At 19, Jeremy Poincenot was your typical college sophomore. Friends, sports, fraternity and most importantly, perfect 20/20 vision. Then it happened, no warning, no time to prepare. Life began to blur. Over the next few months, Jeremy lost central vision in his right eye, followed closely by his left. The diagnosis: a rare genetic disorder called Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), a disease that affects a mere 100 people in the U.S. each year with no treatment or cure in sight. At first, Jeremy thought losing his vision meant forfeiting his life. But he soon learned that with every challenge comes an opportunity for growth.

When Jeremy lost his central vision, he thought the game of golf he loved was over. But with some hard work, dedication, and the support of his family and friends, he quickly learned that his golfing career had just begun. At 20 years old and with his Dad as his guide, Jeremy competed in and won the 2010 World Blind Golf Championship with a dramatic chip-in in a playoff. They have since gone on to win 8 National Championships, an Australian Blind Open, an Italian Blind Open and two more World Blind Golf Championships. In 2011, Jeremy was honored as the San Diego Hall of Champions Challenged Athlete of the Year. Like all things, it’s the most difficult trials that shape who we are—and Jeremy is a better athlete and person because of this sport.

Now, Jeremy strives to raise awareness of LHON, and along with the help of his friends, they have created the C.U.R.E. (Cycling Under Reduced Eyesight) Ride, an annual fundraising bike ride that has raised over $350,000 for LHON research. Their goal is to raise a million.

Today, Jeremy is an Inspirational Speaker traveling the world, sharing his story to inspire audiences to take control of life and turn trauma into triumph. Jeremy is not your ordinary motivational speaker. With a powerful personal narrative, a little wit and a strong inspirational message, he has made it his mission to help his audiences rise up to their biggest obstacles and see them as opportunities.

Jeremy’s objective when he steps in front of an audience is not to dictate how to succeed in life; it’s to convince individuals that independence is good, while interdependence is great. He speaks from experience and has discovered that with a focus on the good, key insights, and the determination to persist through the challenges, anything is possible.

Jeremy has had the privilege of being featured on ABC's 20/20, ESPN.com, CNN’s “Great Big Story” and MTV's True Life and has spoken for many prestigious companies including Aflac, Honda, John Hancock, Kaiser Permanente, Wells Fargo and many more.

The highest-ranking firefighter to survive the World Trade Center collapse, and the last fireman to escape the devastation, Richard "Pitch" Picciotto was on a stairwell between the sixth and seventh floors of the North Tower when it collapsed on September 11, 2001. An FDNY battalion commander, his is the harrowing true story of an American hero, a man who thought nothing of himself and gave nearly everything for others during one of our nation's darkest hours. Picciotto tells an outspoken account of that indelible day, shaking and inspiring audiences to the core.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Picciotto answered the call heard around the world. In minutes he was at Ground Zero of the worst terrorist attack on American soil, acting boldly to save innocent lives as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center began to burn—and then to buckle. Already a veteran of terrorist attacks, Picciotto was present fighting a similar battle after the World Trade Center Bombing in 1993. Again inside the North Tower, where he found himself years earlier, burdened by an eerie sense of familiarity, he focused his concentration on the rescue efforts at hand. But it was there in the smoky stairwells that he heard and felt the South Tower collapse. He then made the call for firemen and rescue workers to evacuate, while he stayed behind with a skeleton team of men to assist a group of disabled and infirm civilians in their struggle to evacuate the inferno. And it was there in the rubble of the North Tower that Picciotto found himself buried for more than four hours after the building's collapse.


Having discovered that members of his team and a 59-year-old grandmother also were alive nearby, he and his men used their radios to send out Mayday calls until they made contact with a firefighter on the ground, and a search party was dispatched. When the light finally appeared about four stories above, he climbed upwards, reached the top, and saw the "unfathomable, mind-boggling destruction." And even then, it was not until after he organized the rescue of the others that he walked across the rubble to safety.

Picciotto's book, Last Man Down, is a tribute to the 343 firefighters and 2,400 civilians who lay dead in the rubble that surrounded him on that day. And moreover, it is a heartfelt remembrance of a day of infamy and profound humanity. The book was an immediate New York Times bestseller upon its release in May 2002.

Chief Picciotto is also a former New York City police officer, and has served as a fire marshal, an arson investigator, a lieutenant, and a captain prior to becoming chief in 1992. He is a 28-year veteran of the FDNY, and for the past nine years, he has presided over the department's Battalion 11, covering Manhattan's Upper West Side. He is the recipient of departmental awards and commendations for his bravery and meritorious service.

Brian Smith, Founder of the world-famous UGG Australia Brand.

Graduating in 1978 as a Chartered Accountant in Australia, Brian came to California looking for the next big opportunity to bring back to Australia.

While studying at the UCLA Graduate School of Management he observed that there was no sheepskin footwear in the US.

With only $500 in capital, he imported boot samples and over the next seventeen years built the UGG Australia brand into a multi-million dollar international enterprise. He sold in 1995 and the brand has continued to grow to exceed a billion dollars in annual sales for the past six years.

Brian is one of the most sought after International business leaders in the country today. He is committed to teaching entrepreneurs how to leverage their most precious assets from within, and to recognize and pursue their passions to create a fulfilling and successful life.

Brian has authored the book “The Birth of a Brand – Launching Your Entrepreneurial Passion and Soul”, is a sought-after Keynote speaker and mentors small business owners.

He spends his time with his family and friends in Southern California and enjoys surfing and contributing to humanity.

Michael Veltri is a leadership expert, battle-hardened business executive, and Nationwide Bestselling author. Recognizing that success in business and life is created by the daily decisions we make, Michael elevates teams, fuel-injects leadership, and improves business performance through better decision-making practices.

From ancient Japanese warriors to brain science, from business titans to academic research, Michael tapped wide-ranging resources to develop a groundbreaking model for better decision making that leads to exponential leadership growth and peak performance with balance, not burnout. Simple, elegant, and effective, Michael's approach has positively impacted some of the world’s most successful organizations, brands, and leaders.

Michael is also a cancer survivor, decorated U.S. Marine veteran, and master-instructor in classical Japanese martial arts. He brings his business savvy, martial arts discipline, and Marine Corps leadership to every keynote speech inspiring, motivating, and educating audiences worldwide.

A former executive of a billion dollar global consumer products company and awarded the Vistage UK, International Speaker of the Year, (World’s Leading CEO Membership Organization) AmyK is a catalyst for producing sustainable solutions to a leader’s most pressing challenges. More than 50,000 executives in 10+ countries have benefited from her keen insight and intuitive understanding of the issues leaders face.

AmyK also served as Senior Executive Vice President, Operations for one of the largest sales and marketing firms in the U.S., was a chosen member of National Geographic's Educator Advisory Committee, and now serves as the Founder and Intelligence Activist of AmyK International, Inc., an executive development firm focused on leadership development, healthy team cultures, sales and innovative thinking. With clients including AT&T, Expedia, Lockheed Martin, Securian Financial, IBM, Wells Fargo, Walmart, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Dematic, Brighton, Cyber AdAPT, Digitech Systems, Herman Miller and hundreds more, AmyK travels the world helping senior executives lead and collaborate more effectively.

AmyK is a featured contributor for Entrepreneur magazine, her company won 5 Telly Marketing Awards and the Summit International's Award for Creativity, and her latest book, The Secrets Leaders Keep (Emerge Pub - Nov 2015), is an Amazon bestseller. AmyK received her M.S. from Johns Hopkins University, and has been a featured guest on numerous TV and radio networks including Bloomberg, NBC, Fox and ABC for her brain-based commentary on current events.

Eric Maddox was a rookie interrogator in 2003 when he was assigned to a Delta Force team in Tikrit, Iraq. Over a period of 5 months, Staff Sergeant Maddox would conduct over 300 interrogations and collect the intelligence which directly led to the capture of Saddam Hussein. For that, he was awarded the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Director’s Award, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star.

In 2004, Eric left the enlisted ranks of the military and was hired as the first ever civilian interrogator for the Defense Intelligence Agency. During his 15 years as an interrogator for the U.S. Army and D.I.A., he deployed 8 times, to include multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and has conducted over 2700 interrogations of prisoners from 25 different countries. He now lives in his hometown outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a speaker, private negotiator and listening expert.

Chip R. Bell is founder and senior partner with The Chip Bell Group and manages their office near Atlanta. A renowned keynote speaker, his consulting firm focuses on helping organizations create a culture that supports long-term customer loyalty and service innovation. Prior to starting CBG in the ‘80’s, he was Director of Management and Organization Development for NCNB (now Bank of America). Dr. Bell holds graduate degrees from Vanderbilt University and the George Washington University. Additionally, he was a highly decorated infantry unit commander in Vietnam with the elite 82nd Airborne and a guerilla tactics instructor at the Army Infantry School.

Chip is the author or co-author of several national and international best- selling books including The 9 1⁄2 Principles of Innovative Service, Sprinkles: Creating Awesome Experiences Through Innovative Service, Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers, Wired and Dangerous: How Your Customers Have Changed and What to do about it (winner of a 2012 Axiom Business Book Award as well as a 2011 IPPY Book Award), Magnetic Service (winner of the Benjamin Franklin Book Award), Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service and Managers as Mentors. His newest book is Kaleidoscope: Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles.

He has appeared on CNBC, CNN, ABC, Fox Business Network, Bloomberg TV, NPR; his work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, USA Today, Inc. Magazine, CEO Magazine, Fast Company and Businessweek. For the last three straight years, Global Gurus has ranked him among the top three keynote speakers in the world on customer service—two years in the #1 slot. The Chip Bell Group was in 2014 ranked #6 in North America among mid-sized consulting firms for leadership development.

Chip logs over 100,000 miles a year speaking to organizations on long- term customer loyalty and innovative service. He has served as a consultant or trainer to such major brands as GE, Microsoft, USAA, Exxon/Mobil, Cadillac, Duke Energy, KeyBank, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, IBM, Marriott, Fidelity Investments, Caterpillar, True-Value, McDonald’s, Shell Oil, Harley-Davidson, Dole, Universal Studios, Accenture, Lockheed- Martin, Pfizer, Allstate and Verizon Wireless.

As an ex-serviceman, Devon understands the commitment, sense of duty and sacrifices made by those who volunteer to serve. As a private citizen he is cognizant of the fact that the freedoms he enjoys are paid for by the courage and sacrifice of these men and women. As a resulte he has also devoted time to visit the troops serving in the Persian Gulf and around the country. He is the author of the motivational children's book, Yes, I can! and the semi- autobiographical motivational book Keep on Pushing: Hot Lesson From Cool Runnings.