Karen Darke

Inspiring audiences around the world with her ability to connect with diverse audiences from multinational businesses to young school children.

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3 Client reviews

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Karen’s achievements are inspiring, awe-inspiring in fact, but just as impressive is her gift for connecting with people of all ages. It is this connection that means that after some time spent with Karen, you feel not only that you’ve been on a journey with her, but that you can relate her experience to your own life and apply that to reaching your own potential. It’s a compelling combo and we are honoured to have worked with Karen to share her story, her positivity and her wisdom with young people across Scotland as part of our Lockdown Live project.

R Tarves

Lockdown Live, e-Sgoil

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Reasons to book speaker Karen Darke

She has an MBE, a PhD in Geology, MA’s in Development Training & High Performance Psychology & Coaching, and Diploma’s in Clnical & Pastoral Counselling, Hypnotherapy & Motivational Coaching
Karen has extensively studied what goes on ‘inside’: the power of the mind and language to positively impact emotions; improving presence, performance and wellbeing.

Karen could be described as a modern-day ‘Alchemist’: a learning & development specialist turned mindset- heartset coach, explorer, athlete, speaker and author. Her purpose is about helping individuals and organisations ‘Find Inner Gold’: turning challenge into opportunity, turning ‘mud’ into ‘gold’.

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Keynotes

Karen Darke Speaking Topics: Examples of talk titles & basic content

Karen speaks from the heart with honesty, open-ness, sharing personal stories and experiences that have given her unique insights into overcoming challenge, embracing change, making the ‘impossible’ possible, and about stretching ourselves to achieve surprising things.

She can speak on the following topics:

Finding Inner Gold

How do we support finding more of the ‘shiny’ stuff inside of us?

Mindset and heartset tools for managing stress, working on the ‘inside’ to make more possible on the ‘outside’.

Adventure Mindset

Awareness of patterns of thinking or doing for creating more possibility and positivity.

Topics I might tough on related to the letters of ‘ADVENTURE’: Awareness, Daring, Visualising, Engaging, being Nimble, Trust, Understanding and Expectation are elements that I focus on.

Release Energy

Stories about managing mindset and energy, especially in navigating challenges and change.

Creating a positive, happy, productive environment.

‘Impossible?’ / Breaking Barriers

The opportunity in adversity.

Growth mindset and visualization – how to aim for the ‘impossible’.

Overcoming Challenge & Change

How we can maximize the opportunity available to us in times of challenge.

The power of inspiration and how we can use it as a fuel to motivate us.

Power of Team

Stories of leadership and teamwork experiences in different outdoor expeditions and Paralympic life. Integrating models, team development etc.

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Customer Reviews

R Tarves Lockdown Live, e-Sgoil

In our online mid year review Karen spoke to our team, sharing some sage advice on how to adapt to changing situations which had a galvanising impact on us in this ‘virtual’ world. It made up stop and think differently about our challenges and how to overcome them, backed up by practical tools we could use immediately to start to reframe our thinking and move forward positively. Thank you Karen.

Head of Business Insights & Analytics Bayer PLC Consumer Health

Karen was without a doubt, the highlight of the day. Microsoft values taking accountability, integrity and respect, and we want to encourage our people to hold a growth mindset. Karen delivered an inspiring message in harmony with those company values and culture. Attendee’s feedback listed her inspirational message, humility, amazing, moving, incredible talk, and also about how well her advice translates to work and home life.

Customer Success Division Microsoft

Karen Darke

Guinness World Record holder with captivating story

She started out as a geologist researching gold in the Bolivian Andes, but a life-changing accident that left her paralysed led her away from being a ‘rockdoctor’ to winning Paralympic gold in the sport of Paralympic hand-cycling in Rio 2016. It was the 79th medal for Britain, and 79 being the elemental number for Gold led to Karen creating Quest 79. The project has Karen cycling 7 continents in 9 iconic rides, raising £79K for Spinal Injuries and encouraging many people to step out of their comfort zones and discover passion, purpose, strength and other aspects of their ‘inner gold’.

She is a Guinness World Record holder for landspeed by armpower, has skied across icecaps, kayaked at extreme latitudes of the planet, and hand-cycled across the world’s biggest mountain ranges and alongside some of the longest rivers. These experiences combined with unique studies of mind, resilience and performance have led to helping people view life as an adventure, and to embrace all its’ experiences as opportunities to learn and grow.

Her first book
“If You Fall”
tells the story of her accident; the second, “
Boundless
” is about her adventures in Greenland and climbing El Capitan. “
Quest 79: Find Your Inner Gold
” is a collection of short stories positive psychology tips.