Alan Hobson

Alan Hobson is a two-time cancer survivor, Mt. Everest summiteer, and bestselling author who has turned a lifetime of extreme adversity into one of the most deeply researched and personalized keynote programs in the speaking industry. He speaks on resilience, teamwork, peak performance, and overcoming adversity, drawing from 10 grueling high-altitude expeditions, three attempts at Everest, and two separate battles with life-threatening blood cancer. He has been recognized as the best speaker in the world at creating custom-built presentations.

Three Attempts on Everest, One Summit
Hobson’s first expedition missed the top by 3,000 feet when gale-force winds destroyed the team’s high camp. His second came within two city blocks of the summit before the lead climber developed life-threatening altitude sickness, requiring a 33-hour continuous rescue operation that saved the man’s life. On his third attempt, his team put nearly half its climbers on the summit. Three years later, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia and given less than a year to live, becoming one of fewer than a few dozen people ever to regain elite fitness after a blood stem cell transplant.

Author, Coach & Cancer Foundation Founder
Hobson is the author of six books including From Everest to Enlightenment and Climb Back from Cancer, and co-founded the Climb Back from Cancer Foundation. He has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and is a former All-American gymnast and award-winning news writer. He speaks on resilience, peak performance, teamwork, cancer survivorship, and navigating the unexpected.

Adapting to the Unexpected
Hobson’s second Everest attempt missed the summit by just two city blocks when the expedition’s lead climber came down with life-threatening high altitude sickness. Alan’s team worked for 33 continuous hours and saved the man’s life, but it meant postponing the achievement of their goal. Discouraged, but not defeated, he walked away again with another set of precious lessons and started over with renewed determination. In today’s tough economic times, instant adaptability and psychological resilience are essential to success. Alan shows audiences how to rise to the challenge of cataclysmic change and effectively re-prioritize without losing sight of their mission, vision and objectives.

Turning Crisis into Opportunity
It happens to everyone. You establish a goal, but fall short of achieving it. You try again, but a competing priority suddenly requires you to shift your focus, or your resources. Then, you finally succeed, only to be blindsided by the unexpected. Alan Hobson faced all of these situations on his three expeditions to Mt. Everest and while climbing back from cancer. In his spellbinding personalized presentations, he draws invaluable connections between the priceless lessons of his life experiences and the challenges we all face in our personal and professional lives.

Bouncing Back from Setbacks
After more than a decade of preparation, Alan Hobson’s first expedition to Mt. Everest missed the summit by 3,000 feet when his team’s high camp was blasted off the mountain by hurricane-force winds. Instead of giving up on his goal, he used his hard-won lessons to begin again more intelligently. Alan inspires audiences to learn from setbacks and come away with smarter solutions for achieving their objectives.

Executing with Excellence
After almost two decades of preparation, an experienced Alan Hobson finally reached the summit of Mt. Everest during his third expedition. It was a true triumph of tenacity. Alan shows audiences that even when times are hard, if we remain focused on executional excellence and relentless improvement, we can achieve our goals. His powerful personal example resonates on an individual and organizational level.

Climb Back!
Three years after Everest, Alan faced his biggest mountain. Diagnosed with acute leukemia (an aggressive cancer of the blood) and given less than a year to live, once again, he never gave up. Today, he is one of less than a few dozen people ever to achieve an elite level of fitness after an adult blood stem cell transplant to eradicate the disease. He has now been cancer-free for more than nine years and is officially medically cured.

Triumphing in Tough Times
In today’s environment of uncertainty and change, Alan’s messages could not be timelier. He offers practical tools for managing the unexpected, as well as those challenges we can more easily predict. His hard-won wisdom has real world relevance, applicability and power. He is a tough man for tough times and a master at building bridges between where you are now and where you want to be – the perfect guide for anyone facing an avalanche of unknowns and a mountain of change and uncertainty. It’s time to triumph over change, turn crisis into opportunity and get back on top!