Courtney Godfrey
Courtney Godfrey is a local TV reporter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her job has taken her all over the country, from San Francisco to New York City. She has reported on major news events, appearing on Fox News Channel and CNN.com. She has interviewed celebrities and sports icons, and covered major events including the police death of George Floyd, the Super Bowl and multiple Kentucky Derbys.
In September 2017, she was involved in a boat accident that resulted in the amputation of her left leg. The recovery was long and painful, but not once did she lose her positivity and drive. With the support of her family, Courtney found the strength to return to all the activities she enjoyed before the accident. Four months post-amputation, Courtney was back on her snowboard. She returned to work, her favorite fitness classes and even got back in her beloved high heels.
She serves on the board of the nationally recognized amputee non-profit, Wiggle Your Toes as well as the board of the Hennepin Healthcare Foundation.
On her own time, she provides one-on-one peer support to new amputees and does frequent hospital visits. She advocates for amputee rights at the state and federal level, lobbying members of the Minnesota legislature and U.S. Congress.
She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and their son, Callan.
Roxane Battle
Roxane Battle is Vice President of Advocacy and Community at Sanvello Health, Inc., a tele-mental health company inside UnitedHealth Group Ventures. Sanvello has the #1 app for anxiety, stress and depression and provides insured behavioral healthcare to 40 million people. Roxane’s self-help video series, “Checking in with Roxane Battle,” is seen by 4 million subscribers on the Sanvello app.
Prior to coming to Sanvello, Roxane spent 20+ years as a television news anchor and Emmy-nominated reporter at NBC Minneapolis, CBS, and FOX.
As life-long public speaker Roxane uses her gift of humor and natural storytelling to help people develop personal strategies to better manage stress, build resiliency and find joy during times of transition.
Roxane was named an Architect of Change on mariashriver.com and has been featured in Working Mother and Ebony national magazines, and regularly makes podcast and television guest appearances.
A Minnesota native, Roxane earned her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She completed her master’s degree in journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Her self-help memoir, Pockets of Joy: Deciding to Be Happy, Choosing to Be Free (Whitaker House 2017), became an Amazon Top 100 best seller in multiple categories.
She has an adult son, calls the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes home, owns a pair of roller skates and makes a mean mac and cheese.
Jim Johnson
Coach Jim Johnson’s mantra, “dreams really do come true,” came to life Feb. 15, 2006, as the bleachers of Greece Athena High School exploded into cheers after Johnson called in number 52, Jason McElwain, to the final game of the season. Jason — A.K.A., J-Mac — was a student at Greece Athena High School who had a burning passion for basketball, but because of his autism, he had never been able to play. Throughout Jason’s high school career, he tried out for multiple sports teams but never made the cut. But things started to change for Jason when he met Coach Johnson. A coach of numerous high school teams for more than 33 years, Johnson saw Jason’s passion but was unable to land him a spot on his team. Instead, he appointed Jason team manager, a role he gladly accepted. Johnson knew this would be Jason’s best chance to be a part of the sport he loved so much.
The game was against Spencerport, a bitter rival, and with four minutes left in the last period, Johnson stood up and pointed at Jason to sub in. The entire crowd erupted in jubilant cries as Jason stepped onto the court. And, to everyone’s surprise, Jason scored 20 points, eighteen of which were three-point range, leading Greece Athena to the division title. The fans proceeded to rush from the bleachers onto the court, lifting Jason up in celebration. Johnson could only stand and watch in awe as Jason embraced his moment of glory, realizing his dream had finally come true. This inspirational story was awarded the national ESPY by the ESPN Sports Network.
Today, Johnson is a sought-after keynote and workshop speaker who shares not only the amazing story and his remarkable journey with Jason, he shares valuable leadership lessons with audiences all over the country. He is also the author of the book “A Coach and a Miracle: Life Lessons from a Man Who Believed in an Autistic Boy.”
Eddie Slowikowski
3 minutes and 58 seconds. That is the amount of time it took Eddie Slowikowski to run the mile. Whether it’s as a Gold Medal winner for the USA Track & Field Team, an NCAA All-American, or a sought after dynamic professional speaker, Eddie knows a thing or two about Peak Performance. Through years of training as an athlete and running his own speaking business, Eddie knows what it takes to be elite. Eddie has always had the can-do spirit of an entrepreneur, in all walks of life. Best of all, Eddie can channel that sense of accomplishment through interactive storytelling to audiences everywhere. He can make you laugh, cry, dance and learn… all in one presentation.
Eddie’s story has always been about taking the lead and setting the pace. Through his years as a world-class runner and now as an internationally known Speaker & Consultant, you can count on Eddie to be out in front. In addition to his accomplishments and medals, Eddie sought to enrich his life with service and empowerment for others. Whether it was in month-long service projects in Central America or helping the homeless in the city of Chicago, Eddie widened his world-view beyond the life of sports. Also, as a husband and father of four, he proves that a successful balance of life and business can be attained.
Through storytelling and high-energy showmanship, Eddie shows participants how to follow through on a vision from inception to achievement and how to create positive energy for yourself and others. It’s time to match who you are with who you want to be. Create the congruency of peak performance and attain the attitude of, Be That Now!
Devin Henderson
A multi-talented powerhouse: an author, experienced presenter and seasoned performer, Devin Henderson has logged thousands of performances as an award-winning comedian and magician, and in-demand keynote speaker over his nearly two decade professional career. Devin is a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), and his passion is using his unique talents and experiences to inspire individuals and organizations to discover their greatest potential and keep going no matter what.
In 2014, Devin was honored when America’s Got Talent invited him to audition in Hollywood for Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandel after the producers saw videos of his magic performances on YouTube. Although he did not pass the audition and the segment never aired, it was an amazing and pivotal moment in Devin’s career and life. The America’s Got Talent let-down, coupled with other competition losses, helped shape the message he now shares with his audiences about accepting disappointing experiences as teachable moments and spingboards to something greater.
Anyone who meets Devin soon learns there are always new levels of potential available to them, and achieving greatness in work and in life requires commitment, risk, perseverance and is a daily, on-going process. Devin helps people define and strive for their best all while maintaining positivity, humility, a sense of humor, and most importantly, a vision for new possibilities. To share this message, Devin’s full-length keynote includes a unique combination of magic, storytelling, and audience interaction that audiences have called “unreal,” “unexpected,” and “unforgettable.” Devin is happily married to the world’s most amazing woman and they have six daughters. Yes, six. Daughters.
Jean Abbott
Jean Sharon Abbott was misdiagnosed as a young child with Spastic Dipligia, a form of Cerebral Palsy. After 33 years of countless doctors visits, medical procedures, unnecessary medications and surgeries, she was correctly diagnosed with Dopa Responsive Dystonia (DRD). Jean enjoys all the adventures of her new life, but wouldn’t change the journey that brought her to where she is today. Her positive attitude is highly contagious as she encourages others to appreciate the little things in life.
Jean’s powerful story of perseverance no matter what life brings will have you laughing one minute and crying the next. Since she appeared on the Today Show, Good Housekeeping, Yahoo!, and the U.K.’s “Daily Mail”, an overwhelming number of people from around the world have contacted Jean to tell her how inspired they were by her journey from “wheels to heels”.
Holly Hoffman
Holly Hoffman was the last remaining member of the Espada Tribe and the last woman standing on Season 21 of CBS’ hit reality show “Survivor Nicaragua”. Through that experience, and others throughout her life, Holly was inspired to share her message of survival.
A professional motivational speaker and the author of “Your Winner Within” and “Write Yourself a Note”, Holly acknowledges that life is made up of challenges, and we are oftentimes faced with situations that seem insurmountable. But within each of us is an ability to focus our thoughts, emotions, and energy to succeed—if only we have the knowledge, tools, and discipline to do so.
A native of South Dakota, Holly’s writing and speaking not only offer encouragement and optimism but a roadmap for self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment. Readers and audience members alike walk away inspired to light the fire of successful living within themselves.
Today, Holly is a member of the National Speaker’s Association and a recipient of the Certified Speaking Professional designation, and travels across the country and internationally, speaking to a wide variety of corporations, associations, universities, schools and women’s organizations. Holly inspires her audiences to take opportunities and focus on faith, attitude, determination, confidence, desire and perseverance.
Casey O’Brien
Casey O’Brien, a native of St Paul, Minnesota, is a six time cancer survivor and widely recognized motivational speaker. After being diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, an extremely rare form of bone cancer, at the age of 13, his main goal in life has become inspiring others. After having the cancer relapse in both of his lungs in high school, he made varsity football debut as a Placeholder. He checked into the hospital for chemotherapy the following morning. He later walked on to play football as a Placeholder for Coach PJ Fleck and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Casey played in his first career Big 10 football game at Rutgers on October 19th, 2019. His first play and moment shared with Coach Fleck were covered by ESPN, ABC World News, The Today Show, and more. He spoke in front of a national audience at the 2019 ESPN College Football Awards Show after receiving the Disney Spirit Award for the most inspiring story in all of college football. He was the keynote speaker in front of 2,000 people at the 2019 Big 10 Media Days in Chicago, and his speech has now been viewed over 100,000 times. He looks to spread his positivity, unbelievable resiliency, and motivation to succeed to every group he speaks to.
Waldo Waldman
Known as “The Wingman,” Lt Col Waldo Waldman, MBA, CSP, CPAE is a highly decorated combat fighter pilot with 65 missions in Iraq and Serbia. A Hall of Fame Speaker, business consultant and executive coach, he is the author of the New York Times bestseller Never Fly Solo. Waldo helps organizations build collaborative cultures of trust, courage and commitment in highly competitive, rapidly changing business environments. In addition to his time in the military, Waldo has real world corporate sales and management experience and is an expert on change management, peak performance, and resilience – having broken through a lifelong fear of heights and overcoming claustrophobia as a fighter pilot.
A key message in his inspirational and high energy “Never Fly Solo” signature keynote is that you can’t reach your highest potential alone. You need wingmen – trusted partners – to help you win when adversity strikes. His compelling stories and techniques on overcoming obstacles, performing under pressure, earning trust, and servant-based leadership are extremely relevant to diverse organizations who seek to create a “One Team, One Mission” performance-focused culture of trust and collaboration.
Waldo is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Never Fly Solo and an inductee into the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame, a prestigious award that has been bestowed on less than 190 speakers worldwide. A graduate of the U.S Air Force Academy, he also holds an MBA with a focus on Organizational Behavior and is the founder of The Wingman Foundation whose mission is to build funds and awareness for veterans in need. He’s been featured on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Inc. Magazine, and The Harvard Business Review, and his global clients include American Express, Hewlett Packard, Verizon, GE, The Denver Broncos, Merck, Johnson & Johnson and dozens of national associations.
Bob Sansevere
Who is Bob Sansevere? This veteran journalist, author and media personality, in describing himself, notes that, “I’m charismatic, wildly entertaining and remarkably insightful, and if you’re even a fraction as impressed with me as I am with myself, you’re going to love what I have to offer.”
What Bob can offer, in a style all his own, is something completely different from the usual suspects of inspirational speakers. That’s because Bob’s life work in the media has been an amazing three-plus decade journey across an American landscape of winning, losing and everything in between, from high school heroes to the Super Bowl. And the lessons he’s learned along the way on this journey have something everyone can relate to. In fact, with Bob it’s all about the journey. When Bob steps up to microphone, he has one and only one goal – to take everyone in the room on a journey. His journey will take you to towns you never heard of and places you want to go, full of everyday people and national celebrities, some funny, some sad – but all sharing the same simple message: Embrace the Journey.
Bob’s colorful narrative and stinging wit bring industrial-strength commentary to the simple things in life that often mean the most. His larger-than-life on-stage presence turns up the energy level in any room. He is an animated choreography of insight, anecdotes and chuckles – all punctuated, when you least expect it, by an incisive heartfelt wisdom that delivers a one-two inspirational punch that people are sure to carry with them long after they’ve left the room. Bob’s a powerhouse monologist of the first order, and can deliver a funny and thought-provoking speech that can engage and enrich people in your group — and inspire them to tap into their “inner winner.” Whether it leads to a significant work-related accomplishment or a life-enhancing achievement, Bob’s words will encourage your group to Embrace the Journey. Bob is a sports columnist and hosts his own digital radio show, “The BS Show.” Bob spent more than 30 years as a member of the KQRS Morning Show, the highest-rated morning show in America for much of the past two decades. Bob also has been a contributor to several TV news and sports shows. He spent eight years as a member of the Orono City Council and serves on the Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose school board. And, with his wife, Mary, was a foster parent for more than 15 years. Bob has written a book entitled, “The Best Minnesota Sports Arguments.” And calling on his background as a multiple national champion in the horse show world, Bob has designed with Jostens, an internationally known jewelry company, official championship rings and pendants for two horse registries.