International Day of Disability
- 4x Paralympian in track and field and 5x world record holder
- Award winning TV broadcaster and sports host
- Executive coach with 20+ years in performance science
Stef Reid is a Paralympian, broadcaster, and performance expert who helps people bend without breaking, showing leaders and teams how to develop the mindset needed to adapt, perform under pressure, and succeed through change.
A four-time Paralympian, triple Paralympic medallist, world champion, and five-time world record holder, Stef competed at the highest level of international sport for nearly two decades. Following a boating accident at 15 that resulted in the amputation of her right foot, she rebuilt her athletic career and went on to represent both Canada and Team GB. Alongside her sporting achievements, she holds a degree in biochemistry, has appeared on Dancing on Ice and BBC2's Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps, and serves in leadership and ambassadorial roles across sport and charity.
Stef combines lived experience with more than twenty years of studying the science and psychology of sustained success. Drawing on lessons from elite sport, behavioural science, and personal reinvention, she helps organisations understand how people respond to uncertainty, recover from setbacks, and maintain performance when conditions change. Her Adaptive Mindset Framework translates these ideas into practical strategies that teams can apply immediately.
Audiences to Stef's sessions leave with a clearer understanding of resilience, confidence, habit formation, and high performance. They gain practical tools for navigating change, managing pressure, strengthening wellbeing, and building cultures where people can thrive over the long term.
Book Stef Reid for a grounded, practical perspective on turning challenge into sustained performance.
Stef's showreel and videos
Topics, sessions and talks
How To Bend Without Breaking: The Adaptive Mindset That Bites Back
Pressure is constant. Plans fall apart. What separates teams that thrive from those that stall is not the quality of the strategy; it is the quality of the mindset behind it. Drawing on eighteen years of elite Paralympic competition and two decades studying the science of performance, Stef Reid introduces her Adaptive Mindset Framework: a practical approach to spotting opportunities others miss, building the confidence to take calculated risks, and learning to operate with clarity and control through uncertainty. Audiences leave with a way of thinking that holds long after the applause fades.
Breakout Session: Creating Habits That Last
Motivation is not the secret to change; habits are. Stef Reid draws on behavioural science and the discipline of elite sport to show audiences why relying on willpower alone is a losing strategy, and how to build behaviours so well-embedded that they no longer require conscious effort. The session provides a practical system for reprogramming daily routines, giving audiences a clear process for identifying the habits they want, designing the conditions for them to stick, and measuring progress along the way.
Breakout Session: Confidence With A Side Of Imposter Syndrome
High performers are not born confident. They are people who have learned to act before they feel ready, take on challenges beyond their current capability, and trust they will figure it out along the way. Stef Reid breaks confidence down from a vague personality trait into a series of concrete, learnable behaviours — ones that anyone can practise. The session shows audiences how building tolerance for risk and uncertainty is the real engine of growth, and how experience earned this way quickly outpaces natural talent.
Breakout Session: How To Speak So People Will Listen
Most people think about communication in terms of what they say. Stef Reid challenges that assumption, arguing that effective communication also means taking responsibility for what the other person actually hears. Drawing on experience speaking to diverse audiences across cultures and contexts, Stef unpacks the gap between intention and impact, and gives audiences practical techniques to close it. The session leaves people with a clearer understanding of how to tailor their message so that it lands.
Breakout Session: How to Get the Most Out of Your Body
In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, the quality of human presence — energy, thinking, perspective — is becoming a genuine competitive advantage. Stef Reid shares the high-performance habits she carried beyond elite sport: the daily routines and physical practices that kept her performing at the highest level for nearly two decades, and how they translate to any professional context. The session makes the case that taking care of the body is not a wellness indulgence; it is a performance strategy, and one that compounds.
Why we recommend booking Stef
Stef's track record, including 3 Paralympic medals, 5 world records, and clients like Google, McLaren, BP, and Bloomberg, gives her genuine authority on high performance under pressure. She pairs that credibility with her Adaptive Mindset Framework, which means organisations get practical tools in addition to a very inspirational story.
Stef's keynote was so moving and inspiring! We went from tears to laughter and in the end, what we remember is: thanks to the adaptive mindset, whatever the circumstances, you can achieve what you want. We feel much more empowered now, harnessing the power of the adaptive mindset in our daily personal and professional lives!
Marc De Martini
Vice President Europe, Medtronic
I first heard Stef’s story on the High Performance Podcast. I was listening with my children in the back of the car and I noticed how quiet the car had become as they listened transfixed to her story. That doesn’t happen very often. So we decided to invite Stef to our annual conference to share her story with all of our leadership team. She had the same effect – you could have heard a pin drop as Stef told her story and the impact of her messages sunk in for our leaders. Stef has a unique stage presence of warmth, humility, kindness, and humour mixed with a steely determination. She got fantastic feedback from our Top 500 leaders who all took away key messages around resilience and perspective and never giving up no matter what the challenge ahead. I’d highly recommend!
Andy Moat
People Director, B&Q
I wanted to pass on my thanks again for your speech yesterday. You could hear a pin drop in the room throughout and, whilst as the organiser I’m always thinking and planning for the following sessions, I caught myself becoming totally engrossed! I particularly loved the Dancing on Ice story and video. The feedback we’ve had so far has been excellent and the thoughts and lessons you gave were the topic of many conversations later in the day.
Senior Learning and Development Partner, Formula E
Senior Learning and Development Partner, Formula E
