Elite Speaker Series with Antarctic Mike Pierce

"Antarctic Mike” Pierce is a professional speaker, sales trainer and adventure athlete. Mike’s background is in the sales recruiting/executive search business and he remains involved in recruitment consulting projects for Personified, a division of Careerbuilder.

His career in sales began in the wireless industry in the early 90s. He then transitioned into the recruiting business, having worked in corporate recruiting and executive search with companies such as FedEx, MetLife, Cintas, Wells Fargo, Hershey and many others. Mike’s particular focus was helping organizations find top-caliber salespeople and help them to perform at their highest levels.

In January 2006, Mike became one of just 12 people to have run a 26.2-mile marathon on the Antarctic continent; 11 months later he returned to Antarctica to become the first American ever to complete the Antarctic Ultra Marathon, a grueling 100-kilometer race. Since then Mike has completed winter marathons in Siberia, Mount Washington and the Canadian Arctic. Mike also set world records for the longest Spin Bike at 120 continuous hours and the longest non-stop swim in a lap pool at 102 km (65 miles). His stories have been featured on CNN, Sports Illustrated, Fox, ABC, “The CBS Early Show,” ESPN, and many other national and international sources.

Mike is also an avid fan of polar history, particularly the Antarctic, having read more than 100 books on the subject. As a professional speaker, his programs are targeted to help companies find and keep great talent and drive more sales. His presentations and motivational messages are all grounded in stories from Polar history, including his record setting accomplishments in Antarctica. Through stories from Antarctica, Mike teaches associations, business leaders and sales groups fundamental principles of success and selling and how to help sales people, sales leaders and corporations to build and maintain a strong sales force, focusing on recruiting, retention, goal setting, discipline, execution and more.

He also focuses on:

1. Discovering the passion in your purpose 
2. The importance of discipline, focus and mental endurance
3. Building your sense of self-confidence 
4. Following up, following through, and finishing what you start 
5. Becoming more productive and profitable

Mike holds his B.A. in marketing from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has over 200 Vistage presentations to his credit and was named Vistage’s “Over and Above Speaker” in 2013.