If you don't know what you stand for, you'll fall for anything!
Adventurer, strategist and high-performance leader, Jamie Fitzgerald has carved a remarkable life defined by endurance, impact and innovation.
From breaking world records to guiding major cultural change, his journey blends bold adventure with business brilliance.
Jamie is one of the few people to have walked unaided to the South Pole and holds the world record for rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. A dual New Zealand representative in rowing and adventure racing, he has fronted internationally broadcast television documentaries like First Crossings and Intrepid NZ, bringing to life stories of exploration and grit.
Professionally, Jamie is the CEO of Inspiring Performance, a consultancy supporting global organisations to achieve clarity and alignment in strategy, culture, and leadership. He led volunteer training and culture for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, shaping the experience of 6000 volunteers to reflect the spirit of the nation.
With a background in marketing, financial services, agribusiness and education, Jamie combines real-world experience with deep insight. Whether growing his first business in the primary sector or driving strategy in corporate boardrooms, he is known for transforming complex ideas into action. His work spans purpose-driven leadership, team alignment, and building operational momentum across sectors.
From South Pole blizzards to boardroom breakthroughs, Jamie Fitzgerald continues to push boundaries, redefine performance, and seek out his next great adventure.
Talking Points
Keynote
In his energising and insightful keynotes, Jamie Fitzgerald draws from record-breaking expeditions, high-stakes leadership roles, and organisational transformation projects to explore what it truly takes to align people and performance. With a rare ability to connect adventure with business, Jamie unpacks the essential ingredients for navigating change, inspiring cultural momentum, and getting teams rowing in the same direction. Audiences will leave with practical tools, fresh perspective, and the belief that high performance is possible – even in the most challenging conditions.
Keynote
Workshop
This hands-on workshop equips teams and leaders with the clarity and confidence to move forward – faster. Using a structured yet flexible framework, Jamie guides participants through four key focus areas: defining the value they create (purpose and objectives), identifying where to play and how to win (business model), understanding what to focus on (top challenges), and locking in how to maintain momentum (operating model and metrics). Drawing from real-world experience across marketing, finance, agriculture and education, Jamie helps teams turn strategy into action – with lasting impact.
Workshop
Video
Whatever You Do, Keep Rowing: Jamie Fitzgerald at TEDxEQChCh
Jamie Fitzgerald and his teammate Kevin set out to row 5,000 kilometers across the Atlantic--and learned that not making progress is still better than going backwards. Jamie Fitzgerald is one of New Zealand's most sought after keynote speakers and management consultants due to his ability to translate his inspiring and insightful stories and experiences into practical business messages for teams and organisations.Jamie Fitzgerald speaking at TEDxQueenstown
Jamie Fitzgerald is a modern day adventurer on a grand scale. He is also an observer, a thinker and a very large advocate for people doing big stuff. Jamie Fitzgerald is one of New Zealand's most sought after keynote speakers and management consultants due to his ability to translate his inspiring and insightful stories and experiences into practical business messages for teams and organisations.Jamie Fitzgerald - Showcase 2015
Jamie Fitzgerald is one of New Zealand's most sought after keynote speakers and management consultants due to his ability to translate his inspiring and insightful stories and experiences into practical business messages for teams and organisations.Amazing, absolutely loved the energy, kindness, charisma and professionalism. When Jamie shared his adventures and reflections - filled with challenges, failures, and triumphs - he invited u ... keep reading Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Federation
Awesome speaker !! Awesome stories! Loved it! Best yet!
Jamie was a great selection to facilitate our workshop effective collaboration. He understood the dynamics of the people and organisations in attendance and played to each persons strengths. He made excellent use of his past experiences to help move the workshop forward and delivered in a down to earth and practical style which perfectly suited the situation.
Jamie is one of the best Celebrity Speakers we have engaged for our events. His stories were interesting and entertaining but he also had good sound business messages to accompany them. I was impressed that he took the time to meet with us and talk about exactly what it was we wanted from his presentation and to find out more about REINZ and the conference audience.
I really appreciated the work Jamie had put in ahead of our event to understand the audience and reasoning behind the event we were hosting. Jamie was very professional and thoughtful and made for a relaxing event experience for me as the organiser. He has so many good stories and key messages to share. I felt like we could have had Jamie back over several sessions.
Jamie was fantastic. We used Jamie as a Keynote Speaker on our final day and then MC of our gala dinner that night which was a Touch of Bollywood evening and he made an awesome effort to get into theme! Jamie's keynote story was one that resonated well with the group. The raw material he showed of his adventures, bringing it into our theme of Raising the Game, certainly showed that he had taken the time to become part of our Conference. Jamie's attention to detail for the gala dinner MC role was great while he was running the evening, he wanted the focus to be on our team of finalists and winners and he kept the evening running smoothly. I'd recommend Jamie as either a Keynote speaker or an MC.
The audience loved Jamie, saying 'he's is the best speaker they have heard'. Great balance of experience, knowledge and group interaction
Jamie was brilliant to work with, his style and manor was perfect for our conference. Jamie was a superb MC for our annual conference. He understood our industry, objective and conference theme. His enthusiasm, ability to keep things moving, engagement and professionalism were outstanding. Happily book Jamie again in the future.
Jamie was a true highlight of our conference. His presentation took the delegates on a journey to the South (and North!) Pole, rowing across the Atlantic, hanging of a cliff face and even towing tyres full of cement around Wellington. He engaged with the audience, had us laughing and in awe of his many achievements. I challenge anyone to listen to Jamie's presentation and not feel inspired. Jamie was a professional from the outset and his communication and dedication to ensuring his presentation related to our industry was above and beyond.
Jamie was very engaging. We found his stories inspiring and his mindset strategies empowering.
Jamie was the ultimate professional, we had a catch up with Jamie the week before and he offered to make us a short video as advertising for the session, this was through to us to share on our platforms so quickly and really gave a sense of excitement to the event. I was impressed with the way he wove our messages into the event, this went really nicely with his material and came across as seamless. Jamie’s talk flowed on really well from Paul’s as this too focused on choices, but from a different perspective. Great presentation and great discussion afterwards.
What a great and inspiring person. Makes me feel that I need to get out more!!
Jamie was fantastic - a really engaging speaker and great to listen to.
It was a pleasure to meet and work with Jamie, his ability to tell his stories and weave our messaging into those stories was outstanding. Such a lovely chap to chat with as well.
