Connor Fields and Brandon DesJarlais are relevant speakers to consider when an event needs to connect athletic experience with resilience, preparation, and decisions under pressure. Fields brings an Olympic BMX career and a story of rebuilding after an unexpected ending. Brandon’s Finding Fearless keynote focuses on taking thoughtful action through uncertainty using Clarity, Calculation, Composure, and Courage. The useful comparison is how those perspectives fit the change your audience is facing.
An event brief can be more precise than “inspire resilience.” Does the audience need to prepare for a demanding goal, recover perspective after a setback, or reconsider a plan that no longer fits?
Their shared ground and different experience
Fields is a three-time Olympian who won BMX racing gold at Rio 2016. Following serious injuries at the Tokyo Games, he completed extensive rehabilitation and developed a career in speaking and broadcasting. His athletic credentials and subsequent transition provide distinct material for a conversation about achievement and change. Source: USA Cycling’s Connor Fields biography
Brandon draws on downhill skateboarding, Hollywood stunt work, and community building. His longboard career provides context for the preparation and judgment behind his keynote. His work founding Beyond the Board adds another dimension: helping people build confidence and connection through longboarding. Read Brandon’s background.
| Planning consideration | Connor Fields | Brandon DesJarlais |
|---|---|---|
| Experience behind the message | Olympic BMX competition, recovery, and a career transition | Downhill racing, stunt performance, and community building |
| Public program to explore | “Now What?” and “Gold Medal Moments” | Finding Fearless and the 4C Framework |
| Relevant starting brief | Help people respond when success, setbacks, or sudden change raise a new question | Help people assess uncertainty and take a considered next step |
| Useful discussion afterward | What does moving forward look like now? | What needs clarity, calculation, composure, or courage? |
| What to establish before booking | Which keynote and examples address this audience’s situation? | How will the framework connect to this audience’s decisions? |
These planning directions are suggestions to discuss with each speaker’s team. Similar themes do not make two sessions interchangeable.
Moving forward can include changing direction
Fields’s official descriptions distinguish two emphases. “Now What?” addresses transitions and setbacks, with goals, resilience, sustained success, and perspective among its themes. “Gold Medal Moments” focuses on preparation and staying ready for important performance moments. That distinction helps a planner request the right conversation. Source: Connor Fields’s resilience keynotes
An especially useful nuance appears in Fields’s UNLV interview. He describes weighing the long-term risks of returning to competition before deciding to retire, and then developing work in coaching, speaking, and television. His story allows a discussion of purposeful change alongside persistence. Source: UNLV’s interview with Connor Fields
For a workplace audience, this opens an important question: are we asking people to remain committed to the purpose, or to preserve a particular plan? A cancelled project, changed market, or new responsibility can require a fresh approach. Encouragement is more useful when the event makes space to examine that difference.
Brandon’s framework offers a complementary planning lens. A facilitator can invite people to clarify the outcome, consider consequences, recognize pressure, and identify a justified action. Discuss that application during the briefing rather than assuming the keynote alone will resolve a strategic disagreement.
Example brief: an offsite after a strategy change
Imagine a company has stopped developing a product after a year of substantial investment. Employees are now joining other teams. Some welcome the new priorities; others feel their effort has been dismissed. Leadership wants an offsite that helps people reengage.
The event first needs an honest explanation of the decision and what happens next. A guest speaker cannot supply information that only leadership holds. Schedule that conversation before asking people to reflect on resilience.
Fields’s published work gives the planning team a relevant starting point for discussing identity, perspective, and what follows an unexpected change. Brandon’s program offers a way to explore the uncertainty that remains: unfamiliar responsibilities, unresolved questions, and the first decisions people can make in their new roles.
Ask both teams how they would connect their proposed session to this situation. Listen for an acknowledgment of what participants have lost as well as what they can influence. Avoid a brief that treats reasonable disappointment as a lack of motivation.
Questions to bring to the briefing call
- What has changed for this audience, and what remains undecided?
- Are people preparing for a challenge, processing a setback, or choosing a new direction?
- Which aspects of the sporting story translate well to our context, and where are the limits?
- How will the session connect individual effort with the support people need from others?
- What discussion should the next facilitator or team manager lead?
Review a relevant speaking sample alongside the proposal. Connor’s official speaking videos and Brandon’s speaker kit provide starting points. Confirm the proposed format, customization, production requirements, and recording permissions directly.
Give the message somewhere to go
Reserve time after the keynote for small groups to identify one decision they can influence. Ask each group to name the desired outcome, missing information, available support, and one next step with an owner.
At the next team meeting, revisit what happened. Did the action produce useful information? Did a constraint need leadership attention? This creates a practical connection between the event and everyday work without treating enthusiasm as evidence of lasting change. It is an agenda suggestion for the organizer, not a promised service from either speaker.
Frequently asked questions
Is Connor Fields still a BMX racer or a keynote speaker?
Fields retired from competition in 2022, as discussed in his UNLV interview. He now offers keynotes drawing on his Olympic experience and the transition that followed. His current official website lists speaking programs and booking information.
Are these talks only suitable for sports audiences?
A sports background can make preparation and pressure tangible for many audiences. The briefing still needs to connect those experiences to the attendees’ actual responsibilities. Ask for specific examples of that translation.
Which speaker should we choose for an event about change?
Define what people need to do after the event, then compare the proposed sessions. Responding to an unexpected ending, preparing for a major performance, and acting with incomplete information are related but different assignments.
For other perspectives, explore the comparisons with Tony Hawk, Alex Honnold, and Bear Grylls.