On this episode Kat is joined by Richard McCann, international keynote speaker, to talk about his inspiring story of overcoming adversity and how he is using his experience to positively influence others.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• It doesn’t matter what role the audience I’m speaking to has in life, what car they drive, we’re all human beings and we’ve all been through some challenges and experiences. That’s the way I get over any nerves, I know they’ve been through some stuff and they’ll get something from what I have to share.
• You can only join the dots in the future, not at the time, but all those incidental things are absolutely vital in taking you down a certain path. My sister stabbed her boyfriend and it was that that made me think about starting to write my book which then led to my first speaking engagement which led to me travelling round the world as a motivational speaker.
• When I was 5 my mum went out drinking and didn’t come home, me and my sister were sitting at the bus stop waiting for her at 5:30 am, it’s heartbreaking to think about. But, she didn’t come home because she’d met Peter Sutcliffe, a serial killer who went on to murder 13 women in the UK after my mother. That’s when my story changed in ways I didn’t know were possible and what equips me to speak about resilience.
• When I was in the army in West Germany, a magazine was published about mum’s killer and I had a nervous breakdown. I was discharged from the army, started taking drugs and ended up in prison. After getting out, me and my sister entered into a suicide pact, but I ended up saving her and that incident was the turning point because I decided that life was worth living and I began rebuilding my life.

BEST MOMENTS

“They say you can’t please everybody, but I’d like to please as many people as possible.”
“I was told my story wasn’t ‘conference material’, but I’ve spoken over 3,000 times. We’ve got to be careful who we listen to.”

“Before he was arrested, I thought my mum’s killer was going to kill me, especially because he also killed one of our babysitters. I had a very challenging childhood, but it wasn’t all bad.”

“When I share my story I talk about the importance of two words: ‘I can’ which, coincidentally, are in my name. Don’t just believe it, do it.”

ABOUT THE GUEST

On a cold and misty morning in October 1975, Richard McCann woke to discover his mother was missing. He was just five years old. She was the first victim of the notorious serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe.

Having lost his mother to one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers, Richard was raised in poverty by his often drunk and violent father on a tough council estate in Leeds, England, and was on the at-risk register before he could even walk and talk. What followed was foster parents and time in a care home, and he left school with no qualifications, stumbling from one mistake to the other until he eventually found himself with no prospects after a spell in prison. The same prison as his mother’s killer! When he was released, he had few prospects and entered into a suicide pact with one of his sisters. He had reached his rock bottom.

By learning to accept full responsibility for his life, embracing his authentic self and adopting an iCan attitude, he went from no-hoper to Sunday Times Bestselling Author and internationally renowned award-winning motivational speaker. His first book, ‘Just a Boy’, sold almost half a million copies in the UK alone and has been translated into more than 10 different languages. Other books followed along with a speaking career that has seen him deliver over 3000 keynotes across the globe.

Learning to think positively is a skill that every young person will find invaluable throughout their life. Richard’s story demonstrates what can be achieved with a Growth Mindset and his presentations and interactive workshops will help your students, staff and parents discover their true potential.

Today, Richard has delivered over 3000 presentations around the world, inspiring audiences with his story of overcoming adversity, and sharing his powerful iCan approach. In 2009 he founded the iCanSpeak Academy, training individuals and teams to enhance their presentation skills and communicate their message authentically and with confidence, so they achieve more effective results.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Kat started her career as a teacher, before moving into Tech where she worked in different executive roles within teaching and consulting working across the globe, both in the public and private sector. Despite appearing 'successful' on the outside, she paid a heavy ‘life’ price. In 2016, her whole world collapsed. The reason? The compound effect of years of unhealthy and toxic habits that destroyed her health, relationship and career. She suffered a severe breakdown and lost everything. In the middle of this she got headhunted for her first CEO role. She rebuilt herself by changing just one small habit, and built a series of positive habits which has transformed her professional and personal performance, resulting in becoming the healthiest and happiest version of herself.

She is a positive habits international keynote speaker and teacher, giving talks and delivering high impact programmes to organisations across the globe.

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