts full blame for inspiring people to do insane things like climb Mount Kilimanjaro, run their first triathlon, start their adventure racing teams, hike across the Grand Canyon with a group of Survivors, or start their businesses. This is, after all, who she is and what she does: Robyn Benincasa inspires people to grab life with one hand, grab their teammates with the other, and create that special magic that makes all of us better TOGETHER than we ever would have been alone!

 

Robyn has made an art form of extreme performance by competing and winning at the highest levels of sport and business; her keynotes are powerful, impactful, and packed with practical, real-world takeaways that inspire peak performance and exceptional leadership. As a 20+ year veteran San Diego firefighter, a World Champion Adventure Racer, a 2014 CNN Hero, a Guinness World Record Endurance Kayaker, a best-selling author, and founder of The Project Athena Foundation, Robyn Benincasa *definitely* knows a thing or two about creating Human Synergy, or as Robyn puts it, "That magic that allows groups of ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things together."

 

Known as an inspirational force for leadership, team building, and extreme performance, her award-winning and game-changing keynotes have earned Robyn accolades as one of 2020s World’s Top 50 Keynote Speakers (Real Leaders Magazine), the #1 Female Speaker for Meetings.net, and is one of the Top 10 Speakers featured by Harvard Business Review. For the past 15 years, Robyn’s keynotes have motivated countless teams and received rave reviews from user groups, associations, and Fortune 500 companies, including IBM, Starbucks, Walmart, Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, HubSpot, Intel, and more.

 

Robyn’s multi-faceted experience inspires people to grab life with one hand, grab their teammates with the other, and achieve audacious goals that they could never accomplish alone. She is the expert that companies call on to build world-class teams, inspire peak performance, and create a culture of champions. Robyn has successfully translated the lessons learned from extreme team sports to the corporate world, with compelling keynotes that show how groups of ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things together. Grab ahold of your seats! Robyn’s incredible stories and breathtaking footage of extreme teams in action is an invigorating thrill ride that will leave you energized.

Speaking Topics

T.E.A.M.W.O.R.K.: The 8 Essential Elements Of A World Class Team Culture

Keynote Themes

  • Team building
  • Leading change
  • Motivation and commitment
  • Inspiring innovation
  • Continuous improvement
  • Resilience


How can your company’s team members operate like world-class teammates who collectively rise to challenges using human synergy? That’s the term Robyn Benincasa coined to describe the magic that allows ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things together through a deeply connected team culture that ensures consistent peak performance by capitalizing on the collective strength of the team. Based on her New York Times bestseller, Robyn’s flagship keynote takes leaders and teams on an immersive journey from being individual team members to becoming great teammates with the tools and inspiration to build their own world class teams in every aspect of their lives.


Attendees will discover that achieving consistent peak performance doesn’t result from reaching up and simply trying harder as an individual. Just as in mountaineering, reaching the summit successfully involves reaching OUT—figuratively “roping up” to other people; sharing your strengths, and equally importantly, your challenges. Accepting help from a teammate isn’t a permanent state or sign of weakness; it’s a gift to the team. And it’s how you win. When everyone on the team leaves their ego at the start line in pursuit of your organization’s highest purpose, there’s no finish line you can’t cross together.


Takeaways

  • Fuels deep and lasting care, empathy, and respect between colleagues at all levels.
  • Inspires leaders to prioritize team building in their quest for world-class results.
  • Helps team members grow into teammates who capitalize on each other’s strengths and see themselves as leaders in their areas of expertise, regardless of title or tenure.
  • Simple skills anyone can apply to cultivate consistent peak performance through real connection with colleagues, clients, etc.
  • Builds an organizational culture of “we thinkers” so teams can think creatively and take calculated risks to reach higher peaks.
  • Leaves the audience buzzing with ideas about how to raise their game and their team’s to the next level, personally and professionally.

Win As One!: Achieving Breakthrough Performance Through Collaboration, Creativity And A Culture Of One!

Keynote Themes

  • Team culture
  • Growth mindset
  • Embracing challenge as a springboard to future success vs fearing challenge
  • Individual and team resilience
  • Creativity, innovation, and agility
  • Adversity management skills


Whether something is changing in your business or industry, what’s your approach: do you see a challenge as a threat or an opportunity? As leaders, our response can drive our organization to adapt, overcome, and win through a mindset of relentless success through connection, calculated risk taking, and collaboration. In this unique, authentic, and fast-paced multimedia keynote, Robyn shares the essential elements of world class performance that allowed her adventure racing team to overcome known and unexpected challenges to become the sport’s most prolific and consistent world champions. They weren’t the fastest team. Yet they discovered smarter, better, and more efficient ways through the course of fierce teamwork and innovation, using their resources in game-changing ways, and sharing challenges and strengths from start to finish. This winning strategy applies seamlessly to the epic adventure your business is on—no mud, blood, or sweaty gear required. 


Takeaways

  • Gives everyone an immersive experience that builds the excitement needed to achieve your next huge goal together.
  • Creates a team culture that continuously embraces challenges as opportunities for innovation, visionary creativity, and breakthrough performance.
  • Empowers individuals to lead with their strengths and leverage their teammates’ talents to unlock greater collective potential.
  • Shows teams how taking calculated risks pays off as a strategy for exponential growth.
  • Inspires audiences with a success mindset tested by ordinary people (not superhuman Olympians).

Why Winners Win: The Game-Changing Mindset For Next-Level Success

Keynote Themes

  • Success mindset
  • Personal leadership
  • Team building
  • Peak performance
  • Resilience
  • Innovation


What are the common attributes of people who make a lifelong habit of winning and succeeding against all odds? Drawing inspiration from Robyn’s team of world champion adventure athletes and winners from all walks of life, this inspiring and practical keynote dissects the traits, skills, and attitudes behind the world’s most consistent high performers. The best of the best experience uncertainty and obstacles like everyone else. Yet they reach great heights through characteristic courage, adversity management, a keen ability to create synergy with their colleagues, and the ability to continuously inspire themselves and others. And yes, luck (opportunity + preparation): their level of preparation allows winners to discover and capitalize on opportunities.


Takeaways

  • Leveraging a game-changing strategy that shifts one’s mindset from “not losing” to winning.
  • Finding the opportunity in challenges to innovate and create future success.
  • Empowering continuous improvement to spur change and reinvent the game.
  • Capitalizing on resources and pooling individual strengths to achieve even bigger goals.
  • Demonstrating the value of G.U.T.S. (Going the distance, Unwavering in your patience and faith, Taking calculated risks, and Shattering the norm).
  • Solidifying how luck is a proven formula of opportunity + preparation that drives consistent peak performance.

Inspiring Greatness Through G.R.I.T.: Igniting The Passion And Perseverance To Pursue The Impossible

Key Themes

  • Resilience
  • Adversity management skills
  • Culture of champions
  • Leadership
  • Team building
  • Inspiration through challenges


What inspires us with drive, perseverance, and resilience to pursue goals that seem impossible and achieve world-class results in times of great change and challenge? We create this greatness in ourselves and our teammates through GRIT, a magical combination of:


  • GUTS
  • RESPECT for our teammates and the mission
  • INNOVATION
  • TEAMWORK that makes us “sticky” to our goals and dreams.


In this keynote, Robyn shares real secrets to her team’s success over 20 years of leading the pack in adventure racing and as a firefighter. Much of our drive comes from our connection to something greater than ourselves: the passion we have for an inspired mission, the respect for a team whose success is inextricably tied to ours, and the clients whose lives we will touch.


Audiences leave Robyn’s keynote with a deep understanding of how to create GRIT in themselves and their team. Most importantly, you’ll be on a mission to inspire GRIT in everyone who is lucky enough to know the kind of leader that helps others climb their tallest peaks, fight their biggest fires, and cross their most challenging finish lines.


Key Takeaways

  • Demonstrates a find-a-way-or-make-one attitude.
  • Inspires teammates to commit to deep respect for one another and the higher purpose of the mission.
  • Supports the best outcomes through anticipating and preparing for all conditions and contingencies.
  • Shows how white space thinking allows for ingenious solutions and mission-driven innovation.
  • Helps leaders and teams navigate difficult challenges by envisioning what kind of story we’d like to tell.
  • Sustains a drive to succeed in tough times when it’s tempting to quit.

Take the Next Step with Robyn Benincasa

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Testimonials

"Robyn's message for our company was perfect. The presentation felt custom-made for us and left everyone ready to help each other win! Everyone loved her energy level and her thought-provoking stories connected with our employees. I have witnessed many members of our team referencing quotes from her talk, and I expect we will incorporate many of them into our company culture. Having high-performing teams is critical to our success, and Robyn's inspirational message has undoubtedly made our teams stronger."

"I thought yours was one of the best, if not the best, keynote session I've seen in over two decades at my company. ... you did your homework on us and our event; intensive homework, way beyond just Googling us. You spoke as an insider! You didn't just bring us into your world, you integrated both our worlds, your examples were specific, but your message and lessons were universal, and I found myself more and more impressed as the talk went on."

It was very well customized, it felt like she knew us & what we needed to hear, and all our regions felt represented! It's so impactful to hear how “we” all contribute, and are equally critical to adapting, overcoming & winning as one regardless of level/ title. Robyn’s presentation was the favorite event!"

"We wanted to have a powerful, engaging, and inspirational opening keynote speaker to kick off the Technical Leadership Summit for our global design and engineering leaders, and WOW, did she ever deliver. Thanks Robyn, you're awesome!"

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