Shaun White Speaker Biography
Dual-Sport Professional Athlete, 3 Time Olympic Gold Medalist, and Entrepreneur
Legend isn’t often a word bestowed upon someone in his early 30s, but then again, most 32-year-olds aren’t Shaun White. Dual-sport professional athlete in snowboarding and skateboarding, 3-time Olympic gold medalist, musician, designer and entrepreneur, White has catapulted the world of action sports into popular culture. With a business acumen as lofty as his massive air on the half pipe, audiences will be floored by his personal story and insights into building a lasting and wildly successful global brand.
Overcoming Obstacles
With his signature red hair and laid-back personality, Shaun White is best known for his successful career as a professional snowboarder. Shaun was born with a congenital heart defect, which resulted in him having to undergo two heart surgeries before the age of one. Despite these conditions, he became involved with sports like snowboarding at a young age. By the time he was 13, he had already turned pro in snowboarding. While Shaun was being lauded as a snowboard prodigy, he was simultaneously turning heads on the skateboard scene. Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk scouted the nine-year-old at a local skatepark and mentored the up-and-comer, helping Shaun turn pro in skateboarding at the age of 17. In 2003, he became the first athlete ever to compete and medal in both the Summer and Winter X Games.
Winter Olympics
By the time he won his first Olympic gold medal in snowboarding at 19, he was a household name, matching his intensity on the board with an effortlessly magnetic presence that landed him on the cover of Rolling Stone twice. White won back-to-back gold at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, a gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics, and holds the X Games record for gold medals and highest overall medal count (23). He’s also won 10 ESPY awards for Best Male Action Sports Athlete and Best Male U.S. Olympic Athlete.
Entrepreneur
Off the board, Shaun has achieved major accomplishments in the business world as well. He has been a valuable brand ambassador for Burton Snowboards, Oakley Inc., Red Bull, Ubisoft, Hewlett-Packard and many more. His clothing lines for Target and Macy’s have been a massive success. He also earned the number two spot on Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s list of 100 Most Powerful and Marketable Athletes and was ranked 10th among athletes on the Forbes Fab 40: The World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands.
Book
Shaun’s new book, Airborne, chronicles both the evolution of his life—from coming of age in California up to the present day—as well as the evolution of the sports of snowboarding and skateboarding through changes brought by White’s own style and tricks. Dynamic images from some of the best action-sports photographers capture the Olympic medalist performing his envelope-pushing maneuvers in beautiful locations around the globe, while White also reveals his growth as a musician and style icon.
Philanthropy
White is an active supporter of many charitable causes, including St. Jude Children’s Research Center, Target House, Boys and Girls Clubs, the Tony Hawk Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, where he has personally granted 17 wishes. Shaun White is an inspiration around the world and a prime example of a talented kid who turned his athleticism into an empire.
Shaun White Speaking Topics
Growing a Global Brand
Shaun White has flourished not only in sport but also in business, and he has become a global brand with universal recognition and exposure. Audiences will be floored by his personal story and insights into building a lasting and wildly successful global brand.
Become a Peak Performer in Your Field
Even as a child, Shaun had an absolute sense of certainty that he would be the best snowboarder in the world. That confidence enabled him to accomplish virtually anything, including things that other people saw as impossible. His self-assured mindset combined with his insatiable drive enabled him to beat out his competition time and time again.
How to Set and Achieve Goals
Shaun’s legendary athletic career started out as nothing more than a goal. Shaun discusses how imperative it is to set long-term goals and why it’s the single biggest arbiter of who can produce incredible results. The long-term goal should be the compass you use to make every decision. Every step you take, no matter how small, should move you toward achieving your goal.
Overcoming Adversity to Achieve Success
Shaun is known as one of the greatest snowboarders in history, but he had more than his fair share of obstacles. From the uphill battle back from devastating injury to a massive loss at Sochi, Shaun has overcome countless hurdles to achieve his ultimate redemption at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics. In this talk, he discusses what it means to embrace risk and demonstrate mental and physical fitness to produce extraordinary results.
Shaun White Books
