Adventurers and Explorers

Ania Lichota

Ania is multi-faceted; she is an author, a mountaineer, she has managed complex, multi-functional and multi-cultural change programs, setting up, growing, liquidating and ‘pruning’ businesses for acquisitions in 16 countries in 4 languages.  Ania has worked in shipping, construction, retail, commercial and investment banking where she was involved in business development, sales, process improvement, business integration and turnaround.  Ania has four degrees and is currently a chairwoman of a large charity in London and Global Change Leader, Middle Office at UBS.

Bear Grylls

Every year the death toll on Mount Everest rises, and for every ten mountaineers who make it to the top, one will die.  Yet finally at 7.22am on May 26th 1998, after three grueling months climbing on the peak, Bear entered The Guinness Book of Records as one Everest’s youngest ever summiteers and returned alive.   He was only 23 years old. 

Bear has a natural talent for communication and his speaking and TV shows has brought him worldwide acclaim. As a motivational speaker, he has addressed corporations all around the world on his experiences on Everest and how these can help us in our life and business environments. He is among the most in-demand speakers in the world. Bear’s first book, ‘Facing Up’, went into the top-10 best seller list, and was launched in the USA titled, ‘The Kid who climbed Everest’. Worldwide this book has touched people through its enduring honesty, courage and humility.

Ben Fogle

Ben Fogle is a Presenter, Writer and Adventurer. His achievements include racing 160 miles across the Sahara desert in the notorious Marathon Des Sables. He has rowed the Atlantic Ocean in 49 days and crossed Antarctica in a foot race to the South Pole. He has presented numerous programme’s including BBC’s Animal Park, Wild In Africa, Countryfile, Crufts, One Man and His Dog and Extreme Dreams. He writes regularly for the Sunday Telegraph and the Independent and has written four bestselling books. He is an ambassador for WWF, Medcins Sans Frontier and Tusk, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the President of the Campaign for National Park’s.

Benedict Allen

Often described as “television’s most fearless man”, Benedict is an extremely popular after-dinner and motivational speaker. His exceptional talent for applying his pioneering expeditions to the corporate ‘jungle’ ensures an enthralling, entertaining and inspirational experience for any size of audience.

Benedict's presentations show how over twenty years he has achieved his goals by remaining focused and utterly committed to his final objective, surviving adversity in the harshest of environments around the world. His extraordinary record of success demonstrates the importance of drawing upon the resources within and around us and also the value of teamwork - the Amazon jungle, just like the corporate world, is too big to fight alone.

Using his formidable experience of surviving against the odds, whether in creating an Arctic dog team from scratch at minus 45 degrees, crossing the 3,600 mile Amazon Basin without a map, or undergoing the world's harshest male initiation ceremony to become "a man as strong as a crocodile," Benedict gives a stunning demonstration of how we can succeed in our own jungles back home.

Debra Searle

While rowing across the Atlantic in a boat, Debra Searle (Nee Veal)had the extraordinary courage to continue the journey alone, when her rowing-partner husband was unable to continue, struck by fear. Debra faced the terror of 30ft waves, looming large tankers and circling sharks during her 3000 mile and 3 month trip. Now a successful TV presenter, author, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker, Debra has an inspirational and entertaining story.