Wendy Booker Speaker Biography
Author, Speaker, Mountain Climber, Marathoner, and
Adventurer with Multiple Sclerosis
Wendy Booker is on an amazing journey. Not only has she tackled marathons, mountains and ice… she’s doing it with multiple sclerosis.
Multiple Sclerosis
Diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS in 1998, Wendy did not consider herself an athlete. She did however know that she was not going to take her diagnosis sitting down – she wanted to fight back! Her real adventure began by a girlfriend’s invitation and challenge to run with her in the Boston Marathon. Wendy ran the marathon and never looked back.
Mountain Climber
Since then she has run twelve marathons, climbed the Seven Summits of the world – attempting Everest twice in the process, mushed to the North Pole and skied to the South Pole – setting records and breaking through barriers all the way.
Iditarod
Always on the lookout for her next great adventure, Wendy has most recently been training with a team of sled dogs in Alaska with plans to someday race in the Iditarod, the Last Great Race, with a burning passion to further get attention on how far treatments for Multiple Sclerosis have come in the last 20 years.
National Ambassador
Wendy has also become a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society sharing her message across the country to the MS community. As her mission and adventures have expanded so has her speaking audience. Wendy now speaks at corporate conferences, schools, universities, fundraisers and athletic events. She ties in her adventures with what it takes to face a challenge be it medical, financial, teamwork, and/or goal setting.
Patient Advocacy
Her message always reminds her audience that serendipity, stubbornness and self-discovery can lead to amazing things and positive outcomes. Wendy is now using her mission to become a voice for the patient as a patient advocate and consultant in the health care, pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
New Altitude
Her first book, New Altitude, was published last year and shares her amazing journey since her diagnosis and the attitude that allows her to live a happy and healthy life despite living with MS.
Inspirational
In 2006 Wendy began volunteering her time in Mr. Cleere’s fourth grade class at The Donald McKay Elementary School in East Boston. Her mission, much like that of her speaking and patient advocacy, is to challenge children to take control of their lives. She uses her climbs of the Seven Summits to teach the class about cultures, community and to think globally about their world.
Philanthropy
In 2008, with the class, Wendy started The Other Side of Everest Educational Foundation. The mission is to connect the children of challenged communities with the children of Nepal who have lost their fathers in climbing accidents. Since 2009 Wendy and Mr. Cleere’s class have raised money in a campaign called “Pennies for Sherpa” sending needy children of the Khumbu Valley, Nepal to school assuring them an education and future.
Mountaineer
Every June Wendy takes the children of The Donald McKay up Mt. Monadnock, a 3000 foot mountain in New Hampshire. For most this is their first time challenging themselves on a mountain. Whatever challenges Wendy undertakes, the mission is always to educate, motivate and challenge anyone facing an obstacle in life to push through and climb on – the view from the top is breathtaking!
Wendy Booker Speaking Topics
I Get By With a Little Help from my Friends
We can’t do it alone. Every great undertaking in life – whether for career, family, or personal achievement – requires teamwork. Wendy Booker will teach your team to value the power of teamwork and leverage connections to accomplish goals. Leadership, healthy collaboration in spite of differences, seeking out expertise through degrees of separation and maintaining a positive attitude are all pillars of this powerful presentation.
The Three S’s
Wendy Booker’s story is about overcoming obstacles, whatever they may be, through a journey of self-discovery, serendipity and stubbornness. Join her in examining the impact that three little S’s have had on her life. Self-discovery: know thyself, find ingenious ways to leverage strengths and the bravery to acknowledge and overcome your challenges. Serendipity: open yourself up to opportunity, destiny, and the random strangers you meet along the way. Stubbornness: sometimes you have to power through or adjust how you measure success to thrive in trying times.
The Other Side of Everest
It’s easy to get stuck in the past – or to allow one monumental goal to eclipse everything else and define your life. How do you move beyond glory days or unattained goals? How can you avoid conceding defeat by uncovering a new approach to a mission? Learn how Wendy Booker faced down the Other Side of Everest after two unsuccessful attempts by shifting her focus from altitude alone, and finding a new way to reach the top of the world: the North Pole. Discover that beautiful moment beyond a disappointment when you embrace a new day and a new mission.
Wendy Booker Books
New Altitude: Beyond Tough Times to the Top of the World
Purchase BookWendy Booker Videos
Wendy Booker Speaker Testimonials
“We are so grateful for your words of inspiration and motivating energy at the National Conference…You really helped our Silpada girls discover that a hero truly does live in each of us.”
- Silpada Designs | Co-Founders
“You were incredible at last week’s luncheon – beyond amazing! I just sang your praises on a networking call for officers throughout the Society. I saw that you connected with everyone in the room and that is not as easy task.”
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society | Director of Development
"Do you want inspiration? Do you want to laugh? Do you want to be challeneged to think about your life differently while laughing? Then listen to Wendy Booker, a woman getting through each day, who figured out that just because you think you have everything, there is more to life when you run into a mountain of challenges, so what do you do? Learn to climb mountains! Wendy Booker should be a speaker to your group, staff, church, business network so you have the chance, as we did, to be positive and look at the world, our lives, our loved ones with new hope. She wowed us at the 7th Annual Conference in Fall 2013 and we still are speaking about her presentation."
- | Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann
“Wendy Booker captivated the audience with her incredible story of overcoming the odds with hard work, determination, grace and a whole lot of humor. I highly recommend her if you are looking for a speaker to entertain and motivate your audience.”
- | Meeting Professionals International