Captain Sandy Yawn Keynote Speaker

World-renowned Superyacht Captain
Star of Bravo TV's Below Deck Mediterranean
Bestselling Author, Be the Storm or Be the Calm

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Captain Sandy Yawn's Biography

Captain Sandra Yawn is a world-renowned captain in the yachting industry with over 30 years of experience. Yawn’s love for the ocean propelled her to achieve the highest status as a mega yacht captain in a male-dominated industry. Her dedication and attention to detail has earned her an outstanding reputation in an elite class of captains as the recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Crew Award for the International Super Yacht Society in 2006 when she was able to ensure the safety of all guests, crew, and the even the vessel during a catastrophic fire off the coast of Yemen.

Yawn, always the professional, earned a United States Coastguard Masters of Oceans 1600T/3000T and the United States Coast Guard and Maritime Coast Guard Agency Class IV CEC. She values professional organizations and remains an active member of the Captain’s Advisory Council for SeaKeepers Society, International Super Yachts Society, United States Super Yacht Association, and the Professional Yachting Association.

The undeniable resilience Yawn possesses has not only pushed her to the top of the yachting industry but also allowed her to focus on philanthropic collaboration, ocean advocacy, and children’s education. Yawn is an active board member or advisor for many philanthropic groups including the Jacksonville School for Autism, a not-for-profit organization that Yawn’s sister founded for the captain’s nephew, Nicholas.

As a speaker, Captain Sandy Yawn continually uses her experience and life’s trials and tribulations to educate and help others. She survived a life-threatening motorcycle accident, threat of pirates, and even cancer. She appeared on the Emmy Award-winning talk show The Doctors in hopes of sharing her personal experiences to educate others about cancer and health. Yawn is currently the captain on Bravo TV’s reality show Below Deck Mediterranean. Yawn’s unique leadership style of embracing teachable moments to train and educate her staff has earned her fan-favorite accolades. Yawn is a hands-on type of captain who leads by example and is not afraid to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Leadership Lessons from Captain Sandy of Bravo’s Below Deck: Navigating Troubled Waters in Changing Times

Captain Sandy captured our attention as the first female superyacht captain on Bravo’s Below Deck Mediterranean, and her fascinating stories hold leadership lessons for today’s live and virtual audiences. Through 30+ years of international maritime experience, Captain Sandy has broken glass ceilings, survived near-fatal accidents on land and pirates and fires at sea.

Most business leaders will never have such life-or-death challenges in their daily work. But surviving stormy seas has taught Captain Sandy many invaluable lessons on such timeless leadership principles as inspiring your crew, that failure is ok, and empowering your team to accomplish their “win” together “in the same boat.” Enduring a voyage on a 154-foot vessel requires discerning when to be tough enough to stay the course or flexible enough to circumnavigate to calmer waters – decisions all leaders are faced with every day. Throughout her career, Captain Sandy has lived by the mantra, “Wake up, Show up, Kick Ass, Repeat!”

Charting Your Own Course — Despite the Obstacles

Captain Sandy shares her remarkable story of overcoming addiction and cancer to become a world-renowned superyacht captain and lead on the popular Bravo reality show Below Deck Mediterranean. With her story of strength, resilience and resolve that led her to the top of a male-dominated field, Captain Sandy inspires audiences to overcome all obstacles and not let fear get in the way. Her survivorship story, blended with her Below Deck leadership escapades, makes for a wildly entertaining keynote experience.

Port of Call: Teamwork Lessons from the High Seas

Imagine the leadership and teamwork challenges you would face if the bulk of your staff turned over every week. How do you inspire your crew to work together when most of them meet just hours before setting out to sea? How do you instill a sense of teamwork and mission to flawlessly execute under these conditions? As one of the world’s first female professional yacht captains, Sandy discusses how she practices servant leadership while navigating these workplace and human capital challenges. From the beginning of a voyage to the final port of call, Sandy uses vivid storytelling to impart valuable teamwork lessons and character-building insights learned from her three decades on the high seas.