Anna Hemmings is a 2 x Olympian and 6 x World Champion marathon kayaker who now works with global organisations to build resilient leaders and high-performing teams.
As Britain’s most successful female marathon kayaker, Anna won eleven World and European Championship medals, nine of them gold. After being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome at the peak of her career and told she might never race again, she returned to win three more world titles, shaping her understanding of resilience, mindset, and sustained high performance.
Since retiring from professional sport, Anna has founded Beyond the Barriers, a high-performance training consultancy helping organisations build resilience and sustain excellence under pressure. An accredited leadership and high-performance coach, she has worked with CEOs, Senior Directors, and FTSE 100 organisations across more than 40 countries, translating the rigour of world-class sport into business-ready tools that address stretch targets, resource constraints and constant change.
Audiences learn impactful frameworks for decision-making under pressure, specific techniques for building team trust and accountability, and strategies for maintaining performance during setbacks. Anna combines lived experience from elite sport with research-driven performance psychology, translating world-class principles into tools tailored to each client’s environment and pressures.
Book Anna to help your organisation embed the behaviours, culture, and resilience needed to perform at its best when the pressure is on.
How can I book Anna Hemmings for my next event?
Email anna.hemmings@getapeptalk.com, or call us on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
As speaker agents, PepTalk can secure Anna Hemmings for commercial and corporate events, conference keynotes, leadership talks, celebrity brand endorsements & partnerships, personal appearances, and motivational speaking engagements. We can assist with enquiries about Anna Hemmings's speaking fees, availability, and booking process for private business functions, industry conferences, and team events. Please note, for media interviews, autographs, charity appearances, or personal matters, we recommend contacting Anna directly.
What topics does Anna Hemmings specialise in?
Anna Hemmings specialises in discussing high-performance, resilience, leadership development and more.
What is Anna Hemmings's speaking style like?
Anna delivers inspiring, practical sessions that engage audiences with compelling stories of resilience and success. Her tailored approach connects sporting lessons to business, motivating teams and leaving a lasting, positive impact.
Does Anna Hemmings offer virtual speaking engagements?
Yes, Anna Hemmings offers virtual speaker bookings for webinars, online conferences, and remote or distributed team engagements.
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