Michael McGrath Speaker & Booking Information

Michael's remarkable life story is one of consistently overcoming incredible odds. British born with a cocktail of Irish and Brazilian blood and educated by the Jesuits, Michael describes himself as the adventurous black sheep of his family, a catalyst for change and a champion of difference; most of his family are in medicine. Michael made history in January 2004 by becoming the only disabled person in the world to have reached both the North and South Poles ~ by any standards, an extraordinary example of determination, courage and singular achievement.

He is first and foremost a father to his daughter and husband to his wife, also his business partner. At the age of 12yrs, Michael wanted to be a professional golfer. At 14yrs, he was invited to play at Junior Wimbledon. At 15yrs, he dreamt of becoming the General Manager of the Savoy Hotel in London. At 16yrs, he was a keen rugby player at Stonyhurst College (a flanker by trade!), an independent Catholic boarding school founded in 1593 (guided by Jesuit principles), whose motto "Quant Je Puis" (As Much As I Can) is central to McGrath's own Reach Beyond ethos and Can-Do spirit. At 18yrs, he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a muscle wasting disease that remains the single biggest genetic killer of children on the planet ~ in that moment, Michael's life instantly changed forever.

He is in demand as an inspiring motivational business speaker. He travels the world, provoking, stimulating and inspiring change whilst championing his 3M formula for success (based around the brain being a muscle, the body's ability to move and the mind needing to be fuelled by motivation) for both private and public sector organisations. Clients have included Barclays, Roche Pharmaceuticals, HBOS, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Lloyds TSB Women's Network, DHL Global, Hilton International, Credit Suisse, Shaw Trust, Capital Resourcing, Deutsche Bank, Carillion Transport, the NHS, Shoosmiths, the Cabinet Office, Motorola, Medtronic Inc, Remploy, Government Office for the South East, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, various UK public sector organisations including County Councils and Housing Associations, as well as many places of learning from Ashridge Business School (one of the world's leading business management colleges) to junior, secondary and special education needs (SEN) schools. Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group said "Michael is an inspiration".

Managing his own business, Michael has influenced and changed the mind-sets of thousands through speaker engagement and bespoke masterclass activity, giving clients a robust opportunity to creatively leverage key business objectives. Today, his greatest power is his emotional force to not only inspire action but help organisations motivate their people. Michael is also a specialist disABILITY adviser to the hospitality industry, with a focus on revenue generation. An Oxford Brookes Alumnus, he graduated in 1988 from the internationally recognised Department of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management. Described as the Jeremy Clarkson of the Hospitality World, he is often invited to write for professional industry journals. Within the hospitality sector past clients have included Hilton Hotels UK & Ireland, for whom he was exclusively appointed the Disability Champion for 4 years. He is a judge on the industries prestigious Cateys Awards as well a being a judge on The WOW! Awards, the only customer service awards scheme based purely on customer nominations.

When not speaking or consulting, he's raising vital funds and awareness to support the important work of The Muscular Help Foundation (musclehelp.com), a UK registered charity based near London that helps children and young people in the UK with muscular dystrophy via its Muscle Dreams programme, live a dream or fulfil a cherished ambition. He is the Co-founder.

In January 2004, Michael returned from Antarctica, having successfully led his team to the South Pole. In doing so, he made history by becoming the only disabled person in the world to have reached both North and South Poles – he reached the North Pole in April 2002. Leadership, trust, a strong sense of self-belief, teamwork and absolute confidence were critical success factors. Michael received global support and endorsements from business entrepreneurs such as Sir Richard Branson, actors, media presenters, sports personalities and adventurers such as Kenneth Branagh, Lorraine Kelly of GMTV, Michael Palin, Chris Bonington, Jon Snow of Channel 4 News as well as many Equality and Diversity champions including the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs at the European Commission in Brussels, where he has also spoken.

In recognising and valuing difference, Michael was included in The Queen's 2004 Christmas Day broadcast from Buckingham Palace that reinforced the importance of diversity as a strength and a year later, he received the prestigious 2005 Business Traveller of the Year Award presented to him by Kate Adie in Dubai.

In the words of Alexandra Shackleton, one of his expedition Patrons, Michael continually demonstrates, like her grandfather Sir Ernest Shackleton, the qualities of optimism, courage, imagination and patience – his polar achievements are extraordinary triumphs of physical and mental endurance, and should serve as a reminder to us all that, in Michael's own words, 'our limits are often far beyond where we may assume them to be'.