Available to book
Charlie Swearingen
Adversity
Resilience
Growth Mindset
Sterngthen team performance and resilience with Charlie Swearingen, Paralympic athlete and crisis leadership expert. Charlie equips organizations with decision-making strategies and mental toughness frameworks developed through 20+ years in emergency medicine. 2016 Team USA Paralympian and bestselling author trusted by critical care professionals worldwide.
Educator
Self Improvement
Podcast
Blue Light
Mindset
Healthcare
Author
Paralympics
Inspirational
Personal Development
Motivational
Athlete
Charlie Swearingen is a flight paramedic, Paralympian, and clinical educator who teaches others how to turn setbacks into forward momentum.
Born with bilateral limb differences, Charlie's career has been defined by action and adaptability. With over 20 years of experience in emergency medical services, he has flown high-risk medevac missions, including during Hurricane Katrina, competed for Team USA in sitting volleyball at the 2016 Paralympic Games, and founded MeduPros, a company dedicated to training critical care clinicians. He serves on the boards of Chive Charities, Limbs for Life, and EMS Success, and is the author of best-selling medical education books, including Vent Hero.
The years spent in high-pressure environments have shaped Charlie's practical approach to decision-making, resilience, and team performance. As a former corporate educator for one of the world’s largest air medical companies, he understands how to translate frontline experience into actionable strategies for business audiences. Charlie customizes his presentations to each organization's needs, drawing from real scenarios where split-second decisions and teamwork determine outcomes.
Audiences gain concrete tools for reframing failure, building mental toughness under pressure, and creating sustainable systems for balancing competing priorities. His approach combines medical science, athletic discipline, and honest storytelling about what works in changing situations which demand quick thinking.
Book Charlie to equip your team with the mindset, tools, and practical frameworks to turn pressure into progress.
Topics, sessions and talks
Charlie Swearingen challenges the idea that failure is something to avoid and reframes it as evidence of forward motion. Drawing on his journey from flight paramedic to 2016 U.S. Paralympian and author, Charlie explores how missteps, rejection, and setbacks can be compounded into growth. With humor and candor, he offers a practical roadmap for transforming mistakes into momentum and building long-term resilience.
Charlie Swearingen uses the science of oxygen metabolism as an unexpected lens for personal and professional growth. By unpacking oxygen’s role as the final electron acceptor and the barriers it must overcome, he draws sharp parallels to the obstacles people create for themselves. Blending physiology with wit, Charlie reveals how understanding process, friction, and flow can support continuous reinvention and meaningful progress.
Charlie Swearingen explores what it takes to balance high-stakes medicine, elite sport, entrepreneurship, authorship, and philanthropy without burning out. Through stories from medevac flights and the Paralympic stage, he examines discipline, boundaries, and the power of selective yes and strategic no. Audiences gain insight into aligning multiple ambitions while maintaining focus, integrity, and sustainable performance.
Charlie Swearingen brings unique insight from his experiences as a flight paramedic, Paralympian, and educator, offering your team proven strategies for resilience and high performance under pressure. Book Charlie today to empower your organization with the motivation and tools to turn challenges into opportunities.
Featured Projects
often considered together
Cam Awesome
Growth Mindset
Adversity
Resilience
Shanna Adamic
Growth Mindset
Resilience
Adversity
Tara Renze
Emotional Intelligence
Growth Mindset
High Performance
frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email charlie.swearingen@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Charlie's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Charlie Swearingen structures his talks around analogies drawn from emergency medicine and elite sport, using real scenarios from medevac flights and Paralympic competition to illustrate frameworks for resilience, decision-making, and performance under pressure.
Charlie Swearingen speaks on reframing failure as a driver of growth, the science of momentum and reinvention, and balancing high-stakes competing priorities without burnout. He represented Team USA as a 2016 Paralympian in sitting volleyball while maintaining a career as a flight paramedic spanning over twenty years, including medevac operations during Hurricane Katrina.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
Get the right person
Tell us what you’re working on and we’ll match you with the talent your audience won’t stop talking about.
