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Meet

Sterling Hawkins

From multi-billion dollar failure to the 1M+ No Matter What Movement creating breakthrough results for people and companies around the world
  • Author of the best-seller: Hunting Discomfort
  • Entrepreneur, innovator and startup advisor, having helped start, mentor or grow over 100 companies
  • Sterling’s award-winning platform helps audiences push past comfort zones, create new paths forward and produce breakthroughs, regardless of change and challenge in the way
Speaker Fee:
$20,000 - $30,000
Virtual Fee:
$15,000 - $20,000
Travels From:
Colorado
5.0 | 3 Reviews
Sterling Hawkins
Book Sterling Hawkins
Speaker Fee: $20,000 - $30,000
Virtual Fee: $15,000 - $20,000

Sterling Hawkins Speaker Biography

Sterling Hawkins is an author, investor, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker who is globally recognized as a thought leader in personal and organizational growth. Founder of the No Matter What Movement, he shows people how to achieve the performance, results and fulfillment they want regardless of obstacles.

Sterling developed his methodology to learn from the painful collapse of his multibillion-dollar startup involvement. He’s since combined his business background, research, study, and practice to come back and launch, invest I,n and grow more than 100 companies. He’s taken that experience to work with C-level teams and leaders and speak on stages around the world. He’s been featured in magazines like Forbes, Fast Company, The New York Times, and Inc.

He believes that there is no growth without discomfort – and it requires courage, commitment, community, and the cultivation of trust to move through the uncomfortable and uncertain and into breakthrough results. To inspire people to unlock their own inherent potential, he shares key practices that help us push beyond our perceived limits to make a difference for our companies, communities, and families. When he’s not at home in Colorado, he may be out skydiving, swimming with sharks, or adventuring with the No Matter What Movement.

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Featured Videos

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Letting Go to a Greater Purpose Leaves you Unstoppable
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Trust is The Necessary Ingredient to Growth
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Building Trust in Self, Not Outcomes
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Sterling Hawkins Speaking Reel
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Why Discomfort Turns out to be a Biological Superpower
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How To Use Your Problems As Your Path Forward
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Sterling Hawkins at DECA | 25,000 Chanting #NoMatterWhat
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#NoMatterWhat Impact: Husqvarna Sales Case Study
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Speech Topics

No Matter What – Thriving Through Change and Uncertainty
Get unstuck and create a sure pathway to progress, regardless of the challenges

In a world permanently transformed by tech upheaval, competitive pressures, talent shortages, and global instability, change and uncertainty have never been more intense. But here’s the truth: change is constant, and it isn’t the enemy. It’s our approach to it that leaves us afraid of taking risks, struggling to adapt and limiting our progress.

Sterling Hawkins shares how he went from multi-billion dollar startup success story to bankruptcy to growth leader and advisor to hundreds of leading companies. The experiences, research and real-world testing shared in this ground-breaking keynote will help you break through your own challenges by reframing your relationship with change. Sterling’s proven framework cultivates a resilient growth mindset that thrives in uncertainty by empowering audiences to commit to real progress rather than burning out or becoming crushed by it.

With his No Matter What mantra, Sterling lights a fire within individuals and teams, uniting them to capitalize on their strengths. By fostering connection, breaking down silos, and empowering team members at every level to confront uncertainty, his system transforms any change into opportunity and any challenge into greater potential.

Outcomes:

– Activate High Performance: Empower your team with proven practices that drive high performance, regardless of challenges.
– Transform Discomfort into Growth: Challenge the “survival” narrative and use discomfort as a powerful catalyst for impact, resilience, and transformation.
– Accelerate Learning and Results: Embrace a science-backed approach to harness the unknown, accelerating learning and achieving outstanding results.

This inspirational keynote is designed for leaders who are:

– Struggling to keep up with technology disruption, competitive pressures, and market shifts.
– Disempowered dealing with unknowns and burned out from relentless change.
– Under pressure to deliver stronger results by rising to challenging circumstances or ambitious goals.

Transformational Growth | Realize the potential in yourself, your team and your organization with trust-driven leadership
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, there are few constants, leaving paralyzing uncertainty in its wake. It is the role of transformational leaders to build a trustworthy cultural foundation and vision of the future, enabling growth and consistent success.

From over a decade of exploring myriad growth modalities, Sterling Hawkins introduces a revolutionary methodology for transformational leadership centered on trust in themselves, each other and a greater purpose. Instead of focusing solely on goals and tasks, this method orients us to the real work of growth, aligns us to our ultimate goals, and connects us with what matters most. Modeled by leaders, these principles become the ground upon which transformation takes place. In practice, the principles inspire teams, win moments of opportunity, deliver differentiated solutions, and unlock greater potential.

This paradigm shift not only reduces turnover and stimulates breakthrough approaches, but also resonates positively with partners, clients, and stakeholders. Embracing trust-driven leadership doesn’t just improve the bottom line; this proven approach enhances the workplace and shapes the very essence of the organization.

Outcomes:

Unlock Hidden Potential: Harness cutting-edge, research-backed methods to build trust in self, others and a greater purpose, enhance learning, and reveal the inherent potential within your team.
Catalyze Transformative Action: Implement powerful, actionable leadership practices that drive immediate and lasting change.
Sustain Momentum: Create enduring performance improvements that continuously accelerate team momentum and organizational growth.

This transformational keynote is designed for leaders who are:

Called to lead in a meaningful new way to significantly improve morale and results.
Frustrated with surface-level approaches, lack of clarity and slow progress.
Ready to truly align to produce breakthrough performance for themselves and their teams.

Maximize Your Impact | Build your capacity to grow by establishing a fresh relationship with change, control and uncertainty.
True growth comes from stepping toward a place that many fear: the unknown. High performing people and organizations must develop their relationship with the uncertainty that comes from unknowns to reach even higher levels of success.

Created and field-tested alongside some of the world’s largest companies, Sterling Hawkins offers a proven methodology that doesn’t rely on working more or trying harder. Instead, he provides clear steps to radically rethink our relationship with the unknown and the uncomfortable. This shift builds a belief in the possible, that outweighs fear, courage that overrides worry and the capacity to shed our comfort zone and handle uncertainty.

No matter your current situation or level of performance, Sterling’s compelling data, moving stories, and high-energy delivery enable audiences to think differently, elevate conversations, and align to greater goals to maximize the impact of individuals, teams, and organizations.

Outcomes:

Master Uncertainty: Avoid common growth pitfalls and confidently navigate the unknown to propel your objectives forward.
Establish Psychological Safety: Apply proven practices to cultivate psychological safety within, unlocking dramatic new results in any situation.
Transform Your Culture: Shift from fear-driven reactions to proactive purposeful actions, fostering deep trust and maximizing long-term impact.

This growth keynote is designed for leaders who are:

Ready to reach the next level of performance with a radical new approach.
Seeking a framework to advance sales, business results or breakthrough performance.
Inspired to make a bigger difference without sacrificing health and wellbeing.

 

Creating a Culture of Innovation
Practical tools to build a culture of creativity, ingenuity and determination

With AI and other disruptive changes as the new constant, fostering an innovation culture is mission-critical to stay ahead. The catch is, our natural human inclination is to resist any change, seeking comfort in the security of familiar routines.

Sterling Hawkins offers a fresh perspective on innovation built on launching, investing, and growing over 100 startups. He shares a science-backed approach to breakthrough innovation by coming from a place of curiosity, not certainty. To achieve the impact we desire in our businesses, communities and families, we need a complete perspective overhaul.

Learn Sterling’s holistic approach for cultivating a culture of creativity, ingenuity, and determination across all areas of an organization. This keynote goes deeper than a motivational talk: it’s a transformative experience that shows you how to innovate and create from true inspiration.

Outcomes:

– Break Free from History: Identify and release outdated narratives that hinder team progress.
– Cultivate a Culture of Innovation: Apply practical tools to foster an innovative culture that distinguishes your organization in a competitive market.
– Embrace Failure to Succeed: Adopt a neuroscience-backed approach to break down silos, embrace failures, and uncover breakthrough opportunities.

This innovation keynote is designed for leaders who are:

– Seeking a new approach to innovation that drives organic growth, competitive advantage and higher performance.
– Looking to break free of legacy thinking, limiting beliefs and fear of failure to realize next-level breakthroughs.
– Inspired to take smart risks, desire to embrace new technologies or approaches and need to collaborate in deeper ways.

Reviews

5.0 | 3 Reviews
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Sterling Hawkins has become a household name within cityCURRENT and with our corporate partners and guests of our signature speaker series. He’s so incredible that we’ve had him keynote in both Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee. With his presentations, he masterfully weaves his entrepreneurial story with lessons from his bestselling book, Hunting Discomfort, and how to leverage his model to shift from “I can” to “I WILL” to achieve breakthrough results. He is charismatic and connects with the audience, ties in emotional moments that the audience will hang on, and provides content and a framework that is extremely valuable on both a personal and professional front, so the audience walks away with a blueprint for taking action. Sterling and his team are true professionals. They are a pleasure to work with and go the extra mile to customize the presentations, share resources and materials afterward, and give you tools to continue engaging your audience in meaningful ways. We will continue finding more ways to work with Sterling Hawkins in the future, and I highly recommend him for your next event, as well!

cityCURRENT | March 14, 2023

Sterling was hands down the easiest speaker to work with from start to finish!
Prior to speaking at our cityCURRENT Signature Breakfast he took the time to ask and learn as much as possible about our organization and our audience which made the presentation even more special.
Our audience had outstanding reviews and left them with inspiration and strategies to implement right away and throughout the year.
I give Sterling 5 stars and would certainly give him the highest recommendation as your next speaker!

cityCURRENT | January 23, 2023

Sterling delivered a keynote address to our audience of customers and associates that was inspiring and impactful. He did an excellent job of tailoring his material to our audiences which helps the audience connect to his message. He brings an authentic and positive energy to his speaking that captures the attention of the audience. What a great way to kick off our virtual event! Sterling was a pleasure to work with and was full of ideas to elevate the customer experience. I would highly recommend Sterling to any event organizer looking for a keynote speaker.

SpartanNash | March 17, 2021
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“Over my many years running events around the world, few if any of my 2,000+ speakers delivered as remarkable a performance as Sterling did at Seamless Asia 2017.”

Director, Terrapinn

“Sterling was not only a delight to work with, but had rave reviews from our audience of executives! His energy was contagious, and he provided real strategies for success and inspiration, to send us out with a bang after three full days of content. Highly recommend Sterling as your next keynote!”

Senior manager, Winsight, LLC

“Sterling presented in front of a diverse mix of our top customers and killed it! His message resonated with the crowd and I’m still receiving compliments about him several weeks after he spoke. I would recommend him to any organization looking for a dynamic speaker that can connect and motivate. Plus he dives with sharks!!”

Retail Account Manager, The Topps Company | Fanatics

“Your keynote presentation on the #NoMatterWhat System was very inspirational and had provided us with the insight and tools needed to be effective leaders at the command. As we embark on a transformational journey in creating a culture of learning, know that your #NoMatterWhat System will help us build on the belief that we can achieve success no matter what obstacles we face. Your knowledge, insight and motivation is invaluable and we look forward to incorporating your system into our everyday actions as leaders.”

Commander, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division

“Sterling is an engaging and highly motivating speaker. His message is clear and the team really embraced the #NoMatterWhat campaign. We really enjoyed working with him.”

SVP, Global Field Marketing, SAP

“Sterling’s #NoMatterWhat presentation was well-received and truly inspired our audience during what was otherwise a tough day of meetings.”

Vice President of Sales, Cornerstone Building Brands

“I had the pleasure of engaging Mr Hawkins in a UN conference at which he gave an inspiring keynote speech. He is a charismatic, knowledgeable and inspiring human being who understands his audience well, and is able to keep them interested from start to finish. I look forward to many more future engagements with Mr Hawkins.”

Climate Adaptation Director, UNFCCC

“Sterling was engaging, impactful, motivating and tailored his presentation to meet the needs of his audience and the challenges the healthcare industry continues to face during these uncertain times #NoMatterWhat. His presentation helped set the stage to a successful conference. I would highly recommend Sterling for a future event.”

Vice President Member Relations and Education at Tennessee Hospital Association

“Sterling’s keynote was spot on…it was very thought-provoking and challenged the team to think in different ways.”

President, Sally Beauty

“We appreciated working with Sterling in advance of the conference. He was responsive to our requests and keen to understand what our group was about. Once onsite, Sterling and his team went above – and beyond – to help us out when we had unforeseen changes to our speaker line-up. AHTD is grateful to have worked with Sterling Hawkins!”

Executive Director, AHTD

“Sterling delivered the best keynote we’ve had in our company’s history! As an organization, we’re going through significant changes; Sterling took the time to understand our business, our challenges and our people to incorporate that learning into a talk that truly spoke to us. His messages were inspiring, but also actionable in a way that people could grab onto and use immediately. I can clearly see how Sterling’s message has sustainably impacted all of us as we continue to grow into the future.”

LK Packaging

“Sterling is the go-to expert for anyone navigating transformation or seeking to strengthen team alignment and culture.”

Chief Supply Chain Officer | Fortune Brands Innovations

“Sterling’s powerful keynotes prompted a transformative shift in attendees’ thinking, earning it the top-rated session at both events. He provided our audience with the tools to approach challenges with a different mindset, encouraging them to perceive challenges as opportunities to overcome and drive growth.”

Vice President, Research and Education | NACS

“Since Sterling’s keynote, we’ve had a culture within the commercial team of #NoMatterWhat—it has resulted in new customers, new distribution and record bookings!”

EVP + Head of North America Sales | Husqvarna

“Sterling transformed our sales team! He’s not just a speaker, but has become a crucial part of hitting our company goals.”

Chief Revenue Officer | Bulletproof

“Sterling’s message was highly engaging, feedback was very positive and the event increased accountability and alignment. Since the keynote, there has been a noticeable rise in team engagement and ownership. I recommend Sterling to others seeking alignment during company transformations or change initiatives. Don’t think twice. Engage with Sterling! That’s going to be the cement that you might be missing without even knowing it.”

CEO | Peoplelink Group

“Sterling’s keynote was a game-changer for our organization! It was a real partnership that focused on our challenges and delivered on our goals with more resources than I’ve ever seen. His approach was so tangible and accessible, the impact lives on long after the event.”

SVP, Brand & Marketing · Partner | The Plexus Groupe