Cory Richards
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.
Cory Richards Booking & Availability
Speaking fees, availability and booking details for corporate events, keynotes and private appearances.
How do I book Cory Richards for a corporate event?
Use the Check Availability form above to send your proposed event date, location, audience size, event format and program goals. The Mollie Plotkin Group will follow up with availability and next steps.
What is Cory Richards’s speaking fee?
Cory Richards’s current speaking fee is $35,000–$40,000. Final pricing can vary by date, location, event format and scope of the appearance.
Is Cory Richards available for my event date?
Submit your proposed date and event details and the Mollie Plotkin Group will confirm current availability.
Who is Cory Richards’s booking agent?
The Mollie Plotkin Group is Cory Richards’s exclusive booking representative.
What types of events can Cory Richards be booked for?
Corporate events, conferences, leadership meetings, keynote speeches, workshops, fireside chats, private events and virtual programs may be available depending on the engagement.
Cory Richards Keynote Topics & Programs
Cory Richards speaks on burnout, creativity, crisis management, disability, entrepreneurship and growth through keynote presentations and related programs. Additional themes are also available.
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.
This keynote is ideal for: All-hands meetings, company off-sites, leadership retreats, mental health, or performance-focused events
Key takeaways from The Edge Is Where We Begin
- 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
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.
This keynote is ideal for: Cross-functional teams, executive teams, high-growth orgs, change management events
Key takeaways from No Summit Solo
- Build high-trust, high-functioning teams
- Lead under pressure without burnout
- Shift from control to collaboration
- Strengthen psychological safety and cohesion
Great leadership starts with self-awareness, reflection, honesty, uncertainty, and personal growth. Cory shows how emotional intelligence, transparency, and adaptability shape influence that lasts.
This keynote is ideal for: Executive audiences, emerging leaders, leadership development programs, founder teams
Key takeaways from The Inside-Out Leader
- Develop emotionally intelligent leadership
- Lead with courage, not certainty
- Model behavior that invites buy-in and trust
- Align leadership with values, not just performance
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.
This keynote is ideal for: Men’s ERGs, DEI summits, sports orgs, creative/athletic industries, culture-shaping conversations
Key takeaways from Strong Enough to Feel
- Reimagine strength through openness
- Improve culture through emotional literacy
- Support healthier work dynamics for all
- Challenge inherited narratives without shame
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.
This keynote is ideal for: Wellness events, HR/people teams, startups, high-pressure industries, mental health awareness programs
Key takeaways from Breaking the Story of Broken
- Normalize conversations around mental health
- Create cultures rooted in psychological safety
- Move from silence to resilience
- Leverage story to support human sustainability
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.
This keynote is ideal for: Conferences on change, innovation, brand culture, vision-setting retreats, high-stakes transitions
Key takeaways from Impossible Isn’t
- Reframe identity and possibility
- Navigate change with values-based clarity
- Use discomfort as a signal for growth
- Reclaim agency and long-term vision
Cory Richards Biography & Credentials
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.
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.
