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Jim Davidson, Speaker Managed
5
30 Review(s)

Jim Davidson

    • Resilience Expert
    • Expedition Leader
    • Summited Mt. Everest
    • NYT Bestselling Author: The Ledge
Full Bio
In Person-Fee 🛈

$15,000 - $20,000

Virtual Fee:

$7,500 - $10,000

Travels From

Colorado

Jim Davidson Speaking Reel | Adventure Keynote Speaker

Jim Davidson Speaking Reel | Adventure Keynote Speaker

Jim Davidson | Virtual Demo 2023

Jim Davidson | Virtual Demo 2023

Jim Davidson Speaker Biography


Jim Davidson is a resilience expert, an expedition leader, and a New York Times best-selling author. From his 41 years of adventure and survival, Jim distills compelling stories and uplifting lessons about how to overcome change, challenge, and uncertainty through resilience.

Davidson shares motivating keynotes and workshops on personal resilience, resilient teamwork, and resilient leadership. Jim has scaled high peaks from Argentina to Nepal, from Bolivia to Tibet. The US National Park Service has commended Jim twice for volunteering for successful high-altitude rescues in Colorado and Alaska.

While first attempting to ascend Mt. Everest in 2015, Jim and his partners survived massive earthquakes and avalanches. He shared his incredible experiences and insights with CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Smithsonian Channel, PBS, and more.  Jim told his story of surviving the earthquake in the National Geographic TV Show “Witness to Disaster”. In 2017, Jim returned to Mount Everest and summited successfully.

For 20 years. Jim worked as a hydrogeologist (B.S. & M.S. degrees) and ran his own environmental consulting firm. Earlier he worked as an industrial painter on high-voltage electrical towers carrying 230,000 volts.

Jim Davidson co-authored the New York Times best-selling survival memoir, The Ledge: An Inspirational Story of Friendship and Survival. The Ledge won the National Outdoor Book Award for Outdoor Literature and was picked as one of the Best Books of the Year by Amazon. His epic survival story was featured in an international TV episode of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" on the Discovery Channel.

To book Jim Davidson call Executive Speakers Bureau @ 901-754-9404. 

The Next Everest: Lessons from an Avalanch of Adversity  
Based on his novel, The Next Everest: Surviving the Mountains Deadliest Day and Finding the Resilience to Climb Again 

In 2015, Jim set out to achieve a goal he spent 33 years building up to—summiting Mt. Everest. Little did he know he would find himself trapped by avalanches at 20,000 feet on the deadliest day the mountain has ever seen.

Nepal’s largest earthquake in 81 years shook Everest with a magnitude of 7.8 creating aftershocks and avalanches. Sadly, 18 lives were lost in base camp, while Jim and his fellow climbers were trapped up on the mountain.

By enduring this disaster, Jim learned hard-won lessons about facing uncertainty and deepened his understanding of resilience. His intense experiences clarified the importance of embracing change to overcome challenges. Two years after the deadliest day on Everest, Jim returned and achieved his goal of reaching the summit.

Through gripping stories of his moments on the mountain to the lessons that enabled him to reach such challenging goals, Jim will inspire your team to be ready and resilient for the next Everest in their lives.

Everest Resilience: Overcoming Adversity and Reaching High Goals - Keynote

During his first Everest attempt in 2015, Jim and his team were trapped at Camp 1 by massive earthquakes and avalanches. After recovering from this huge setback, he trained even harder and returned in 2017 to summit Mt. Everest.

Work, life, and climbing always include change, challenge, and uncertainty. Struggling up Mount Everest reveals how resilience allows you to overcome adversities and still reach high goals. Jim has presented inspirational keynotes across the USA and internationally to prominent clients like Verizon, Capital One, UPS, OppenheimerFunds, Proctor & Gamble, Nokia, and more.

In this thrilling keynote, Jim shares hard-won resilience lessons on how you can:

- Adapt to change

- Face uncertainty

- Overcome challenges

- Recover from setbacks

Jim’s resilience was also tested by a tragic mountaineering accident that forced him to climb alone up an overhanging ice wall to escape from an 80-foot deep glacial crevasse. Jim’s survival epic was made into an episode of the hit TV series “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” (Discovery Channel. From his intense experiences, Jim distills how to:

- Cultivate a resilient mindset

- Leverage your personal resilience

- Increase your resilience through post-traumatic growth

Keynote is 60 - 90 minutes

Resilient Teamwork and Resilient Leadership - Workshop

On his remote expeditions, Jim has encountered many teamwork and leadership challenges. During remote rescues and evacuations, the pressure increases, uncertainty grows, and team dynamics become strained. High-performing organizations face these same teamwork and leadership conditions in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world.

By examining several real-world mountain rescue scenarios, Jim facilitates an invigorating, interactive workshop that has your team working together to resolve leadership and teamwork challenges. Some of the difficult rescues that Jim has helped with include:

- Solo mountaineer with severe altitude illness at 19,200 feet on Denali (Mt. McKinley)

- Hiker who fell 70 feet into a boulder field at 13,000 feet in Colorado

- Climbers trapped at 19,900 feet on Mt. Everest

In this hands-on workshop, Jim uses engaging storytelling and vivid visuals to bring these scenarios to life. Then, he has your attendees work to resolve the dilemmas by having them:

- Debate how to be a resilient team member

- Identify traits of resilient leaders

- Examine their own resilience strengths and weaknesses

This energizing workshop includes interactive sessions with small group work, large group facilitation, and individual self-reflection. Jim regularly facilitates this energizing program for top-quality organizations like Marriott, Credit Suisse, US Army, Kia Motors, and many more.

Attendees vigorously engage with the process because these are real teamwork challenges (not board games or simulations). This energetic scenario will be brought to life by Jim’s intense videos, photos, and first-hand experiences.

Interactive workshop is 1.5 - 3 hours

*VIRTUAL Topic - Facing Everest-Sized Uncertainties

Jim’s first attempt to climb Mount Everest ended suddenly when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. This spawned massive avalanches and aftershocks that trapped Jim’s team high on the mountain. It became the deadliest day ever on Mount Everest. Jim returned in 2017 to try again. Along the way, his team had to endure eleven stormy days pinned in their tents, uncertain if they were going to be able to summit. Finally, conditions cleared and after persevering through the uncertainty, Jim and his team reached their goal.

From these intense experiences, Jim shares critical lessons for facing today’s uncertain times. He will share practical tips about:

• Building a resilient mindset for facing change, challenge & uncertainty
• Attitudes and actions to take before, during, and after big storms
• When to rely on passive perseverance vs. active perseverance

Jim has conducted virtual presentations for small companies, international corporations, and multi-location associations. His energetic presentations engage your virtual audience with compelling videos and unique props (climbing gear).


 

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Reviews

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Click testimonials tab below for detailed feedback.

March 6, 2024

Jim Davidson is an exceptional speaker, who is able to inspire sustainably, both in- and outside of work. A key aspect to highlight is his fantastic, innovative presentation style which creates a feeling of being in the same room with him and which adds to a lasting learning experience.

Deloitte Consulting GmbH

February 7, 2024

Jim was a hit with our team! His presentation was engaging, and he did an excellent job relating his experience to specifics within our organization. I would highly recommend.

NSK Dental

November 17, 2023

October 4, 2023

“I have been to a lot of conferences, and Jim is the best keynote speaker I have heard. We invited him to speak to our group of about 400, and you could hear a pin drop in there, participants were so engaged. He took care to customize his message to our group, which he did just perfectly. Jim shared so many lessons that our attendees could apply, both in their professional lives and personally.” -Kerrie Vanden Bosch, Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Michigan CEO

MERS of Michigan

August 29, 2023

Jim is an inspirational person. His presentations are so personal and engaging. I was riveted from start to finish!

City of Fort Collins

May 16, 2023

May 16, 2023

We were very fortunate to have Mr. Davidson speak at our annual Administrative Operations Meeting and feedback from the group was extremely positive. The leadership tools and lessons in resilience were particularly supportive to our roles as Administrative Officers. I would highly recommend Mr. Davidson as a speaker for any federal or private sector speaking engagement. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow from the experience of Mr. Davidson's presentation and speaking engagement, it was the best part of our weeklong meeting!

ARS Plains Area

November 2, 2022

Jim brought incredible energy and insight to our employees at our recent goals rollout meeting. His experience, wisdom, and heart for others really spoke to our audience.

Deere & Company

October 21, 2022

Jim's presentation was wonderful! Our attendees all commented on how great it was!

MCG Energy Solutions, LLC

June 7, 2022

April 11, 2022

March 7, 2022

Jim was very well received by our audience and he totally understood our goals in having him speak, adjusting his presentation to the audience. Fantastic presentation!

Rotary of the Far West President Elect Training Seminar

February 11, 2022

January 19, 2022

Jim Davidson's presentation was riveting and relevant. The perfect combination of storytelling and application to any real world experience where resiliency needs to be fostered.

St. George’s Independent School

November 17, 2021

October 12, 2021

September 23, 2021

It was the second time that we used Jim at our annual Safety Summit. We brought him back because of his initial popularity with the employees and he knocked it out of the park. The feedback we have received has exceeded his initial appearance. A premier storyteller!!!

ITC Holdings Corp., A Fortis Company

September 2, 2021

Thank you to Jim for speaking at our FleetCon event! What an amazing journey you have had. Thanks for sharing with our Fleet Members and relating it to all they do!

Fleet Pros

June 9, 2021

Great to work with. Great story to share and Jim is very willing to make your program a success.

Ohio Hospital Association

May 5, 2021

I really appreciated working with the speaker and ESB team. Everyone was responsive and pleasant, and Jim did a great job!

Gold Stars Speakers Bureau

January 26, 2021

January 22, 2021

Jim was engaging as well as entertaining. He had a great message that resonated with our group. Although we were virtual, the way he used the monitor in his talk to run his videos made it seem more "live" rather than looking at a talking head on Zoom. We received rave reviews about him.

Keller Williams Realty, Southeast Region

March 3, 2020

Excellent speaker who modified his talk to include our present health care challenges. Loved his handouts and activities to support building resilient leaders and teammates.

New Hanover Regional Medical Center

February 25, 2020

Jim has a remarkable and gripping tale. Tales, in fact. He engages and connects with his audience in a powerful way. It is clear he has thought in depth about "lessons learned" and translates his life lessons into powerful transferable concepts for anyone and everyone.

Chemex Modular, LLC

February 7, 2020

January 26, 2020

Such an inspirational story and great audience experience. Jim is amazing!

Atlanta Apartment Association

January 24, 2020

My firm hired Jim Davidson to speak to our team about resilience and overcoming challenges. Through his personal experience he relayed a powerful message to all of us about pushing our own limitations. He is captivating, empowering, and it truly was an honor to be in the presence of a man with such adventure. I highly recommend Mr. Davidson as a speaker.

Bisnar Chase

December 11, 2019

Engaging. Kept the audience's attention. Inspiring story and delivery.

COPIC

December 10, 2019

Jim was truly an inspirational speaker. He was warm, engaging, and was able to focus his talk so that it was geared toward our organization's mission. He was very professional and we would recommend his talk to any large group focused on resilience. Thank you from Donor Network West. San Ramon CA

Donor Network West

September 26, 2019

Jim captivated our audience from the beginning to the end of his speech. His use of personal experience, climbing equipment, and video were amazing. I believe every person in the room stopped by to shake his hand and receive a copy of his book. Jim is world-class!

Enfos

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