ALISON'S SPEAKING TOPICS
Discover how to
hike your own hike
Alison Young is a resilience speaker who uses her global hiking experiences and captivating storytelling to inspire and lead individuals and teams to embrace challenges, reinvent themselves, and harness adversity for growth.
Watch Alison in Action
“Alison Young struck a wonderful balance of allowing us to participate and experience her presentation and presenting us with concrete ideas, theories, and strategies to apply. Her activities were well chosen and tightly knit with her content in tangible ways. Alison, thank you for your enthusiasm, vulnerability, and expertise!”
JAY ZARR | PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Hike Your Own Hike
the fine art of reinvention
Transitions are hard.
Whether we like it or not, failures, setbacks, and ‘cosmic rip-offs’ happen and when they do, they can leave us feeling ungrounded, like we missed a waypoint and are walking the wrong trail.
Yet oftentimes, these moments are opportunities disguised as loss, opening us up to alternative paths on our life journey.
Alison Young is an expert at reinvention.
With a variety of identities from world-class professional musician to syndicated radio host to professional backpacker walking over 12,000 miles on six continents, she is uniquely positioned to speak on the subject.
Drawing from over 12,000 miles hiked across six continents, Alison offers a unique perspective on overcoming life’s obstacles with strength and determination, making her an ideal fit for organizations seeking powerful lessons in resilience.
Educational outcomes:
- Understand how the dark, difficult moments can be tools for empowerment.
- Explore 3 ways risk-taking builds resilience.
- Shift the thinking surrounding regrets to motivate change.
Ideal for:
- Leaders at the crossroads in their careers needing motivation to change.
- Teams undergoing restructuring and changes in mission.
- Organizations ready to pivot the potentials of their teams.
Quit with Grit
intentionally letting go as a key to success
So many of us know the “secret to success” mantra – quitters don’t win and winners don’t quit – but sometimes, quitting is exactly the right course of action
In fact, quit and grit are two sides of the same coin. Developing the skills to know when to say “no” can open us up to better opportunities to explore more, do more, and find the right things worth sticking to.
As a long-distance backpacker, Alison Young shares her adventure experiences oftentimes in life-threatening situations, where understanding the biases and blocks to quitting helped her find more success and deeper gratification on and off the trail.
Educational outcomes:
- Identify 5 biases that block intentional quitting.
- Explore the mindset of setting flexible goals to manage uncertain outcomes.
- Discover how getting to ‘no’ faster is a powerful skill.
Ideal for:
- Leaders who want to develop teams that are more resilient.
- Teams developing discernment skills and flexible goals.
- Organizations ready to maximize the potentials of their teams.
"Take a Zero!"
how your off-hours can fuel your work-hours
Pioneering psychologist Carl Jung said, “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by play.”
What we do during our free time can significantly impact our success at work. Pursuing hobbies, sports, or even simply changing our surroundings can have powerful effects on our mental and physical well-being, boosting our flexibility, problem-solving skills as well as resilience in the workplace.
Educational outcomes:
- Discover the science behind how movement enhances learning
- Learn how engaging both hemispheres of the brain fosters resilience
- Explore the power of rest and the benefits of letting your mind wander
Ideal for:
- Leaders who want to bring more spontaneity to problem solving.
- Teams who want to be more innovative but don’t know how.
- Organizations that want their teams to think differently.
At the Speed of Andante
capturing the creative muse
Andante (on-DON-tay) is a musical term that means “at a moderate walking speed.”
Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Bach are just a few of the classical composers who walked in natural settings to capture their muse and compose some of the most enduring music ever written.
What they discovered intuitively was that walking is not separate from creativity – it’s largely responsible for creativity.
Composers and other artists may not have known why walking worked, but there’s scientific evidence to back it up.
This came as welcome news to Alison Young who lives a dual life as a professional musician and long distance backpacker. She shares her enthusiasm for the intersection of classical music and walking as well as ways to tap into your own creativity.
Educational outcomes:
- Learn about “impact retrograde” and the power of slow walking.
- Find out how forests feed the mind.
- Discover how to enhance your own creativity.
Ideal for:
- Leaders who want to become more creativity and solve problems.
- Teams who want to be more innovative but don’t know how.
- Organizations that want their teams to think differently.
Hike Your Own Hike
the fine art of reinvention
the fine art of reinvention
Transitions are hard.
Whether we like it or not, failures, setbacks, and ‘cosmic rip-offs’ happen and when they do, they can leave us feeling ungrounded, like we missed a waypoint and are walking the wrong trail.
Yet oftentimes, these moments are opportunities disguised as loss, opening us up to alternative paths on our life journey.
Alison Young is an expert at reinvention.
With a variety of identities from world-class professional musician to syndicated radio host to professional backpacker walking over 12,000 miles on six continents, she is uniquely positioned to speak on the subject.
Using hiking – plus spectacular images – as the setting, Alison is the guide to harnessing powerful emotions for positive action as well as visualizing a wider path and making the mental shift needed for success.
Educational outcomes:
- Understand how the dark, difficult moments can be tools for empowerment.
- Explore 3 ways risk-taking builds resilience.
- Shift the thinking surrounding regrets to motivate change.
Ideal for:
- Leaders at the crossroads in their careers needing motivation to change.
- Teams undergoing restructuring and changes in mission.
- Organizations ready to pivot the potentials of their teams.
Quit with Grit
intentionally letting go as a key to success
intentionally letting go
as a key to success
So many of us know the “secret to success” mantra – quitters don’t win and winners don’t quit – but sometimes, quitting is exactly the right course of action
In fact, quit and grit are two sides of the same coin. Developing the skills to know when to say “no” can open us up to better opportunities to explore more, do more, and find the right things worth sticking to.
As a long-distance backpacker, Alison Young shares her adventure experiences oftentimes in life-threatening situations, where understanding the biases and blocks to quitting helped her find more success and deeper gratification on and off the trail.
Educational outcomes:
- Identify 5 biases that block intentional quitting.
- Explore the mindset of setting flexible goals to manage uncertain outcomes.
- Discover how getting to ‘no’ faster is a powerful skill.
Ideal for:
- Leaders who want to develop teams that are more resilient.
- Teams developing discernment skills and flexible goals.
- Organizations ready to maximize the potentials of their teams.
"Take a Zero!"
"Take a Zero!"
how your off-hours can fuel your work-hours
how your off-hours can fuel your work-hours
Pioneering psychologist Carl Jung said, “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by play.”
What we do during our free time can significantly impact our success at work. Pursuing hobbies, sports, or even simply changing our surroundings can have powerful effects on our mental and physical well-being, boosting our flexibility, problem-solving skills as well as resilience in the workplace.
Educational outcomes:
- Discover the science behind how movement enhances learning
- Learn how engaging both hemispheres of the brain fosters resilience
- Explore the power of rest and the benefits of letting your mind wander
Ideal for:
- Leaders who want to bring more spontaneity to problem solving.
- Teams who want to be more innovative but don’t know how.
- Organizations that want their teams to think differently.
At the Speed of Andante
At the Speed
of
Andante
capturing the creative muse
capturing the creative muse
Andante (on-DON-tay) is a musical term that means “at a moderate walking speed.”
Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Bach are just a few of the classical composers who walked in natural settings to capture their muse and compose some of the most enduring music ever written.
What they discovered intuitively was that walking is not separate from creativity – it’s largely responsible for creativity.
Composers and other artists may not have known why walking worked, but there’s scientific evidence to back it up.
This came as welcome news to Alison Young who lives a dual life as a professional musician and long distance backpacker. She shares her enthusiasm for the intersection of classical music and walking as well as ways to tap into your own creativity.
Educational outcomes:
- Learn about “impact retrograde” and the power of slow walking.
- Find out how forests feed the mind.
- Discover how to enhance your own creativity.
Ideal for:
- Leaders who want to become more creativity and solve problems.
- Teams who want to be more innovative but don’t know how.
- Organizations that want their teams to think differently.
“One of the many things I appreciate in prepping with a quality public speaker is their willingness to lay out on the table all the potential elements of a talk, wade through everything with energy, and come out the other side with a cohesive, thoughtful structure and story that becomes their talk. Alison does this excellently. While everyone has their own prep style, I believe this approach shows a willingness to think about the audience which ultimately translates to connecting to them in a meaningful way. Alison shared her story with emotion, tension, humor, and love. I’d definitely recommend working with her if you want your audience to experience the same.”
Drew Gneiser | Host of CreativeMornings/Minneapolis
