As an original member of the 1988 Jamacian bobsled team and captain of the 1992 and 1998 teams; 3-time Olympian, Devon Harris achieved his grand dream. His current dream is to inspire others to achieve theirs. His real life story of preserverance and persistence combined with his powerful presence and persuasive ideas have positively impacted thousands at Fortune 100 companies, non-profits, governmental organizations, schools and universities.
At the heart of his message are the lessons he has learned of the power of persistence over all sorts of obstacles in order to live one’s best life. Whether he is speaking to a large audience, or just interacting one on one, his mission is the same—to bring this message of how everyone can “keep on pushing” and working for their dreams everyday of their professional as well as personal lives.
Encouraged by his commanding officer, Devon tried out for and was selected to the first Jamaican bobsled team which competed in the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, Canada. Their exploits inspired the Disney blockbuster movie Cool Runnings.
As an ex-serviceman, Devon understands the commitment, sense of duty and sacrifices made by those who volunteer to serve. As a private citizen he is cognizant of the fact that the freedoms he enjoys are paid for by the courage and sacrifice of these men and women. As a result he has also devoted time to visit the troops serving in the Persian Gulf and around the county. He is the author of the motivational children’s book, Yes, I Can! And the semi-autobiographical motivational book, Keep On Pushing: Hot Lesson From Cool Runnings.
In 2018, Devon received special recognition at the winter olympics and was inducted as an Olympian for life.
In this program Devon Harris skillfully weaves the real life improbable inspirational story of the Jamaica bobsled team with the entertaining portrayal of the Disney blockbuster Cool Runnings. He highlights some of the powerful life lessons he and is teammates learned along the way – lessons the audience can immediately apply to both their personal and professional lives. Devon engages the audience in this highly motivational, entertaining, keynote presentation
The audience will learn how:
The experience we had preparing with Devon Harris ahead of our event was collaborative and very enjoyable overall. I could tell you how wonderful his presentation was, but what our team members have shared would be more impactful. “A remarkable speaker, very engaging, entertaining and quite the educator.” “Absolutely amazing.” “One of the best keynotes I’ve heard – Funny, engaging & motivating.” “It’s been 9 hours and I’m still thinking about it.” We are thankful to have worked with Devon.
“Devon was phenomenal. His speech was inspiring and meaningful to every person in the room. We do a survey at the end of each of our events and Devon was the “hit” of the day.”
“Excellent – Devon seamlessly tied the key themes of our meeting to his humorous and inspirational message. He received 2 standing ovations.”
“Devon Harris was really fantastic today at our recognition event. Not only did he engage the crowd and keep them laughing, Devon also wove in a few key messages that we mentioned in our prep call. Good speakers come and inspire – GREAT speakers understand the objective of the meeting and personalize their message to fit. The extra work Devon put in customizing his presentation really reinforced the goals of the meeting and went a long way in making sure our guests could relate it to their own lives. After his presentation, Devon stayed for photos and was a real pleasure to meet and work with. I highly recommend him!”
“Devon exceeded expectations and we were very pleased with his presentation.”
“The meeting ended yesterday and we had such a great, successful week because of many excellent sessions we had and Devon’s speech was certainly one of the highlights of the meeting!! People really liked the messages he conveyed in his speech and were able to relate to them at both professional & personal levels, and that was really what we were looking to get out of the guest speech for this conference, so he was the perfect match for it!”
“Mr. Harris has a very strong stage presence and connects well with his audience. He left enough time for audience interaction and questions. He is a very motivational speaker.”
Devon was entertaining and motivational. He customized his presentation to meet the needs and vision of our school district. He has inspired us to “Keep on Pushing!”
”Devon’s message and presence is so inspiring! He puts his heart in and we were not disappointed.”
