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Transform teams through resilience with Emily Harrington, speaker and elite climber. Emily works with organizations to master strategic risk-taking and breakthrough performance, delivering insights from her groundbreaking El Capitan achievements and five US National Championships.

Trusted by TEDx, SalesForce, The North Face

Emily Harrington
Emily Harrington

Emily Harrington

Los Angeles, United States

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This is an estimated fee range for local in-person events. Location and format affect the final fee.

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Emily Harrington

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Los Angeles, United States

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Emily Harrington's biography

At a glance

  • Five-time US National Sport Climbing Champion
  • First female ascent of multiple 5.14 sport routes
  • Featured in the Red Bull documentary, Girl Climber

Emily Harrington is one of the world's most accomplished professional climbers, combining elite competition success with groundbreaking outdoor achievements including the first female free climb of El Capitan's Golden Gate route in under 24 hours.


As a five-time US National Champion and second-place finisher at the IFSC World Championships, Emily has successfully transitioned from competition climbing to pioneering expeditions. Her remarkable accomplishments include summiting Mount Everest, setting a speed record on Cho Oyu with a complete ski descent, and becoming only the fourth woman to free climb El Capitan in a day.


Emily transforms extreme climbing experiences into practical business insights, helping organizations navigate challenges through lessons in resilience and strategic risk-taking. Her presentations demonstrate how calculated risk assessment, adaptability, and perseverance directly translate to breakthrough performance in professional environments facing uncertainty or significant change.


Audiences leave Emily's talks with concrete strategies for reframing failure as essential feedback, practical approaches to breaking seemingly impossible goals into manageable steps, and techniques for maintaining focus under pressure. Her authentic storytelling resonates with diverse groups from TED stages to corporate boardrooms.


Book Emily to inspire your team with real-world lessons from someone who consistently pushes boundaries while balancing elite performance with purposeful living.

Emily's showreel and videos

Topics, sessions and talks

From El Capitan to Everest: Lessons in Risk and Resilience

Emily Harrington has spent her life testing the boundaries of human endurance, from world championship climbing walls to the vertical expanse of El Capitan and the summits of the highest mountains on earth. Emily reflects on the risks, failures and triumphs that shaped her journey, including her history-making ascent of Golden Gate. With honesty and humour, she shares how resilience, adaptability and perspective can transform daunting challenges into opportunities for growth and achievement.

Why we recommend booking Emily

Emily Harrington transforms extreme climbing achievements into practical business insights, helping organizations navigate challenges through powerful lessons in resilience and strategic risk-taking. Book this five-time US National Champion and Everest summiteer to equip your team with concrete strategies for reframing failure, breaking down impossible goals, and maintaining focus under pressure.

Check Emily's availability

Trusted by TEDx, SalesForce, The North Face

Testimonials

Whether you are an aspiring athlete, an entrepreneur, a CEO or simply someone looking to feel inspired, you will first be amazed at Emily Harrington's global achievements and then immediately motivated through her relatable storytelling of adventure, vulnerability, strength, passion, perseverance through failure and the lessons we can all use in our lives to be more in line with our purpose.

Robin D.

TEDx

Emily paints a picture of trust, vulnerability, risk-taking, and curiosity. It is remarkable to hear her speak of experiences that are out of reach for so many but relatable for all.

SalesForce

Emily stands and delivers with real passion and humanity. When you hear her speak, you can tell it is coming from the heart. Her authenticity and humanity lend a depth to her message and leave you inspired. It is remarkable to see someone so physically strong be so vulnerable.

Tom H.

Global VP of Marketing, The North Face

Featured Projects

Emily Harrington - Girl Climber book cover
Emily Harrington - The Edge Of The Earth documentary cover
Emily Harrington - Dangerstik TV cover

frequently asked questions

Something we've not covered here?

How do I book Emily Harrington for my next event?

To book Emily Harrington, email emily.harrington@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 Emily's availability and speaking fee. 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 about your audience.

What is Emily Harrington's speaking style like?

Emily Harrington draws on first-person accounts of documented climbing expeditions — including her history-making free climb of El Capitan's Golden Gate route — to extract transferable frameworks around risk assessment, failure analysis, and goal sequencing for professional audiences.

What topics does Emily Harrington specialise in?

Emily Harrington speaks on risk and resilience, high performance under pressure, and translating extreme challenge into professional growth. She is a five-time US National Sport Climbing Champion who became the first woman to free climb El Capitan's Golden Gate route in under 24 hours.

Does PepTalk charge a booking fee?

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.

What happens after I send a brief?

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.

What does the typical fee range mean?

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.

Have all the speakers on the website worked with PepTalk before?

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.

How far in advance should I book a speaker?

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.