Scott Burrows Speaker Biography
Top-Rated Inspirational and Motivational Speaker, Change Management Expert, and Bestselling Author
Scott’s story is a hero’s journey. By the age of 19, he played college football at Florida State University for legendary coach Bobby Bowden and was a top-ranked kick-boxing Black Belt champion whose last fight was broadcast by ESPN. Scott’s life changed dramatically on November 3, 1984, when he survived a horrendous automobile accident as a passenger in a friend’s car that left him paralyzed from the chest down and diagnosed a quadriplegic. Told he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, Scott realized his split-second decision to not wear a seat belt had altered his course forever.
Overcoming Obstacles
Despite his grim diagnosis, Scott refused to be sidelined. After graduating from college, Scott’s first career was as a Financial Advisor in the Insurance and Financial Industry, specializing in life and disability insurance and retirement, estate and wealth planning. In his 5th year, he qualified for the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), the Premiere Association of Financial Professionals, which is a 100% commission-driven sales production award that fewer than 8% of his peers qualify for annually from more than 500 companies in 70 countries.
Motivational Speaker
At the pinnacle of that career, Scott experienced another setback, a second automobile accident. New injuries forced him to RE-evaluate, RE-invent and once again RE-ignite his life by practicing and executing what he preaches. That’s when Scott decided he would make the tough decision to leave an industry he had so much passion for to share his deeply personal experience and pursue a speaking career that has taken him around the world.
Inpsirational
Scott has delivered his inspiring and motivating story in 45 states as well as Australia, Spain, India, Thailand, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, the Czech Republic and Canada, as well as to our soldiers at the Minot Air Force Base. Scott is the author of Vision, Mindset, Grit! Vision refers to your goals and aspirations, the endpoint you are seeking. Mindset is the continual mental preparation and adjustment needed to meet oncoming challenges. Grit is the day-to-day determination to persevere when you are too tired, too sore or too beleaguered to continue on.
Scott Burrows Speaking Topics
VISION-MINDSET-GRIT: Success Strategies to Help You Stand Up to Any Challenge
In today's competitive marketplace, organizations are trying to maintain a winning culture as they deal with an array of business challenges. The true measure of success is how well teams respond to adversity, change, setbacks and fear. Whatever belief system is employed, must be powerful enough to conquer these obstacles for personal and professional growth or your organization will be left behind. Scott teaches listeners how to create a clear Vision to propel them to action, while helping leaders discover the impact of connecting their organization to a shared vision, and how to adapt business strategies to gain that important competitive advantage. How to create an unstoppable Mindset that revolves around poise and execution, and how asking the "What" questions can help teams navigate the chaos of adversity. Listeners learn the important principles of Grit to help stretch them beyond a paralyzed state of overwhelm and Stand Up to Any Challenge.
Develop an Unstoppable Mindset: Success Strategies for Safety Teams & Supervisors
With the alarming predominance of workplace accidents caused by human error, the importance of engaging teams and individuals with safety procedures in a way that is meaningful to them and can promote significant change is crucial. Scott details his unforgettable, life-changing story of turning a paralyzing setback into a powerful comeback that inspires teams to develop a true safety MINDSET. Scott details how easy it is to become desensitized to common safety routines, and how 'just this once' can tragically impact the rest of their lives. Told through using his own physical paralysis as a metaphor and blending eloquent storytelling with humor and crowd interaction, Scott leaves audiences captivated, inspired and ready to take action. Scott will impact your team by encouraging awareness, better day-to-day safety decisions and changing the way your employees view and approach their jobs. Listeners will walk away embracing workplace safety protocols as opposed to resisting or ignoring them.
VISION MINDSET GRIT: Success Strategies for Insurance & Financial Services Professionals
Insurance and Financial leaders RAVE about Scott’s knowledge and understanding of their industry, knowing that he, too, was a top sales producer. After his life-changing accident, Scott became an insurance and financial advisor and went on to qualify for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). Scott knows firsthand what it’s like to be in the field—generating activity, making scheduled calls, prospecting, facing rejection, overcoming objections, all while listening to clients’ needs to determine recommendations and solutions. Scott teaches listeners how to create a clear Vision to increase sales performance. He helps leaders discover the impact of connecting their organization to a shared vision of success, as well as how to adapt strategies during market fluctuations to gain important competitive advantages through creating an unstoppable Mindset that revolves around the principles of poise and execution. Listeners learn the important principles of Grit to outperform their competition and Stand Up to Any Challenge.
VISION MINDSET GRIT: Success Strategies for Insurance & Financial Services Professionals
In today’s rapidly evolving Insurance and Financial Industry, many organizations are trying to maintain a winning culture as they deal with an array of business and sales challenges. Perhaps your organization is dealing with new rules, increased regulation or growing pains and key business issues as you continue to expand both internally and externally while attempting to be number one in your industry and customer expectations. Maybe you’re experiencing industry changes, such as the new Department of Labor ruling or new products entering the marketplace. Perhaps you’re operating with limited bench support, operational and support issues, budget cuts or rising goals, objectives and responsibilities. Or you feel paralyzed by your competition and advancing technologies that are upending workflow and processes. Whatever your challenges, the true measure of success is how well you respond to adversity, change, setbacks and fear. Whatever belief system you employ must be powerful enough to conquer these obstacles and any other impediments to your personal and professional growth, or you - and your organization - will be left behind. As an insurance and financial industry speaker, you will find that Insurance and Financial leaders RAVE about Scott’s knowledge and understanding of their business, knowing that he, too, was a top sales producer. After his life-changing accident, he graduated from college, then entered the Insurance and Financial Industry as a Financial Advisor and went on to qualify for the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). Scott knows firsthand what it’s like to be in the field—generating activity, making scheduled calls, prospecting, facing rejection, overcoming objection, all while listening to clients’ needs to determine recommendations and solutions.
Rising to the Challenge: Keeping Healthcare Teams Cohesive & Motivated
Scott Burrows' thought-provoking presentation and compelling story is a hero's journey, providing what will be an unforgettable and lasting memory to inspire your attendees to stand up to any challenge. Using his physical paralysis as a visual metaphor, Scott reveals how to drive results using the same mental focus that helped him reinvent his life after a catastrophic accident left him paralyzed from the chest down. He will demonstrate there are no barriers or stop signs in life, or healthcare, just detours and workarounds. Healthcare leaders appreciate Scott's knowledge of their industry, knowing he understands patient-centered care and how healthcare professionals have the gift and the power to influence and impact their patients' lives. As a former spinal cord injury patient and advocate for both patient and healthcare providers, he shares his impactful personal experience as a quadriplegic. Sharing Scott’s deeply personal experience encourages healthcare professionals to continue to find passion for what they do while teaching and inspiring them to encourage their patients to Never Give Up Hope!
DIVERSITY MATTERS: Inclusion Strategies for the Changing Workforce
In today's rapidly changing Corporate Environment, C-level executives understand Diversity Matters. Why? Today, the largest and fastest growing minority group around the world is people with disabilities. Studies have shown this workforce to be committed, productive, loyal and willing, when given the opportunity, to help your organization succeed. If you are looking to expand your market share, generate new revenue from this untapped market and see things from a different corporate perspective, it will take a clear Vision, the proper Mindset and the organizational Grit to make it happen. The true measure of success is how well you respond to a changing and diverse marketplace, along with adversity, professional setbacks and fear. Whatever belief system you employ must be powerful enough to conquer these obstacles and any other impediments to your personal and professional growth, or you - and your organization - will be left behind.
Scott Burrows Books
Vision, Mindset and Grit – How to Stand Up When Life Paralyzes You
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Conversations on Success
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Scott Burrows Articles
Scott Burrows Speaker Testimonials
Your story and presentation are powerful. You effectively conveyed to our team of roughly 300 attendees that we all have the potential to overcome challenges...Given your situation, you have demonstrated by example that even the most overwhelming of setbacks can be converted to success... You did a very effective job of tailoring your message to our audience; personalizing your story for each of us in the audience such that we are now motivated to push ourselves harder than we would prior to hearing your inspiring words. You also integrated our company divisions, objectives and nomenclature into your presentation quite well.
- Steven W. Tomson | Director of Sales, Jack Henry & Associates
Through your tragedy and real life demonstrations of unbelievable "Vision, Mind-set and Grit," you have given all of us a precious gift, a most meaningful appreciation of the true value of the human spirit and its capability to overcome any and all odds!
- Joan Bancroft | President, Berkshire Life
I believe we can learn a lot from the experiences of others, and was looking for a speaker who could help put the challenges we were facing into perspective, and could share the work ethic, attitude and beliefs they followed down their road to success, that my team could learn from. Scott Burrows was definitely the right choice!
- Darrin Rayner | VP Sales, IDEARC Media
Hearing your success in overcoming obstacles through Vision, Mindset & Grit has already put an extra "spring" in the step of our Sales Team...Like every organization, we’re faced with a variety of challenges - both internal and external. Your ability to relate your experiences to our industry specific challenges will certainly produce positive results for our company.
- Gregory S. Lee | Divison President, U.S. Foodservice
