Dame Kelly Holmes
Motivational Speaker & Gold Medallist
Colonel Dame Kelly Holmes is a British icon and an inspiration
She joined the British Army at 17, serving for nearly 10 years as a qualified HGV driver and Physical Training Instructor and in 1998 she was awarded an MBE in recognition of her services to the armed forces.
During a 12 year international career, Kelly won multiple medals at Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic level, culminating in two Gold Medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics Games for the 800m and 1500m, which cemented her place in history as the first women ever in Great Britain to win two gold medals at the same games. She was honoured with a Damehood in 2005 for services to sport..
Today Kelly is a Global Inspirational Speaker, an award-winning author, as well as a championing fitness, wellness and mental health. She continues to be President of the charity she founded in 2008, Dame Kelly Holmes Trust – a charity which supports disadvantaged young people using the unique skills of world-class athletes to engage, enable and empower for which she won a Beacon award for philanthropy in 2017.
In 2018 she was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Armoured Corps Training Regiment. Dame Kelly became the first person to be attached to a regular regiment as an Honorary Colonel which was required to be signed off by the Queen.
In 2020 Kelly was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of York to add to 12 others she has received since retiring.
In June 2022 Dame Kelly came out publicly as a gay woman, in an emotional and powerful documentary called Kelly Holmes: Being Me, where she explains how after 34 years of fear, she finally feels free to be her authentic self and wants to use her voice to educate and inform on D&I matters
SPEAKING TOPICS
Dame Kelly Holmes’ experience makes her the ideal speaker as she gives her audience invaluable information while keeping everyone entertained with her natural humour. Her enthusiastic and energetic speeches are rooted in the unique achievements of a double Olympic champion and are synonymous with focus, self-belief, drive, determination, and success.
Dame Kelly can cover subjects such as
• Mental health in the workplace
• Women’s empowerment
• Overcoming adversity
• Peak Performance
• Health & Wellbeing
• Resilience
“Charles Stanley Plc has been a stockbroker and provider of financial services since 1792. Today the company continues to grow with offices nationwide offering a complete investment management service to their clients. Kelly drew on her own inspirational story to deliver a motivational after-dinner speech to senior employees of Charles Stanley Plc at their 2013 Business Conference.”
— Sir David Howard – Chairman
“We had an amazing day, and Dame Kelly was an excellent ambassador! Kelly was happy to have numerous selfies and spend time talking to the staff in the call centre which meant a lot! Her speech was brilliant and kept us all spellbound and to some a bit emotional.”
— Michelle Hunt, Newlyn Connect Centre
“Please pass our thanks on to Kelly. The delegates’ loved her and all staff was in agreement that she was the best speaker that we have ever had!”
— Petrina Parnell, Institute and Faculty of Actuaries
“Many thanks for arranging Dame Kelly. She was amazing and went down a storm at our event. Lovely lady who had time to speak with a lot of people.”
— Carmelle JCI
“Kelly was incredible! Thanks! “
— Lucy, Healthcircle
