Ryan Stramrood

Ryan has undertaken some of the world’s toughest and most deadly swimming challenges, pioneered others and has become a master of mindset, setting the bar of human endurance a notch higher often in the most hostile environments.

Ryan’s keynotes take the shape of breath-taking, fascinating stories crafted to evoke unadulterated inspiration and emotion. As a brilliant story teller, his sessions deliver unique insight into the power of our minds, our behaviours, our reactions and our abilities in the difficult environments (of all natures). A master of drawing perfect parallels between the extreme wild and the corporate space, the session will be impactful, relatable and tailored specifically for the audience and event theme.

See Ryan’s main keynote themes below. Each incredible session speaks perfectly to mindset, adversity, goals, high performance, leadership, teamwork and much more.

• PushPastImpossible™ – ‘discover the strength you never knew you had’
• Failing Forward – ‘convert failure, shortcomings, disappointment to GROWTH’
• Sink or Swim – ‘no treading water! – it’s about showing up, accountability, extra-mile, high performance, Performing while Transforming ‘

All keynotes are inspirational. Delivered in the form of fascinating, inspiring, emotive stories emanating from Ryan’s ultra-extreme swimming challenges where his own and human boundaries have been pushed and exceeded. Keynotes come complete with powerful visuals, unique video and are tailored specifically to resonate loudly in the toughest of corporate and business environments. And most importantly to inspire action and real change.

 Each speaks perfectly to mindset, adversity, performance, leadership, teamwork and much more. Keynotes are tailored to suit client brief and event theme. The inclusion of focus points below is driven by client requirement.

• Mindset shifter – face and process ‘impossible’ differently
• Resilience & Grit in the most extreme business environments
• Performance: “Performance = Potential minus Interference” (Galway) , eliminate Interference;
• Leadership – lead with confidence;
• WELLNESS – so vital, mental tools;
• Mental Awareness – how your mind is working in uncomfortable environments – NB!
• Thriving in Adversity – the unexpected, curveballs, hostile environments;
• Goal setting – where goals should be set for vital and real growth;
• Business – Pushing past those impossible boundaries; Entrepreneurship; Start ups
• Team – what makes an unbeatable team? A group of people with a common goal is NOT a team; Importance of teamwork in tough environments;
• Failure – Setting Goals beyond perceived ability; Converting failure to Growth; The impact of not managing failure effectively; Failure without the learnings is simply Failure destined to repeat itself; Vulnerability
• Accountability

Ryan is a completely ordinary, humble 40 something father and businessman, running a sales business in Cape Town, South Africa. However, the journey he shares is anything but ordinary. A journey from couch potato, all the way to setting world records for pushing body and mind to places largely believed impossible in the genre of ultra extreme open water and ice swimming.

Through his frequent exposure to deadly ice water situations and survival, Ryan unlocked a unique understanding of the mind. Not just an understanding on how powerful it is, that we all know! But rather opens eyes in a very entertaining way to some great paradoxes we deal with subconsciously and which ultimately steer us through life.

He uses his swimming challenges set in Siberia, Antarctica, Arctic Circle, Bering Sea, the Great White feeding ground of False Bay and other to demonstrate how this works, how it is DIRECTLY applicable to each and every one of us in our careers and how an awareness of the processes happening can significantly change our lives. Visuals and video bring great richness and reality to the experience.

The story is not about success or failure! Its about goal setting, believing in yourself, trying and about the power of determination.

Audiences will be engaged throughout, will have opportunity to interact and will leave the session inspired, in awe and well-enlightened.

“No matter who we are, nor the levels we might have achieved to this point, in any area of our lives, we are all subject to certain default settings and reactions of the most powerful tool in the world…our minds. It governs us, it steers us, its makes us who we are and it enables us. But a primary role is to ensure our survival and safety. And that role in turn has evolved to include a safety from the emotional pain that comes from failure. And this safety mechanism has profound implications for us across the board”

An eye opening session for audiences of every level is guaranteed.