Scotty Smiley
Build resilient teams with Scotty Smiley, speaker and military leadership expert. Scotty works with organizations to develop adversity management, change navigation, and mental toughness strategies, delivering MacArthur Leadership Award-winning insights as America's first blind active duty officer.
Seattle United States
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Scotty Smiley, a former U.S. Army officer, transforms the concept of overcoming adversity through his extraordinary journey from losing his eyesight in Iraq to becoming the first blind active duty officer in military history.
As author of the acclaimed memoir "Hope Unseen," Scotty has earned prestigious recognitions including the MacArthur Leadership Award and ESPN ESPY Award. His remarkable achievements extend beyond military service to completing an IronMan competition and earning an MBA from Duke University before excelling in finance.
Scotty equips organizations with practical strategies for navigating change and uncertainty by drawing from his personal experience of adapting to blindness while maintaining peak performance. His insights on resilience help teams develop mental toughness and innovative problem-solving approaches essential in today's rapidly evolving business landscape.
Audiences gain actionable frameworks for building resilience during challenging transitions, practical leadership techniques for guiding teams through adversity, and proven methods for maintaining focus and determination when facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Book Scotty Smiley to inspire your organization with authentic lessons on hope, perseverance and the unlimited potential that exists beyond perceived limitations.
Scotty Smiley's extraordinary journey from losing his sight in combat to becoming the first blind active duty officer in military history equips organizations with practical resilience strategies for navigating change and uncertainty. Book this ESPY Award winner and IronMan competitor to provide your team with actionable frameworks for overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles and unlocking their unlimited potential.
Topics, Sessions And Talks
Scotty Smiley found himself helpless, blind and barely alive when he woke up in Walter Reed Medical Center after getting his eyes blown up by a suicide car bomber while serving in Iraq. He was once an accomplished graduate of West Point, and a leader in the Army, and he now found himself completely dependent on his wife, medical team and those around him to do even the simplest tasks. Smiley learned quickly that if he wanted to get his life back, he would need to work with other people and support other people. Through the power of teamwork, he has been able to continue as an officer in the Army, write a book, become an investment banker, climb mountains, go surfing and complete an IronMan. In his speech, he will highlight how teamwork is the key to not only getting further in life and accomplishing our goals, but also living a happier life. Audiences will be inspired to work with and support those around them, regardless of the obstacles.
The definition of hope is “to expect with confidence,” but what do you do when you’ve lost confidence in everything? When you’ve watched your dreams go up in smoke and when you start to question the God you’ve built your life around? As Scotty Smiley lay in his hospital bed in Washington, D.C. after being severely wounded by a suicide bomber while serving in Iraq, he was drowning in despair. All his plans about returning home to his beautiful wife, starting a family and building a career in the military seemed completely dead, and he began to wonder if death would’ve been a better ending to his story. Slowly God showed Smiley that His current plan was far better than the one he’d had for himself. He taught Smiley to expect with confidence that God was working and that He was good. Smiley was able to go on to become the first blind active duty officer in the Army, write a book, have three beautiful sons and pursue adventures all over the world. In his encouraging and inspiring presentation he will tell his incredible story of faith, hope and the love that saw him through.
As a West Point graduate, Scotty Smiley had nothing but the highest expectations for himself and his military career. He had a new wife and was quickly establishing himself in the Army as a strong leader. He deployed to Iraq in 2005 when all those dreams went completely black. A suicide bomber decided to blow himself up 50 yards in front of Smiley, severely injuring and blinding him for the rest of his life. He fought through depression, hopelessness and tragedy to become the first blind active duty officer in the military, an author, veteran advocate, IronMan and avid adventurer. In his inspiring and honest presentation, he will move audiences with his incredible story of triumph and hope for overcoming even life’s cruelest tragedies and obstacles.
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