Availability Inquiry

Cory Richards

Explorer, National Geographic Photographer, & Resilience Expert

Speaking Fee: $35,000 i Fees vary by event type, travel, and appearance details.

Mollie Plotkin Group Exclusive

Motivational Athletes Author Crisis Management Inspiration Leadership Lifestyle Mental Health

Cory Richards is a world-renowned photographer, bestselling author, and leading keynote speaker helping individuals and organizations reframe adversity, unlock their potential, and embrace what once felt impossible.

Motivational Athletes Crisis Management Team Building Leadership Wellness Mental Health Lifestyle

Topics

Meet Cory Richards

Cory Richards is a globally acclaimed National Geographic photographer, adventurer, and resilience expert who has spent his life at the edge of cliffs, culture, and collapse, but returned with wisdom worth sharing. Named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Cory’s career spans over 50 international expeditions, multiple Everest summits (including one without supplemental oxygen), and a body of work that explores both human potential and inner turmoil.

He is also well-known for his keynote and motivational speaking. Cory Richards is available to be booked for corporate and private events. Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group today to inquire about Cory Richards’s fees.

Want to book Cory Richards for an event?

Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group at (215) 995-0905 to book Cory Richards for corporate or private events, keynote speeches, workshops, fireside chats, motivational speaking, or virtual appearances. Our agency will work directly with your organization and our keynote speakers to create an unforgettable event.

The Mollie Plotkin Group is the leading keynote speakers agency and entertainment bureau bringing excitement to audiences, clients, and employees. We represent subject-matter experts in every possible field. So whether we’re your partner in creating a memorable meeting or your meeting planner’s secret weapon in securing the perfect keynote speaker, we’re in this with you.

Biography

More Than Mountains

Cory Richards is a resilience keynote speaker, bestselling author, award-winning photographer, and National Geographic fellow whose journey has taken him from homelessness and mental health battles to global stages and magazine covers. His story is one of extremes: Everest and avalanches, addiction and recovery, trauma and transformation. But more than anything, Cory’s life has been a relentless pursuit of truth: what makes us break, what makes us rise, and what makes us truly human.

A former professional athlete turned visual storyteller, Cory has summited Everest without supplemental oxygen, survived a near-fatal avalanche, and was the first American to climb an 8,000-meter peak in winter. His work capturing human conflict and resilience has earned him National Geographic’s highest honors and a loyal global following.

The Resilience Method

Today, Cory channels his life experience into “The Resilience Method,” a values-based framework designed to help individuals and organizations move from survival to sustainable growth. His approach draws from neuroscience, psychology, and the raw, lived reality of life on the edge. Rather than glorifying toughness, Cory helps audiences reframe resilience as a process of letting go, leaning in, and rewriting what’s possible.

Through powerful storytelling, immersive visuals, and unflinching honesty, Cory teaches that resilience isn’t the absence of struggle; it’s the willingness to face it. His message resonates with C-suite leaders, high-performance teams, mental health advocates, and anyone ready to meet uncertainty with agency, creativity, and trust.

Experience That Inspires

National Geographic Adventurer of the Year
First and only American to summit an 8,000-meter peak in winter
Artist-in-Residence, Oxford University
Bestselling Author: The Color of Everything, Bi-Polar
Over 50 international expeditions
Summited Everest twice, once without supplemental oxygen
Featured speaker at SXSW, World Economic Forum, and more
2x National Geographic Explorer Grant recipient
Subject and co-director of the award-winning documentary Cold

Hire Cory Richards

From Oxford University to the World Economic Forum to SXSW, Cory has spoken to some of the world’s most influential audiences. His bestselling books, The Color of Everything and Bi-Polar, blend art, autobiography, and philosophy in a way that few storytellers can match.

With over 2 billion social media impressions, real-time storytelling from the world’s harshest environments, and decades of lived leadership experience, Cory brings unmatched authenticity to every stage. Whether addressing high-growth teams, change management events, or mental health-focused audiences, Cory’s talks don’t just inspire, they transform. He moves audiences beyond the noise of our attention economy, teaching practical skills to shift from survival mode into true resilience. By connecting mental health with business leadership, Cory demonstrates how aligned, healthy individuals create thriving workplace cultures; and how ignoring this truth leads to burnout and broken organizations. Cory’s keynotes can be completely customized to your unique needs. If you’d like to begin tailoring his appearance for your event, schedule a Zoom call with Cory and the MPG team.

How to Hire Cory Richards

To hire Cory Richards for an event, contact the Mollie Plotkin Group with the proposed event date, location, audience size, event format, and program goals. Cory Richards is available for corporate events, conferences, leadership meetings, private events, workshops, fireside chats, and virtual programs.

After receiving your request, a Mollie Plotkin Group booking agent will review Cory Richards’s availability, discuss the event details, and get back to you within 48 hours with next steps for securing Cory Richards for your program.

Cory Richards Booking Fee

The cost to book Cory Richards depends on the event date, location, format, audience size, and scope of the appearance. Cory Richards’s speaking fee starts at $35,000. Speaking fees may vary for keynote speeches, workshops, fireside chats, private events, corporate meetings, and virtual programs.

For the most accurate Cory Richards booking fee, contact the Mollie Plotkin Group with your event details. Our team will help confirm availability, pricing, and the best format for your event.

Speaking Topics & Programs

The Edge Is Where We Begin: The Art of Resilience

Resilience isn’t about gripping harder. It’s about letting go smarter. In this keynote, Cory shows how adaptation, creative thinking, and radical honesty become the engine of real transformation.

Key takeaways

Shift from reactivity to response
Embrace discomfort as fuel for growth
Learn the 4 principles of sustainable resilience
Build personal endurance and collective momentum
Defining values and principles that underpin transformation
How to leverage vulnerability to build stronger teams

This keynote is ideal for: All-hands meetings, company off-sites, leadership retreats, mental health, or performance-focused events

No Summit Solo: Building Resilient Teams

Cory summited Everest alone, without oxygen. But what looks like solo success is always collective. Cory explores how trust, communication, and self-mastery build teams that thrive, even under extreme pressure.

Key takeaways

Build high-trust, high-functioning teams
Lead under pressure without burnout
Shift from control to collaboration
Strengthen psychological safety and cohesion

This keynote is ideal for: Cross-functional teams, executive teams, high-growth orgs, change management events

The Inside-Out Leader: Redefining Leadership from Within

Great leadership starts with self-awareness, reflection, honesty, uncertainty, and personal growth. Cory shows how emotional intelligence, transparency, and adaptability shape influence that lasts.

Key takeaways

Develop emotionally intelligent leadership
Lead with courage, not certainty
Model behavior that invites buy-in and trust
Align leadership with values, not just performance

This keynote is ideal for: Executive audiences, emerging leaders, leadership development programs, founder teams

Strong Enough to Feel: Modern Masculinity & Emotional Intelligence

The old armor doesn’t fit. Through his own experience in the environment of professional athletics, Cory challenges outdated ideas of masculinity and toughness, opening the door to grounded, vulnerable, human-centered leadership that’s beneficial for everyone.

Key takeaways

Reimagine strength through openness
Improve culture through emotional literacy
Support healthier work dynamics for all
Challenge inherited narratives without shame

This keynote is ideal for: Men’s ERGs, DEI summits, sports orgs, creative/athletic industries, culture-shaping conversations

Breaking the Story of Broken: Mental Health, Performance & Truth

Mental health isn’t a liability; it’s a leadership skill. Cory helps teams move beyond stigma to build cultures of honesty, care, and sustainability that unlock their true potential.

Key takeaways

Normalize conversations around mental health
Create cultures rooted in psychological safety
Move from silence to resilience
Leverage story to support human sustainability

This keynote is ideal for: Wellness events, HR/people teams, startups, high-pressure industries, mental health awareness programs

Impossible Isn’t: Unlocking Personal and Professional Transformation

You don’t need to become someone else. You need to become more fully yourself. This talk helps audiences rewrite limiting narratives, reconnect to purpose, and reimagine what’s possible.

Key takeaways

Reframe identity and possibility
Navigate change with values-based clarity
Use discomfort as a signal for growth
Reclaim agency and long-term vision

This keynote is ideal for: Conferences on change, innovation, brand culture, vision-setting retreats, high-stakes transitions

Featured Client Reviews for Cory Richards

“Cory’s story proves that true leaders don’t wait for perfect conditions—they adapt, endure, and push forward despite uncertainty. A game-changing perspective for any team committed to thriving in the face of challenge.” – Jeff Fleeher, Former EVP/Global CFO, Universal Pictures

“As high as Cory has climbed to summit Everest, he’s arguably gone down deeper into the depths of his own humanity.” – Wesley Schultz & Jeremiah Fraites, The Lumineers

“Cory’s story is nothing less than a bullet train into the heart of darkness—and back out again.” – Amy Ellis Nutt, Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist and author of Becoming Nicole

“The truth isn’t often told, it is lived. Cory’s journey, as told through his unique and daring vision, is as close to that truth as one can get.” – Reinaldo Marcus Green, American director and film producer of One Love and King Richard

Books

The Color of Everything: A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within

A renowned climber and National Geographic photographer shares his incredible adventures—and the early trauma that drove him to seek such heights.

“An extraordinary memoir of mental illness that reads like a thriller.” - Amy Ellis Nutt, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of Becoming Nicole

“In order to escape madness, I will live madly. I will risk my life in order to save it.”

Growing up in the mountains of Utah, Cory Richards was constantly surrounded by the outdoors. His father, a high school teacher and a ski patroller, spent years teaching Richards and his brother how to ski, climb, mountaineer, and survive in the wild. Despite a seemingly idyllic childhood, the Richards home was fraught with violence, grief, and mental illness. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and dropping out of high school, Richards subsumed himself in the worlds of photography and climbing, seeking out the farthest reaches of the world to escape the darkness. Then, in the midst of a wildly successful career in adventure photography, a catastrophic avalanche changed everything, forcing Richards to confront the trauma of his past, evaluate his own mental health, and learn to rewrite his story.

The Color of Everything is a thrilling tale of risk and adventure, written by a man who has done it all: He’s stood at the top of the world, climbed imposing mountain faces alone in the dark, and become the only American to summit an 8,000-meter peak in winter. But it is also the story of a tumultuous life—a stirring, lyrical memoir that captures the profound musings of an unquiet mind grappling with the meaning of success, the cost of fame and addiction, and whether it is possible to outrun your demons. With exquisite prose and disarming candor, accompanied by stunning photos from his career, Richards excavates the roots of his trauma and shares what it took for him to climb out of it.

Purchase now >

Bi-Polar: Photographs from an Unquiet Mind

The debut photography collection from the internationally renowned photographer, filmmaker, speaker, and mental health advocate, featuring 300 curated images from his global adventure features, climbing expeditions, portraiture, and early fashion and fine art work.

An artist and storyteller who passionately explores the human experience, Cory Richards began working for National Geographic shooting adventure features in the most remote corners of the globe. As a professional climber, he spent his early career on high-risk expeditions that tested his unique ability to capture stories that were largely out of reach to others.

Bi-Polar, a title that refers to Richards’s own diagnosis with Bipolar 2 at age fourteen and the career that has literally taken him to both ends of the earth, presents 300 of the most compelling images of Richards’s career. Organized by the emotional polarities that exist in his life and work, including hope and fear, pride and shame, awe and contempt, and finally, the singular, love, this stunning visual collection is a celebration of the tempests of the mind and how our greatest hurdles, when seen through a different lens, can become our greatest strengths.

Spotlighting jaw-dropping landscapes, disappearing ways of life, the intersection of humans and animals, and more, Bi-Polar invites us to consider how art can connect us to ourselves, others, and the beautiful world we live in.

Purchase now >