Optimist Performance

Optimistic Talks

Inspire and engage your audience and make the occasion memorable with real-life stories from our outstanding keynote speakers.

Learn more about our Optimistic Talks…

 

On the day, Ollie brought charisma and energy. He included everyone and brought people together. Participants had a great time and went away with some serious messages to remember.

Robert Evans – Investments Solutions at Partners Group

The rapport between Ollie and Ryan made the social event feel like we were sitting around a pub table, sharing stories and learning from each other – no small feat in a virtual environment! It really brought everyone together and made the audience engage and ask questions. Very well done!

I thought the session with Ollie was informative, motivational and enjoyable! A lot of what Ollie discussed really resonated with me in terms of how I aspire to lead my team. Ollie shared some fantastic examples of how he has helped to lead teams to triumph in some pretty challenging situations, which was inspiring.

If you want to overcome adversity and be a winner, this is a great place to start!

Fantastic, inspiring session! Personal experiences from a successful leader and team player, narrated in a kind and humble manner. Something for everyone!

I have had the pleasure of hearing Ollie talk twice. It’s an overused word, but in this case, quite appropriate to say he is an inspirational speaker and leader. He gets his messages over with humour and humility and creates real energy in the room. Highly recommended!

Chris Maw – Non-executive Director and a Trustee at Norfolk Historic Building Trust & West London Business

An inspirational presenter on leadership – he gives invaluable insights from his leading teams in the most challenging environments in the world and the world of sport, all applied with tremendous perception to the world of business. Highly informative, entertaining and insightful.

Nick farr – Tax Partner at PWC

The Eternal Optimists

Ollie Phillips

Ollie Phillips

Ex-England Rugby Captain and once voted the Best 7’s Player in the World, Ollie is a Director at PwC and Founder of Optimist Performance. Since retiring from professional rugby, Ollie has been involved in a number of life-changing challenges and has notched up 4 Guinness World Records to date. Ollie brings over 20 years of experience in sports and business to help leaders overcome change and transform their teams to achieve new levels of success.

Charlotte Wathan

Charlotte Wathan

Charlotte has a twenty-year career history as an academic and strategist, leading cultural change most recently as Head of the Women’s game at the Welsh Rugby Union, where she instigated the inaugural professional contracts for senior women’s rugby. Charlotte has a wealth of experience working across public, private and third-sector organisations. Charlotte is a self-confessed insight geek who supports companies in measuring the impact of strategic and cultural change.

Russell Earnshaw

Russell Earnshaw

Having graduated from Cambridge with a Maths and Economics degree, Rusty played rugby for several teams, including Bath (winning the European Cup in 1998) and England 7’s, before moving into coaching and working with England U18’s, U20’s and 7’s, coaching and mentoring some of the brightest young players and coaches in the country. He now works across business and sport, helping the likes of Google, Abbott, NZ Rugby and GB Hockey responding to their needs, including creativity, coaching skills, leadership and high-performing teams.

Ryan Jones, MBE

Ryan Jones, MBE

Ryan is a three-time Grand Slam-winning former Wales Rugby Captain & British and Irish Lion. Ryan is the Ex-Director of Performance at the Welsh Rugby Union and a previous Board Member of Disability Sport Wales. Ryan was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours in 2021 for his services to rugby and charity, raising thousands of pounds for the NHS during the first lockdown period in 2020, with events such as a solo garden marathon and a 100-mile kitchen treadmill endeavour.

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Optimistic Insights