Ira Blumenthal Speaker Biography
Branding Expert, Marketing Strategist & Business Growth Authority
Ira Blumenthal collects quotations. One of his favorites is: “The true measure of a man is how many lives he can jam into one lifetime.” Ira has certainly done just that. From college football and lacrosse coach to business executive; from consultant to talk-show host; from university instructor to keynote speaker; from author to philanthropist—his career has been as diverse as it has been successful.
Your Best Is Next
In an era defined by disruption, uncertainty, and rapid change, Ira is widely respected for helping organizations and individuals create a brighter future. His signature message, Your Best Is Next, inspires audiences to embrace change, seize opportunity, and position themselves for sustained success. Through practical strategies, compelling stories, and contagious enthusiasm, Ira shows leaders and teams how to move confidently forward—even during challenging times.
Consultant to World-Class Brands
After serving as Chief Marketing Officer of a division of Sara Lee and later as President of a $300 million food company, Ira founded CO-OPPORTUNITIES, an Atlanta-based consulting firm specializing in branding, business development, strategic alliances, customer engagement, and change management. Over the years, he has advised many of the world’s most respected organizations, including Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Kroger, Harrah’s, American Airlines, Disney, United Artists, Exxon, Walmart, and countless others. Notably, Ira remains the longest continually retained consultant in the 134-year history of The Coca-Cola Company, serving as a lead consultant for 26 consecutive years. He is also the recipient of the food industry’s highest honor, the prestigious Key Person Award.
Author, Media Personality and Thought Leader
A prolific writer and communicator, Ira has authored more than 200 published articles and three acclaimed books: Ready, Blame, Fire!, Managing Brand You, and Your Best Is Next. His work has earned widespread recognition, including the George Washington Honor Medal for Literary Excellence from the Freedoms Foundation. Ira’s expertise has been featured by leading media outlets including CNN, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, People Magazine, Brandweek, and numerous business and trade publications. As host of the popular radio talk show Success Talk, he interviewed distinguished leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, and innovators from a wide range of industries.
SuccessTalk
As host of the television talk show SuccessTalk, Ira Blumenthal sat down with an impressive roster of business leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, authors, and public figures to explore the principles behind exceptional achievement. Through candid and insightful conversations, he uncovered the habits, mindsets, leadership lessons, and defining moments that shaped some of the world’s most accomplished individuals. Guests included distinguished military leader General Colin Powell, racing icon Mario Andretti, and numerous other innovators and change-makers whose stories offered valuable lessons in perseverance, leadership, teamwork, and personal growth. Drawing on his own experience as a business strategist and communicator, Ira created engaging discussions that went beyond surface-level interviews, providing audiences with practical wisdom and inspiration from those who have excelled at the highest levels of their professions.
Educator, Philanthropist and Community Leader
Throughout his career, Ira has remained committed to education and service. He has served as a visiting instructor at institutions including Michigan State University, the University of Notre Dame, and Kennesaw State University, and previously served as Executive in Residence at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business. His philanthropic leadership is equally impressive. Ira has served as President of Ted Turner’s Captain Planet Foundation, sits on the board of BlazeSports America, and co-founded Janie’s Fund alongside his longtime friend Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Janie’s Fund supports programs that assist vulnerable and at-risk young women throughout the United States.
Dynamic Keynote Speaker and Moderator
Having delivered more than 2,500 presentations across five continents, Ira is one of the most experienced and engaging speakers in business today. He has shared the stage with world leaders and icons including Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, General Colin Powell, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, Lech Wałęsa, Cal Ripken Jr., and Tommy Lasorda. Known for his high-energy delivery, practical insights, purposeful humor, and extensive customization, Ira creates memorable experiences for audiences of all sizes. In addition to keynote presentations, he is a highly sought-after conference emcee, moderator, interviewer, and panel facilitator. Whether presenting in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Dubai, England, France, or throughout North America, Ira consistently earns praise for his ability to inform, inspire, and motivate.
Athletics and Personal Life
Away from the stage, Ira is a passionate community activist and youth sports coach. His coaching accomplishments include state and national championships, and he was honored as the 1974 U.S. Coach of the Year. As an athlete, he competed on a collegiate national championship team and represented the United States in international competition as a World Cup athlete. Originally from New York, Ira and his wife Kim have made Atlanta their home for decades. Together they have five children and ten grandchildren.
Another favorite Ira quotation comes from Mark Twain: “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” By any measure, Ira Blumenthal has discovered his purpose—and has spent a lifetime helping others discover theirs.
Ira Blumenthal Speaking Topics
Your Best Is Next
Whether it’s corporations, associations or even individuals, you can’t have a better tomorrow if you continue thinking about yesterday. We’ve seen chaos, a pandemic, economic challenges, business uncertainty and greater changes than ever before. We’re confused, overwhelmed, frustrated and often impatient. This is NOT business as usual. This is business as UN-usual. And so, the threshold question for us all is simple… “What’s next?” It’s clearly time for RECOVERY and pushing the RESET button on our businesses and lives. It has been said, “If you want to predict the future, create it!” This customizable program (onstage OR virtual), YOUR BEST IS NEXT, is precisely about creating the future and teaching your organization how to insure that their BEST IS truly NEXT.
Change Is Inevitable. Growth Is Optional. (Change, Re-invention)
There is one constant in life (and business)… change! Yet, change is not new. What is new is the incredible speed of change. Industries, companies and careers have gone from “distinction” to “extinction” because of their inability to adapt, adjust and master change. This session offers a high-content, high-energy, “hands on” approach to embracing, as well as capitalizing on change in business building. After all, change is to business what oxygen is to life.
Managing Brand You (Personal Branding)
What if you thought of yourself as a brand? Everyone struggles with what they stand for… or what they’d like to stand for… Each one of us is a brand. This speech focuses on the disciplines of business branding and applies them to the process of crafting, developing, extending, managing and protecting your most important brand… “Brand You!” Ideal for business executives, sales professionals, even non-business audiences… this is an interactive, high-energy, fun-filled educational (and inspirational) speech (and workshop) experience. What if you thought of yourself as a brand?
Brand-Building For Your Future (Branding)
Products are consumed. Brands are purchased. In our branded world, we make Xerox copies, blow our nose in Kleenex, snack on Jell-O, relax in the Jacuzzi and cover wounds with Band-Aids. From Nike on our hats to Tommy on our shirts to Swatch on our watches and Starbucks in our cups, branding is critical to business development. This session focuses on the philosophy, strategy, guiding principles and “best practices” to create, build, maintain and manage brand success. After all, regardless of what your title is, everyone’s a brand manager… Great examples, provocative anecdotes and purposeful humor make this a great session, especially when customized for the industry, client and event. Everyone’s a brand manager!
Balancing High-Tech and High Touch in Business-Building
In the words of Bill Gates, "Technology is a tool, an enhancement, an enabler. It can be an enormously helpful servant but a dangerous master..." Although the benefits of technology are vast, we depend too much on "high tech" communication with employees, customers, consumers, suppliers and distributors and depend too little on "high touch" communication. This interactive, action-packed, fun-filled, highly relevant speech is focused on strategies, tactics, tips and techniques designed to help business professionals connect, engage and grow mutually beneficial enterprise through dynamic interpersonal relationships.
Myths and Misses in Marketing (Marketing, Business Development)
Based on Ira’s book, “Ready, Blame, Fire!”, this energetic speech (or workshop) focuses on challenging conventional wisdom. Targeting the fourteen greatest “myths” in marketing (i.e. “Bigger Is Better!”, “Close Enough Is Good Enough,” “The First One In Wins,” “It Won’t Happen Here!,” etc.), participants learn from history (the “misses”) and gain a well-defined understanding of the “compelling imperatives” for success in a complex, highly competitive business climate. The focus of this session is on business development, quantum leap growth, alternative channels of distribution and marketing success.
Ira Blumenthal Books
Your Best Is Next: How to Live Your Fullest Life During Your “Gun Lap”
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Managing Brand You
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Ira Blumenthal Speaker Testimonials
"Ira has a unique knack for engaging an audience. And while the audience is engaged, he educates them. One thing you can be guaranteed with Ira is that you never know what he's going to do next. He is an incredibly dynamic and knowledgeable speaker."
- Chuck O'Dell | Division President Marriott
"If Ira Blumenthal could pitch, field, and bat as well as he communicates, I'd own his contract. He's destined for the speakers Hall of Fame."
- Mike Ilitch | Founder and Chairman, Little Caesars; Owner, Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings
"Your seminar on co-branding was definitely a hit, and helped make this year's conference our biggest and best ever. We have had tremendous comments about your presentation from our distributors and employees alike."
- J.L. Whitehurst | Manager-Marketing Department Exxon Company, USA
"Here it is ten days later and I am still energized by your presentation. How the heck do you do that on a regular basis? What kind of vitamins are you taking? I think you could tell by the extended ovation that you were well received by the footwear executives."
- Barbara Singer | Vice President of Communications Footwear Industries of America
