Ryan Campbell Keynote Speaker

First teenager to fly solo around the world
Australian Geographic Young Adventurer of the Year
Plane crash survivor who learned to walk again after he was admitted to rehabilitation as a paraplegic

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Ryan Campbell's Biography

Ryan Campbell is an Australian pilot and the first teenager to fly solo around the world.

As a 14-year-old fixated on becoming a pilot, Ryan Campbell took on a number of after school jobs to finance his flying lessons. Shortly thereafter, he went on to achieve his first prominent goal in life as he flew an airplane solo for the first time on his 15th birthday. The passionately determined young man soon found himself researching a goal so lofty it had never been accomplished before: to fly a single-engine airplane solo around the world as a teenager.

The next two years of Ryan’s life would prove to be transformative. He personally fundraised $250,000, trained, and planned for a world circumnavigation. Ryan Campbell made international headlines as he flew his way around the globe in a rented airplane, including a feature story on 60 Minutes, countless television appearances, radio, and print interviews. The world watched this young man chase his dreams. It was an expedition for the history books.

Ryan’s life blossomed as he was named one of Australia’s 50 Great Explorers, the 2013 Australian Geographic Young Adventurer of the Year, and finalist for Young Australian of the Year. Life after the world flight was all about awards, sharing his story through speaking engagements, and writing a book to be imminently published titled, ‘Born to Fly.’ The young kid from a normal, Aussie family even met The Royals. Life was good.

However, Ryan’s life changed following a very serious light plane crash in 2015. He survived against all odds and was admitted to a spinal rehabilitation ward as a complete paraplegic with no movement from his waist down. With a further five breaks in his back and broken bones ranging from his face to his feet, Ryan Campbell needed to tap into everything he learned during his global expedition and more. The biggest undertaking of his young life was just beginning.

Ryan Campbell is a speaker on overcoming adversity and an ardent believer that life is won and lost above the shoulders. Your mind can be either your most powerful asset or determine your failure. He proved his mental fortitude by making history as a record-breaking pilot but demonstrated his mastery by learning to walk again and fighting his way back into the sky.

Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ryan is equipped and eager to transform organisations with a unique, unpredictable, and uplifting keynote.