Anna Hemmings (MBE) is Britain’s most successful female kayaker with a staggering 9 World and European Championship gold medals. She is now a leading inspirational speaker and recognised specialist in the field of resilience and high performance. She works globally with business leaders and teams helping them develop the skills, attitudes and behaviours to deliver exceptional performance.
By the age of 24 Anna had been World Champion 3 times and competed at the Olympic Games. In 2010 she was awarded an MBE for her services to sport. She achieved this success against all the odds. She was told by the British head coach that she was not big enough or strong enough to be a great kayaker. She proved him wrong. At the peak of her career, Anna was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and was told by medical experts she might never race again. She battled her way to full recovery and went on to win a further 3 world titles and compete at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Since retiring from sport Anna has become a leading inspirational speaker, an accredited Performance Coach and founded Beyond the Barriers high performance training consultancy, delivering resilience, leadership and high performing teams programmes.
Anna’s unique combination of experience in elite sport combined with 14 years leading a successful business and working alongside senior leaders, gives her a broad understanding of the challenges that leaders and teams face and how to overcome them to deliver outstanding results.
In her speeches, Anna reveals the thinking, methodology and techniques she used to become a world champion 6 times and how those strategies can be applied directly to the business world. These insights are brought to life through entertaining anecdotes from her journey in sport and business.
Anna’s speeches have been enjoyed and valued, in more than 25 different countries, across a variety of industries. She has a proven track record as an accomplished, inspiring and humble speaker. Leading global brands trust Anna to inspire their people to achieve more: Amazon, Red Bull, Unilever, Vodafone, Rolls Royce, Roche Pharma, Deloitte, British Airways and many more.
