Biography

Erik Wahl is an internationally recognized graffiti artist, author and entrepreneur, Erik redefines the term “keynote speaker.” Pulling from his history as both a businessman and an artist, he has grown to become one of the most sought-after corporate speakers available today. Erik’s on-stage painting seamlessly becomes a visual metaphor to the core of his message, encouraging organizations toward profitability through innovations and superior levels of performance. His list of clients includes AT&T, Disney, London School of Business, Microsoft, FedEx, Exxon Mobil, Ernst & Young, and XPrize; Erik has even been featured as a TED presenter. The responses received have been nothing short of incredible, with standing ovations to prove it.

Erik’s understanding of vision was originally born in the school of disappointment. After a eight-year career as a partner in a corporate firm, he became frustrated by the lack of innovative thought and corresponding profits he saw in business. So he set out to challenge companies to change their way of thinking, while simultaneously pursuing his own individual passions. He rediscovered his love for art, and now plays in the business world by workingthrough his art.

In the past 10 years, he has shared his incredible message with the largest and most influential companies in the world, leaving behind his prized artwork as a reminder of his passion for breakthrough thinking. He’s the Warhol of Wall Street, the Renoir of ROI, the Picasso of Productivity, the Jobs of… well, having a Job.

He is Erik Wahl: graffiti artist, author, entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Speech Topics

Only the dreamers who do and doers who dream will survive and thrive in the new world. If you are not thinking about disruption, complexity and continual innovation in your industry, then we’ve got news for you: You are ignoring a perilous gaping void, and if you don’t fill it, someone else will.

Technology and culture are in a state of continual flux, and today’s business demands an environment where innovation is not only welcomed, but required. So how can you keep up and instill a disciplined approach to innovation?

Erik Wahl, bestselling author, artist and one of the nation’s most in-demand keynote speakers. His new book and presentation, THE SPARK AND THE GRIND: IGNITE THE POWER OF DISCIPLINED CREATIVITY presents the yin and the yang of the creative process: How to create and maintain the flow of ideas, and how to execute them. The world is filled with dreamers and doers—but the only way things happen are when dreamers muster the mental tenacity and hard work, and when doers harness their innate creativity and flexibility.

 Erik’s dynamic presentation explores the process of creativity and creation. Audiences are inspired to laughter, tears and always leave with a desire to unearth more meaning in their work and their lives, and the tools to find it.

In THE SPARK AND THE GRIND keynote, Erik:

• Deconstructs the process and discipline necessary to realize the visions of master creators such as Isaac Newton, Thomas Edison and Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Delves into the science of innovation, and how to tap it for your own purposes
• Drives home the importance of creative culture, regardless of industry, and how to harness it for individual and collective success.

The Art Of Vision®

The best sustainable edge in business is the ability to differentiate yourself from your competition. Through this entertaining and highly practical program, we will uncover new ways to make your organization more creative, innovative and profitable, but more so, help your employees see the need to become better storytellers within and for your company and industry.

By embracing innovative strategies, professionals at all levels can achieve superior levels of performance, by creatively and visibly differentiating themselves from the competition. No matter what kind of organization you have—from a small company to a large corporation—employees at all levels will better able to embrace the future by becoming more innovative, more productive and ultimately more profitable.

Organizational Excellence

• Differentiation, Differentiation, Differentiation
• Telling a Better Story
• Outthinking the Competition

Embracing Change

• Working Smarter, Not Harder
• Sustaining Excellence in a Changing Economy
• Leveraging Chaos to Capitalize on Opportunities

The Art of Leadership

As the business landscape continues to change, Leaders need to stay ahead of the game by fostering a steady stream of disruptive strategies and unexpected solutions to revive stagnant markets or completely reinvent the competitive dynamics of an industry. Disruptive thinking requires a culture of innovative leadership which can provide the framework and motivation to generate those strategies and execute those solutions. It is an essential skill for any business leader, from a small start-up to a global corporation, with the desire to transform organizational processes and behaviors

To thrive in this new era, organizations and institutions, executives and entrepreneurs need to rethink the habits that have made them successful in the past, and challenge the conventional wisdom and industry models that have defined their world. Through The Art of Leadership, Erik Wahl will make business leaders wonder, “Why haven’t we ever thought about our business and culture this way before?

Leadership

• Creates Emotional Connections to drive future discretionary effort
• Creates a Culture of Commitment
• Creates innovative process and productivity

UNthink™

UNthink is the signature keynote experience from Erik’s bestselling book. It is dynamic multi media keynote experience specifically designed to challenge audiences to achieve superior levels of performance. It will inspire them to let go of their traditional thought patterns and better understand how to create disruptive strategies of innovation. Creativity is in all of us. We simply need to rediscover the keys that will unlock our untapped potential. Somehow we’ve come to believe that creativity is reserved for the chosen few- the poets, the painters, the writers. The truth is bigger and better than that. Creativity is in all of us. We simply need to rediscover the keys that will unlock our potential. UNthink is the keynote experience that will push members of your organization beyond their traditional thought patterns and habitual levels of performance. UNthink will inspire audiences to realize they are capable of so much more than they have been led to believe.

The UNthink program helps reframe your organization’s thinking so that new creative actions become possible. Learning how to UNthink will inject your daily grind with new passion, allowing employees to see how the organization wants and needs all of their talents and energies, not just the ones they’ve been using so far. You’ll begin the process of rethinking your life as a blank canvas of limitless opportunity on which to create your masterpiece.

This program will allow your organization to:

• Step outside convention to discover new and unexpected solutions to business challenges
• Challenge pre-conceived notions about what’s possible
• UNthink your way to increased creativity, productivity and passion