Available to book
Erin Kennedy
Transform team performance with Erin Kennedy OBE, speaker and Paralympic gold medal-winning coxswain. Erin works with organisations to enhance leadership, resilience, and strategic communication, delivering insights from her OBE-recognised career in elite sport and cancer advocacy. Two-time Paralympic gold medallist who has been undefeated since 2010.
Erin Kennedy OBE is one of Great Britain's most decorated coxswains, a two-time Paralympic champion, and a Guinness World Record holder. Erin is known for her leadership at the highest level of international sport and her openness in sharing lessons from elite performance and personal adversity. Erin trains full time as a coxswain with the GB Rowing Team and has made history as the first coxswain to simultaneously hold Paralympic, World, European, and World Record titles.
Competing across both Olympic and Paralympic pathways, she is best known for steering the Mixed Coxed Four to sustained international dominance, including gold medals at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, extending Great Britain's long-standing winning streak in the event. In 2022, Erin was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer while competing internationally. She continued to race during treatment, later returning to full competition following chemotherapy and a double mastectomy, documenting her journey to raise awareness among young women.
Her story has been covered by major UK broadcasters and international media, including CNN, NBC, and the Olympic Channel. Alongside her sporting achievements, Erin was awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours and an OBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to rowing and breast cancer awareness. Erin delivers keynote talks, workshops, school engagements, and mentorship programmes for corporate, public sector, sporting, and educational audiences, and has worked with organisations ranging from the British Army to the NHS, Parliament, and with leading brands. Her presentations translate lessons from high-performance sport into insights on leadership, teamwork, and resilience. Audiences learn practical strategies for leadership under pressure, effective communication in high-stakes environments, and reframing challenges into opportunities.
Book Erin to bring world-class performance insight, resilience, and leadership experience to your organisation.
Topics, sessions and talks
Erin Kennedy OBE explores leadership from the unique perspective of a coxswain, where responsibility, decision-making, and accountability converge under extreme pressure. Drawing on Paralympic competition and years within elite British rowing, she examines different leadership styles, when to lead from the front or the background, and how trust is built within teams. The session connects high performance sport with organisational leadership, offering practical insight into leading people through uncertainty and high-stakes environments.
As the voice of the boat, Erin Kennedy OBE demonstrates how precise, calm communication can determine success or failure in elite sport. Using real race scenarios and training environments, she breaks down how clarity, tone, and timing influence performance, particularly under stress. Her approach highlights listening as much as speaking, and shows how strong communication cultures improve decision-making, reduce error, and strengthen trust across teams in fast-paced professional settings.
Erin Kennedy OBE centres teamwork on individuals first, showing how collective success depends on understanding strengths, pressures, and shared responsibility. Drawing on her experience steering world championship and Paralympic crews, she explores how alignment, role clarity, and mutual accountability drive sustained performance. The session translates elite sporting principles into practical frameworks for teams navigating complexity, change, and high expectations across business, military, and public sector environments.
Erin Kennedy OBE shares an honest account of resilience shaped by elite sport and a breast cancer diagnosis during her competitive career. She focuses on reframing challenges, managing setbacks, and maintaining purpose through uncertainty. Blending personal experience with high-performance psychology, Erin demonstrates how resilience is built daily, not reserved for crisis, and how perspective, adaptability, and mindset can support both personal wellbeing and professional effectiveness.
Operating at the top of international sport requires constant reflection, adjustment, and focus. Erin Kennedy OBE examines how effective goal setting goes beyond ambition to include energy management, recovery, and long-term sustainability. Drawing on her journey to multiple Paralympic titles, she outlines how to set meaningful goals, measure progress honestly, and remain motivated once success is achieved, offering insight that resonates with high performers across sectors.
Erin Kennedy OBE delivers extraordinary insights on peak performance and resilience, drawing from her unique experience of winning Paralympic gold just 19 months after cancer treatment whilst maintaining an unbeaten competitive record since 2010. Her practical leadership strategies and tools for thriving under extreme pressure will transform how your team approaches challenges and achieves breakthrough results. Secure Erin now to unlock your organisation's potential for excellence in the face of adversity.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
To book Erin Kennedy, email erin.kennedy@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 Erin'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.
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.
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