Chris has spoken at a number of our conferences addressing a variety of different audiences, but one thing is always constant – he captivates them from the second he walks on stage. His energy, excitement, and passion for adventure are second-to-none. It’s impossible to leave one of his talks without being inspired.

I had heard about Chris’s idea of SUPing across the Atlantic and thought, this guy is a bit whacked. As launch date neared I started to follow his Facebook page and from launch in Morocco to watching footage on the web of his brothers screaming their heads when he was nearing the final stage of his trip in Antigua I immediately wanted to read Chris’s booked Stoked! I was taken by the immense amount of effort, energy and persistence it took Chris to achieve his goal (of firstly getting to the Mavericks contest!) and winning an event as prestigious in the surfing community as Mavericks. I now understood why and how Chris could make it across the Atlantic. We asked Chris to come and share this amazing story with our clients around South Africa, which he did with such passion and enthusiasm. I would recommend his talk to anyone looking to understand what drives the human spirit and what we can achieve if we put our minds to it.

An amazingly gripping life story with so much passion and dedication it is contagious. The will to succeed no matter what the costs or potential injury that could be sustained in the process – it’s all in the mind (the mind either makes your or breaks you) and proves that any one person with so much passion, dedication and hard work can accomplish their life’s dream and go on to inspire others to do the same! Chris Bertish, you are truly one of a kind and a role model we can all look up too.