Unleash Your Inner Athlete

Achieve peak performance for your team, organization and community using lessons I learned from rowing over 8,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean during 197 days alone at sea.

TRUSTED BY:

Your Mindset Drives Performance

People assume athletes are built in the gym.
But to master your craft – whether in sports or business – you must first find and grow your inner athlete.

MEET TEZ

Named one of the "50 Best Young Minds in the World" by the World Economic Forum

In 2020 I became the first person in history to row across the Pacific alone from California to Hawaii with no prior rowing experience. The journey took 71 days and 2,700 miles, powered by sheer will and two oars. In 2024 I completed the Pacific and rowed over 5,000 miles from Hawaii to Australia in 126 days. I’m the only person in history to row this route solo and nonstop.

This mission began while experiencing depression in college. Just leaving my dorm felt like a challenge. But when a friend invited me to join him in a triathlon and I began to train, I discovered I’m so much stronger than I thought. I’ve since come to realize, we all are.

Over the next decade, I went on to run over 45 marathons, two Ironmans with top finishes, and a 145-mile non-stop ultramarathon. At each step of my journey I realized again and again, my assumptions and limiting beliefs about what I could achieve were not only wrong, they were completely irrelevant.

I am stronger than my body, I am more than my mind.

From surviving wild ocean storms to guiding teams during turbulent times as a business leader, I’ve honed a set of skills to achieve seemingly impossible goals across diverse situations.

Let me help you blast through mental blocks and unleash your inner athlete.

Let me help your team, organization, or community to turn self-doubt into your greatest motivation.

LEADERSHIP

The courage to lose sight of shore

Motivate and lead your team across uncharted waters.

Inspiration

The Growth equation

Get fired up with stories of resilience, grit, and overcoming harrowing setbacks, so you can find your own ocean and the courage to cross it.

performance

optimize your mind for maximum results

Learn to work with your mind and cultivate the grit, discipline, and momentum to succeed.

Custom Talk

Looking for a custom talk?

We'll align on your challenges and goals, and I'll craft a Tez Talk specifically for your group.

Get in Touch

Organizations I’ve Worked With

Testimonials

You truly have a gift for sharing your stories and bringing us all along on your adventures. You’re natural and engaging. Really, really well done. Just incredible.

Sir Richard Branson

Founder, Virgin Group

Your talk was fantastic. Loved the message and engagement from the team. When my alarm went off at 5:30 AM today, I didn’t want to get up but I thought, I can’t possibly think of an excuse after hearing your talk.

Megan Roeske

Partnership Leader, Deloitte Consulting

You bowled me over with your incredible story of courage and persistence, I feel so lucky to have heard your story. You raise the bar for humanity, and for me personally and what I believe I’m capable of. Thank you Tez!

Catherine Choi

Founder, SoYoung Inc

You are exceptional in your thinking, analysis, and delivery. Wrapping up our program with your story was simply perfect. This was a sentiment shared by our leaders as well.

Natalie Melamed

Principal, Palo Alto Networks

Our company is going through a major transformation, and we are navigating choppy waters and strong headwinds. Facing challenges and storms is something we all encounter in different ways, and Tez’s message really resonates. He is truly inspirational and his talk made us reflect on who we all want to be.

Emmanuel Benoit

CEO, Valiantys

Tez is one of the most inspiring people and speakers I’ve ever heard. He’s riveting, and leaves you feeling like you want to play a bigger game in your life.

James Hodges

Serial Entrepreneur | Ceo, Amphibian Capital

Over the last 20 years we’ve had the opportunity to hear a lot of great speakers at our events. Tez ranked right up at the top of the list. His story is the perfect mix of inspiration, personal reflection and motivation to do more.

Chris Hadley

VP Franchising, Byrider

This isn’t something I can often say, but the world is a much better place with you in it. Fantastic talk, I can’t thank you enough.

Don Myers

Corporate Strategist | Master Chair, Vistage Worldwide

There are many good speakers out there, Tez rises above with his authentic and powerful presence and his ability to move and inspire people from his own depth and extraordinary experiences… he is mesmerizing and leaves people in awe, stretching our ideas of what is possible.

Ian Edwards

Partner, The Collaborative Way

It is a rare gift to have lived a story worth telling and be as gifted a storyteller as Tez. How he turned his epic adventure into a moment of action for the entire audience was masterful.

Andy Ellwood

Serial Entrepreneur | Executive Coach

I invited Tez to speak at Colorado Thought Leaders Forum, because I’d heard him speak on stage multiple times, and always find something new and inspiring in his talks. Tez’s message that we all have the power to shift our mindset to achieve seemingly impossible goals resonated deeply with our members. I look forward to having Tez back again after his next expedition!

Xan Pearson

CEO & President, Colorado Thought Leaders Forum

The parallels between decision making under pressure in entrepreneurship and the world of high adventure human performance dazzled our audience. The inside look into Tez’s journey kept us all talking about how we will change our lives for months.

Aaron Houghton

Serial Entrepreneur & CEO of Founders First System

You literally made me cry. This is how we need to tell stories.

Noemie Tilghman

Deloitte Partner overseeing 15,000 employees

Inspiration isn’t something you go out and find. It comes from within.

We all have an ocean to cross.

And most times our ocean is more mental than anything else.

I would know. When preparing to row across the ocean – and then while I was at sea – I was pummeled by wave after wave of self-doubt. This is the storm that weathers our dreams.

Whatever your goal, cultivating mental resilience is essential. The distance between where you are now and where you want to be is no greater than the space between your ears.