Available to book
Danelle Umstead
Resilience
Adversity
High Performance
Inspire resilience and high performance with Danelle Umstead, Paralympic medalist and adaptive sports pioneer. Danelle works with corporate and sports audiences to reframe adversity, build trust, and elevate team communication, delivering 3 Paralympic medals and 53 World Cup medals worth of credibility.
Paralympics
Athlete
Motivational
Inspirational
Inspirational Female
Sport
Blind
Winter Sports
After Dinner Sports
International Day of Disability
High Energy
Personal Development
Mindset
After Dinner Speakers
Danelle Umstead is a 3-time Paralympic medalist, motivational speaker, and one of the most accomplished visually impaired alpine ski racers in the world.
Diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa at 13, Danelle lost most of her vision before taking up skiing at 29. It was a decision that transformed her life. Competing as part of the U.S. Ski Team alongside her husband and guide Rob, she has earned 3 Paralympic medals and 53 World Cup medals. In 2018, she became the first blind contestant in the 27-season history of ABC's Dancing With The Stars. In 2010, following her first Paralympic medal win, she was also diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a challenge she met with the same determination that defines her athletic career.
Danelle's story speaks directly to audiences facing their own barriers. Through elite competition navigated entirely on verbal trust, she has lived the principles of communication, resilience, and adaptive problem-solving at speeds exceeding 70 mph. Her keynote "True Vision" draws on vivid, authentic race audio to place audiences inside those moments.
Audiences leave with a refreshed perspective on adversity, a practical understanding of trust-based teamwork, and a belief that their own impossible is within reach.
Danelle brings a rare combination of world-class achievement and hard-won personal resilience to every stage, making her the ideal voice for teams ready to perform under pressure.
Topics, sessions and talks
Danelle Umstead takes audiences onto the slopes at 70 miles per hour, guided only by the voice of her husband Rob. Drawing on authentic audio from her Paralympic medal-winning races, she shares a story of vision loss, grief, and the unexpected discovery of her life's purpose. Audiences explore how trust-based communication, creative problem-solving, and an unshakeable mindset can turn apparent limitation into extraordinary performance.
Danelle Umstead races at 70 mph with no sight, guided entirely by the voice of her husband Rob. In this session, she explores how the communication system she and Rob developed over years of elite competition translates directly to organizational teamwork. She examines what true trust looks like under pressure, how to give and receive critical information in high-stakes moments, and what happens when a team’s communication is precise enough to perform in the dark. Audiences leave with a practical understanding of how elite trust is built, and how to replicate those conditions in any team environment.
In 2018, Danelle Umstead became the first blind contestant in the 27-season history of Dancing with the Stars. In this session, she draws on both that experience and her Paralympic career to explore what it means to show up in spaces that weren’t designed for you and to excel there anyway. Danelle connects lessons from sport, dance, and disability advocacy to help audiences build the courage to step into uncertainty, embrace radical adaptability, and bring their full capability to every challenge they face.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email danelle.umstead@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 Danelle'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.
Danelle Umstead uses authentic audio recordings from her Paralympic races to place audiences inside the experience of competing at 70 mph without sight, grounding her narrative in a concrete, sensory moment before drawing out principles of trust-based communication and adaptive problem-solving.
Danelle Umstead speaks on trust-based communication and teamwork, adaptive performance under pressure, and redefining possibility in the face of disability and adversity. She is a three-time Paralympic medalist with 53 World Cup medals, who in 2018 became the first blind contestant in the 27-season history of Dancing with the Stars.
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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.
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