Biography

Robyn Benincasa is the founder of World Class Teams, a world champion adventure racer, a CNN Hero, former corporate sales expert and a full time firefighter who advises organizations on building World Class Teams of their own. One of the highest rated female speakers who regularly shares the stage with world leaders and business icons, her customers include many Fortune companies like Starbucks, Deloitte, Aflac, Fast Company, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, ARAMARK, Siemens, 3M, Coldwell Banker, Ameriprise, Microsoft, AT&T. With a background in marketing, she was previously in corporate sales with Baxter and Allergan and is currently a full-time firefighter. World Champion Eco-Challenge Adventure Racer, CNN Hero, Founder of the Project Athena Foundation (Survivors to Athletes!), 3x Guinness World Record Distance Paddler and proud owner of 2 metal ‘bionic hips’, Robyn definitely knows a thing or two about creating Human Synergy – “that magic that allows groups of ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things together.” Her New York Times best-selling book How Winning Works, published by Harlequin has been reviewed as “an excellent resource for all business owners on approaching challenges with a team mentality.”

For the last 20 years, she and her teammates have been competing at the front of the pack in the most unique and compelling classrooms on earth – the jungles of Borneo, the Himalayan peaks of Tibet, the rivers of Fiji, the rainforests of Ecuador and the desert of Namibia – studying the good, the bad, and the not-so-pretty in extreme teamwork and mastering the skills required to inspire a group of semi-exhausted people through a seemingly endless series of checkpoints, in pursuit of a seemingly impossible goal, working against crazy deadlines, in constantly changing conditions and all in pursuit of a huge hairy audacious goal. Sounds a lot like your life as a business leader, right?

It is through these harrowing, life affirming and often hilarious experiences in the world’s most grueling challenges that she has emerged with her refreshing and truly unique perspective on what it takes to build the kind of World Class Teams that succeed against all odds, that triumph in the face of adversity and that win as one in times of great challenge and change. Whether you’re trying to beat the competition to market, scale a looming mountain of a project  or simply get your team all marching in the same direction, Robyn’s 8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy will coach you to the finish line of success.

NBC, ABC, CNN, ESPN, USA Network, The Today Show, Live With Regis, Dateline NBC, The Discovery Channel, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Runners World and Outside Magazine have all featured Robyn and her teams’ amazing accomplishments. And Robyn accepts full blame for inspiring people to do insane things like climb Mount Kilimanjaro, run their first triathlon, start their own adventure racing teams, hike across the Grand Canyon with a group of Survivors, or start their own businesses.

This is, after all, who she is and what she does: Robyn Benincasa inspires people to grab life with one hand, grab their teammates with the other, and to create that special magic that makes all of us better together than we ever would have been alone!

Speech Topics

Building World Class Teams: The 8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy

What do the world’s most successful teams have in common? — If your goal is to increase performance by inspiring your team to adapt, overcome, and win as ONE, this keynote is the perfect message to set the tone for your event.

Robyn Benincasa takes your team on a fast-paced multimedia adventure which visually and viscerally imparts the attitude and mindset that allows groups of ordinary people to accomplish truly extraordinary feats together… especially when the stakes are high, the goals are audacious, and constant change is the only thing your team can count on (aside from one another!).

During her “8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy” keynote, this World Champion Adventure Racer, CNN Hero and San Diego Firefighter has attendees buzzing with inspired ideas about how to raise their team to the next level (against all odds), both personally and professionally. And your team will take home simple and easily applied skills that allow them to create Human Synergy with all of the teammates in their lives.

There is an old proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” The epic, entertaining and meaningful stories and videos shared in Robyn’s “Building World Class Teams” keynote leaves your team with a deep understanding: with true Human Synergy they will go farther AND faster in pursuit of their goals!

The 8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy

• Total commitment
• Empathy and Awareness
• Adversity Management
• Mutual Respect
• ‘We’ Thinking
• Ownership of the Project
• Relinquishment of Ego
• Kinetic Leadership

Leading Through Change

Change is the only thing that stays the same. It is our response to that change that dictates our success. How do
the world’s most consistently high performing leaders ALWAYS find a way to get their teammates to the finish line and achieve their goals against all odds? Are they lucky, blessed or immune to setbacks? Nope. Great leaders experience times of great turbulence, challenge and change in every aspect of their lives–but it is their attitude and mindset that carries them and their teammates to greater heights in the FACE of that change.

Leading through Change means Being Ruled by the Hope of Success versus the Fear of Failure, Embracing Setbacks as a Chance to Learn and Excel, and Never Letting the Pursuit of Perfection Hinder Progress. In her Leading Through Change keynote, Robyn shares incredible stories and videos from the worlds of Adventure Racing and Firefighting that illustrate how great leaders succeed against all odds and triumph in the face of adversity.

Robyn’s stories and meaningful messages will not only entertain and amaze…your attendees will walk away with some easily applied leadership skills that will help them shatter the norm, see challenges versus roadblocks, and inspire their teammates to once again see a future full of possibilities…

Why Winners Win

Inspired by a Fast Company Magazine article entitled ‘Extreme Teamwork,’ which featured Robyn’s team of World Champion adventure athletes as well as “Winners” from all walks of life, Robyn’s ‘Why Winners Win’ keynote outlines the common traits, attitudes and mindset of the world’s most consistently high performing leaders in their eternal pursuit of world class results.

The ‘Best of the Best’ experience times of great challenge and change just like everyone else. But with characteristic Courage, Luck (Opportunity + Preparation), Adversity Management Skills, and a keen ability to create Synergy with their colleagues, Winners possess the ability to continually motivate and inspire themselves and those around them to the top of the podium in any endeavor.

The icing on the cake of the ‘Why Winners Win’ keynote? Attendees will experience the thrill of peak performance and exceptional leadership through Robyn’s incredible stories and breathtaking video footage of extreme teams in action. They will leave energized and empowered to create consistent world-class results in every aspect of their lives