Artistes of the Month
Also featured: Quentin Willson, Philippa Forrester
Rebecca Stephens
Rebecca
was the first British woman to have climbed Everest - an achievement recognised
around the world. Rebecca then went on to become the first English-speaking
woman in the world to climb the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on
each of the seven continents.
Her achievements might suggest she has always known exactly what she wanted
to do, but this is far from the truth. At school, she followed no particular
path. 'I went to university and then into journalism, still not knowing
what I wanted to do.'
It wasn't until the age of 27 that she discovered a passion that was to change her life. As a journalist, she accompanied an Anglo-American expedition on Everest's North East Ridge and got bitten by the mountaineering bug. She decided she wanted to climb. Not only that, she wanted to climb the highest mountain in the world. Four years on she fulfilled this ambition and has subsequently continued to break records and barriers. But how did she do it?
'Simple,' she says, with the benefit of hindsight. 'I wanted to climb these mountains more than anything else in the world, and that was half the battle won. A burning desire meant I just pushed that much harder to acquire the requisite skills and make sure it happened.' Rebecca believes that everyone has 'their Everest', something they badly want to do. The secret is to have the self-awareness to listen to your inner voice and follow a path that is true for you.
With a passionate belief that every individual can achieve goals far beyond their wildest dreams, Rebecca lectures to corporate audiences and schools around the world. She also contributes articles to a number of national newspapers and has regularly appeared on television, most notably on Tomorrow's World. She has written a compelling account of her ascent of Everest, 'On Top of the World', a Dorling Kindersley book on mountains, entitled 'Everest', and most recently 'The Seven Summits of Success', co-written with management guru Robert Heller. She's also been a judge on the Man Booker award for contemporary literature.
Not surprisingly, Rebecca continues to adventure at every opportunity. She has sailed the Southern Seas to the South Magnetic Pole and Antarctica, competed in an eight-day Eco-Challenge with polar explorers Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Mike Stroud, running, biking and canoeing across the Canadian Rockies. Most recently, she has crossed the island of South Georgia in the footsteps of Sir Ernest Shackleton.
She is a trustee for the Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, member of the Alpine Club, and has been closely involved with The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and the Outward Bound Trust.
She lives in London with her partner and young daughter, Anna.
Speeches
The Seven Summits Speech
Not satisfied with only climbing Everest, Rebecca went on to climb the
Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the world's seven continents.
By her own admission, it was an extremely steep learning curve. She had
to acquire the requisite mountaineering skills, but also the transferable
skills of leadership - both of oneself, and others - to ensure success.
They are presented as follows:
1. Kilimanjaro (Africa) - The First Step
2. Denali (N.America) - Training, planning and preparation
3. Everest (Asia) - Communication and effective teamwork
4. Elbrus (Europe) - Coaching and leadership
5. Cartstensz Pyramid (Australasia) - Recruiting the best people
6. Aconcagua (S.America) - Positive thinking
7. Vinson (Antarctica) - Tenacity to the last
Together the Seven Summits provide a unique opportunity to look at the seven principles of leadership in a dramatic and memorable way.
On each mountain, Rebecca learned what it takes to succeed in extreme and often dangerous conditions. By bringing back this learning to the training arena, she uses the mountains to explore the peak principles of success that unleash the power within all of us to create winning teams today.
"You received the highest marks ever - 8 x 10 and 2 x 9 (and one delegate never gives 10 on priinciple!) Congratulations, this is a brilliant and true reflection of your ability to share your extraordinary story in such a business-focused way." The Academy of Chief Executives
Quentin Willson
Quentin
Willson is probably best known for BBC Top Gear and Five's motoring show,
Fifth Gear. He is one of the best-known motoring authorities in the UK
and an established television personality.
His other series on Five include 'Britain's Worst Driver', along with
a host of spin off series on 'Britain's Worst' topics.
Quentin spent nine years presenting Top Gear from 1991 to 2000 and hosted
his own classic car series The Car's The Star and the property show All
the Right Moves both for BBC2.
He has also presented or been a guest on a range of popular TV and radio
programmes such as Panorama, The Money Programme, The Fast Show, The Wright
Stuff and The Jimmy Young Show.
As well as his TV work, Quentin is also a columnist for The Sunday Mirror and has written for various motoring publications such as Top Gear Magazine, Auto Car and What Car? and for most of the national newspapers.
Quentin, who nurtured a passion for motorcars since being knee high,
ran his own car dealership for 20 years specialising in fleet cars, and
he still owns an elite selection of classic cars.
In the corporate market, Quentin is a sought-after raconteur, renowned for his acerbic wit and general disdain for political correctness.
"Quentin was brilliant. He was very punctual, polite and professional.
He kept the audience entertained for the whole duration of his speech,
and was very witty."
Konica Minolta - November 2007
'...pass on my thanks to Quentin for a very entertaining after dinner speech at our Barclays Capital Autos on the Road event last week. Feedback was positive - Quentin is a very colourful character and he added a good angle to the evening'.
Abigain Harrison, Barclays Capital - Quentin spoke at their Autos
on the Road event in Stuttgart
Philippa Forrester
Charismatic,
intelligent and dynamic, Philippa brings a fresh touch to all her work
which combined with her, warmth, sense of fun, natural authority and journalistic
instinct is shown to great effect on Sunday Morning's - Live - Heaven
& Earth - BBC 1
It is all these elements and more that made her such a stunning reporter/presenter of Tomorrow's World for four years covering issues at the cutting edge of science and it's applications - particularly medicine.
For Breakfast News Extra, Philippa reported live every morning for three
weeks from three very different venues leading up to Christmas 2002 -
from The Royal Opera House, Kew Gardens and finally from Alder Hay Children's
hospital in Liverpool.
An infectious sense of humour has enhanced shows such as the hugely successful
Robot Wars - 5 Series, Barking Mad, where some very odd pet behaviour
(and that of some owners) was analysed by the experts and the BBC's coverage
of CRUFTS (2001, 2 & 3), which she has taken to new heights.
Philippa's TV Science credentials continued with: - Dreamwheels - (BBC1 '99) exploring the future for travellers; fronting the BBC's coverage of The Eclipse (21 mill. viewers) and a prime role in the BBC's Millennium Night marathon.
Despite a packed presenting schedule in 1998 Philippa gained a 1st Class Honours from London University - (Ecology and Environmental Science) - her 2nd degree.
In 2000 and 2001 she brought her passion for the natural world to a raft of projects for the BBC Natural History Unit - inc; Clever Critters, Wild Within, Robo Critters and Making Animal Babies - a passion first aired when she fronted BBC's Zoo Watch and her work at Tiggywinkle's Animal Hospital came to notice.
Philippa's environmental credentials grew with her presentation of the Weekly Eco (HTV '94) while Disney Club (ITV'94) increased her fan club.
Other work has included a series on extreme sports for This Morning (ITV), The World's Strongest Man (BBC) while for GMTV she explored alternative medicine and explored college options with students - her own preparations for her second set of 'finals' making her uniquely qualified for this role!
Sensational stints on C5's Night Fever (98 + 99) echoed her work for Radio 1 + The Ozone working with the likes of Elton John, Robert Palmer etc. and The Broom Cupboard for CBBC: daily live shows, celebrity interviews, working with the first virtual reality TV character and 'Ed The Duck!
Philippa has also become a wild-life producer of films, with the exquisitely crafted My Halcyon River which was shown on BBC 1 - and told of a year in the life of the river which runs past her window, and the wildlife it hosts.
Her corporate credits for both live and recorded events are many and prestigious.
'Philippa was a great success - a lovely lady who joined in with the
proceedings, chatted to everyone and seemed to enjoy herself too! She
was delivered home safe and sound afterwards. Thank you so much for securing
her services for us. '
Kay Spurrier - Environment Promotions Officer London Borough of
Bromley
Further Information
For further information or for a copy of our latest speaker booklet please phone one of our consultants whose expert advice will help you find the right personality for your event.
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