Conquer Your Ego
At every stage of life, ego holds us back. Learn how you can liberate yourself to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.
Ryan Holiday: Marketing Expert
Ryan Holiday is a bestselling author and modern Stoicism authority whose work guides leaders, athletes, and organizations in mastering resilience, clarity, and strategic thinking.
Quick Facts:
- Highlights:
- Author of multiple global bestsellers with 3M+ copies sold
- Pioneer in modern Stoicism and practical philosophy
- Advisor to Super Bowl, NBA, and Olympic champions
- Consultant to major organizations including Google, Twitter, Microsoft
- Formats: Keynote speaker, author, resilience strategist, leadership educator.
- Audiences: Executive leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, educators, teams, and professionals seeking mental clarity, peak performance, and strategic discipline.
- Outcomes:
- Apply Stoic principles to overcome obstacles, build resilience, and respond with clarity.
- Learn frameworks for better decision-making, emotional discipline, and high-performance habits.
- Gain tools to navigate uncertainty, lead with calm focus, and turn pressure into progress.
Reading time:
2
min
Reviews: (0 reviews)
- Travels from: Austin, TX
- **Fee range: $75,001 - $100,000
Talent Services
Keynote Topics:
Suggested Topics
Lasting Impact
Understand the difference between products and companies that appear in our lives as fads for a short while, and those that have a lasting impact on the way we think, live and work.
The Obstacle is the Way
Through lessons learned from of history’s greats, understand how embracing the impediments between you of your goal can become your path to success.
Talent Short Bio
Ryan Holiday is one of today’s most influential thinkers on leadership and resilience, renowned for bringing ancient Stoic philosophy into modern life and high-performance environments. By age 33, his bestselling books had sold more than three million copies and spent over 200 weeks on bestseller lists. His work is studied in universities, leadership programs, and marketing courses worldwide, beginning with Trust Me, I’m Lying, which exposed the structural weaknesses and manipulation points of the global media ecosystem.
Ryan’s teachings have been embraced by Super Bowl-winning teams such as the New England Patriots, NBA Champions like the San Antonio Spurs, Olympic athletes, military units, senators, and global innovators at companies including Google, Twitter, and Microsoft. His core message is rooted in Stoicism, the philosophy that while we cannot control external events, we can always control our response. This theme runs through his #1 New York Times bestseller Stillness Is the Key, his perennial classic The Obstacle Is the Way, and Lives of the Stoics.
Profiled by The New York Times, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated, Ryan’s storytelling blends historical insight with practical application. His work equips leaders to navigate uncertainty, transform adversity into advantage, and build a disciplined, clear-minded approach to work and life.
Read Full Bio
Few writers have done more to bring ancient, timeless wisdom and cutting-edge marketing strategies together than Ryan Holiday. His philosophically driven bestselling books have sold over 10 million copies and spent more than 200 weeks on bestseller lists.
His books are taught in colleges and marketing programs around the world, including Trust Me I’m Lying, which revealed the massive vulnerabilities (and opportunities) in the global media system in 2012. He has directly influenced Super Bowl-winning teams like the New England Patriots, NBA Champions like the San Antonio Spurs, and Olympic Gold Medalists, as well as sitting Senators, military leaders and some of the biggest and most important companies in the world like Google, Twitter and Microsoft.
At the core of Ryan’s teachings is Stoicism, popularized through his NY Times Bestselling books including Obstacle is the Way, Stillness is the Key, Ego is the Enemy, and his latest, book Discipline is Destiny.
What is Stoicism? The idea that while we don’t always control what happens to us in life, we always control how we respond. Illustrated vividly with stories from the greats (and not-so-greats) of history, Ryan Holiday provides a framework for overcoming obstacles, scaling new challenges and battling both the ups and downs and life.
Profiled by the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and ESPN, Ryan counts among his clients and followers some of the biggest names in business, tech, culture and professional athletics.
Ryan Holiday lives in Austin, TX where he does his writing in between raising cattle, donkeys and goats.
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Talent Videos
Ryan Holiday – Keynote Speaker Overview
A fast-paced, motivational highlight reel showcasing Ryan Holiday’s core philosophy, bestselling Stoic frameworks, and the impact his teachings have on leaders, athletes, and organizations.
Video Summary & Key Moments
“Stoicism teaches us that we don’t control what happens to us. We control how we respond. That single idea can change your life, your work, your leadership, everything.
When you study the greats—leaders, warriors, artists, entrepreneurs—you see the same pattern. They face obstacles, chaos, stress, and uncertainty. But they choose discipline. They choose clarity. They choose character. They choose stillness.
My work is about taking ancient wisdom and making it actionable today. For NFL teams, for the military, for CEOs, for students, for anyone navigating a world that feels increasingly overwhelming.
The Obstacle Is the Way. Ego Is the Enemy. Stillness Is the Key. These ideas are used by Super Bowl champions, Olympians, and some of the most successful people in the world because they work.
You can’t always change your circumstances. But you can always change your mindset. And when you do that—when you focus on what’s in your control—you unlock a different level of performance, resilience, and purpose.
Stoicism is not about being emotionless. It’s about being in command of yourself. It’s about transforming adversity into advantage. It’s a framework for becoming the best version of who you are.”
Key Moments
00:42 – 01:10 Clips highlight the widespread adoption of his work among elite performers—Super Bowl champions, military units, Olympians, and high-performing CEOs—underscoring the practical relevance of Stoic thinking.
01:10 – 01:38 Ryan discusses the importance of stillness, discipline, and emotional control. Shots cut between him writing, speaking, and coaching, reinforcing his message about creating space for focus in a chaotic world.
01:38 – 02:05 A montage shows teams, leaders, and organizations citing his books as frameworks for resilience and decision-making. Ryan’s practical style of blending ancient wisdom with modern strategy is emphasized.
02:05 – 02:36 He expands on using adversity as fuel for growth. Visuals include sports teams training and business leaders applying Stoic principles to high-stakes challenges.
Stoic Optimism: Ryan Holiday at TEDxUChicago (2014)
Ryan Holiday unpacks the ancient Stoic framework for thriving amid adversity, revealing why controlling perception, embracing action, and accepting what we cannot change leads to a more resilient and optimistic life.
Video Summary & Key Moments
“Optimism is often misunderstood. People assume it means pretending everything is fine or ignoring the hard parts of life. But that isn’t real optimism. The Stoics had a different view. They lived in difficult, chaotic times, yet they remained balanced and effective. Their optimism came from clarity, not denial.
Stoicism begins with perception—the discipline of seeing things objectively. Events themselves don’t hurt us. Our judgments about them do. When we examine a problem without panic, we often discover opportunities hidden inside the difficulty. History is filled with people who endured hardships and turned them into fuel for greatness, not because of luck but because of perspective.
The second discipline is action. Stoics believed in deliberate, persistent effort. Obstacles test our creativity and determination. They force us to become sharper and better. A setback can become a turning point when we decide to move forward decisively and intelligently.
The third discipline is will. This is the acceptance of what we cannot control and the commitment to endure. Will is not passive. It is active resilience. It is the strength to persist when circumstances refuse to cooperate, and the humility to accept that some things are simply outside our influence.
Key Moments
03:55 – 08:10 — Perception: Seeing Opportunity in Adversity Ryan outlines the first pillar: perception. He explains that our interpretation of events matters more than the events themselves. Through historical examples, he illustrates how choosing a constructive perspective allows individuals to transform setbacks into strengths.
08:10 – 12:40 — Action: Turning Challenges Into Momentum He shifts to the second pillar: action. Stoicism demands disciplined, deliberate, persistent action—especially when circumstances are unfavorable. Ryan cites leaders, athletes, and innovators who leveraged obstacles as fuel, turning resistance into momentum.
12:40 – 16:45 — Will: Accepting What Cannot Be Controlled Ryan introduces the third element: will. He stresses that will is not passive resignation; it is the active cultivation of resilience, patience, and acceptance. He outlines how Stoics develop an inner fortress that remains steady regardless of the world’s instability.
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