Mark Agnew Keynote Speaker

Sports & Adventure Editor at the South China Morning Post
Inspirational speaker on bouncing back from failure
Part of the team seeking to become the first to row the Northwest Passage

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Mark Agnew's Biography

Mark Agnew is the Outdoor & Extreme sports editor for the South China Morning Post. Mark is an experienced adventurer whose expeditions include London to Mongolia, rowing through the Indonesian archipelago, and running ultra-marathons in uninhabited corners of Asia. In July 2023, Mark will be part of a team attempting to become the first people to kayak the Northwest Passage; the Arctic route that links the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Ocean rowing has defined Mark’s life. Two attempts to row across the Atlantic have come up short as technical issues have forced him to abandon ship. When Mark first failed to row across the Atlantic, he thought his dream had come to an end. The story was splashed across the British tabloids and his bank account was empty. But the saga opened up further opportunities in adventure sports and landed him his dream job at the South China Morning Post.

Mark was distraught after his second Atlantic crossing was dashed by powers beyond his control. It sent him into a mental health spiral. It forced him to re-examine why he embarks on these adventures and to focus on the importance of intrinsic motivation.

Mark hosts afternoon workshops that give your team an immersive, activity based, session.

Mark Agnew's Speaking Topics

• Building resilience

• Bouncing back from failure

• Team cohesion

• The power of intrinsic values of extrinsic forces

• Achieving your goals with multidimensional motivations

Exploring Motivations and Resilience | Mark Agnew | TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh

Comments & Testimonials

Mark’s mix of honesty, humour, success, and failure made him an instant selection as a professional speaker, fit for the specific purpose we had in mind. Mark enables true adventure to be relatable to the day to day working life of corporate employees by his engaging storytelling and transparent approach to articulate his trials and tribulations. I’d highly recommend Mark for your event or professional speaking needs, easy to work with, great content and a fast turnaround time. Exactly what we were looking for!

Craig Clarke Senior Manager, UKIMESA Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Mark joined us on our team “away day” to tell us about his past and upcoming rowing expeditions. The way he engaged the team in his story and made us think about the way our team works going forward was really inspiring. Mark seamlessly brought our company behaviours in to his presentation to deliver his message in a very relevant manner. A true pleasure to work with.

Calum Rankine Senior Data Analyst, Heineken

Mark delivered a very engaging and inspiring talk to our sales team. He had the ability to entertain and keep the audience gripped, while at the same time sharing some quite personal and emotional insights. His misadventures were funny and his determination to keep going were heart-warming. His research into the psychology of human behaviour was fascinating, especially when talking about teamwork and affability versus performance.

Rachel Day Marketing Great Britain, Bosch Rexroth

It was an absolute pleasure to have Mark come and talk to our GP trainee group. As well as him being very responsive to our communications, his talk was inspiring, engaging, entertaining and poignant. We shared in the highs and lows of his experiences as an adventurer, and along the way learnt that even what might be considered a failure has value for learning and personal growth. I would highly recommend Mark.

Debra Harper GP Training Programme Director, NHS