Testimonials.

Sally joined us here at Taking Care, to open up our Learning at Work Week as our key note speaker and she went down a storm with the team here. Her speech with compelling slide show and video clips really fit with the whole learning theme; being your ‘best-self’, how to manage highs and lows, the importance of great physical and mental health, resilience and maintaining peak performance. And all delivered in a lovely relaxed and accessible style. Our teams loved seeing her medals, asking her questions and taking selfies. Our team are still talking about it now and it really did set the whole week up for success. Thanks Sally. You’re welcome back to Devon any time!

Taking Care

Janet Craig
Learning & Development Manager
Sally, thank you very much for your fantastic after dinner speech at the Servicesure of the year awards, the customers were really excited to see and hear you and all mentioned how inspiring you are whilst adding some great humour to the event, thanks again!

The Parts Alliance (Servicesure Autocentres)

Paul Dineen
Head of Garage Programmes
Sally was extremely natural and engaging which helped our colleagues and clients immediately settle into the event. There was a feeling of familiarity right from the start with Sally but also something very special having a national sporting icon talk to us directly and honestly. The subjects discussed touched diversity, racism, motivation and determination, mental well being, the Olympics, coming up in sport. Varied and inclusive for all with some nice overlaps into the corporate world. I obviously loved having a special audience for 5 minutes at the start with a sporting heroine from my sprinting days at Loughborough and curly hair chat!

Thomson Reuters

Elena Folkes
Director, Strategy & Market Development
We couldn’t have asked for any more from Sally’s keynote at our inaugural National School Business Leaders Day virtual event. She was candid about her experiences and incredibly inspiring, covering topics including mindset and resilience which resonated perfectly with the audience. She was incredibly generous in her advice and delivered everything with a perfect measure of humour. Our delegates offered spontaneous recognition and thanks throughout the speech via the online chat, and afterwards, our social channels were full of awe, enthusiasm and support for the themes Sally covered, and her delivery. I’d also like to mention how brilliant Sally and her team were in the build up to the event, giving of their time to prepare technically and also adding a splash of positive thinking to calm our own pre-event nerves! We would recommend Sally without hesitation and hope that we have the opportunity to work with her again.

School Business Services Ltd

Leyla Tovey
Managing Director
Sally was the ultimate professional and incredibly friendly. She listened carefully to the brief and adapted her approach to suit. She even went out of her way to make sure that we got what we needed. She shared her experiences simply yet powerfully and gave great advice. People were talking about her and the advice she gave long after the event was finished.

European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards (ECCCSA)

Leigh Hopwood
Managing Director
It was great to have Sally on board with our event, her slides were engaging and we have received some good feedback from our delegates about how inspiring and relevant the content was. I think Sally’s session really worked well with the overall feel of the event and rounded off the series nicely.

Simplyhealth

Simplyhealth
Sally is one of the most inspirational and motivating speakers we’ve ever had join us on our TechWomen programme, one of BT’s key diversity programmes. Throughout the past 12 months, Sally has joined us numerous times on our programme and our TechWomen always love her stories. More recently, Sally created a bespoke session for us around mental fitness which went down a storm. Sally always gets on board with your goals and objectives to make sure your attendees get the most out of their time with her and is an absolute joy to work with!

BT

Rachel Brackenbury
Talent Programme Manager
Sally joined us for our 2021 kickoff meeting and it was the perfect way to start the new year with the team. It was over zoom, of course, but that did not take away one bit. She was so engaging, funny, and extraordinarily inspirational. We're an HR tech company but Sally did a wonderful job of tying her Olympic experience to ours as individuals. We highly recommend having Sally join you for a speech!

Apploi

Amanda Cianni
Project Manager
As part of our World Mental Health Day support this year we welcomed Olympic hero Sally Gunnell who told her story of resilience and mental strength to achieve success. Our aim of the talk was to inspire Adobe employees to invest in their own mental fitness so they can too can be at their best both personally and professionally. Thank you Sally! It gave many of us an emotional trip down memory lane to see the Barcelona race once more!

Adobe

Laura Hocking
EMEA Physical Wellbeing Program Manager
I highly recommend Sally as an inspirational speaker and for wellbeing and resilience training. She has done a couple of sessions for us at Elior UK and they have been practical and interesting and very unique. Her approach is particularly apt now as we have to lift each other out of the pandemic trough. Thank you Sally!

Elior UK

Catherine Roe
Chief Executive
"Sally presented very clearly and in a friendly and encouraging way. In 40 minutes, Sally covered the key areas of wellbeing, putting into context how she mentally and physically prepared for the Championships & Olympics. Her keynote presentation, and answers to the many questions that followed, was inspirational. We have had many notes of appreciation, several coming within an hour of Sally’s closing remarks. I would thoroughly recommend Sally as wellbeing and motivational speaker for any occasion. Furthermore, Sally’s PA was very helpful and extremely efficient – communication was clear and timely - our initial enquiry was made less than 3 weeks before the event, but it could not have gone any smoother, thank you Vicky and Sally."

Moore Kingston Smith LLP

Moore Kingston Smith LLP
Paul Samrah, Partner
"Sally joined us for Mental Health Awareness week to talk about her journey and how she put herself first to succeed as an elite athlete. It was a truly humbling experience, her authenticity and honesty in relation to how she overcame some of her negative self-talk was inspirational. "

Simplyhealth

Simplyhealth
Director of Leadership and Colleague Experience
"Sally was brilliant from start to finish and the perfect conclusion to what had been an informative day for our delegates. Her account of the leadup to her 1992 gold medal triumph, gave us something to think about, with clear takeaways that we can all implement in order to achieve our goals. Be that, setting a clear meaning and purpose for each day, recognising the importance of marginal gains or getting out of your comfort zone in order to succeed, there was something that resonated with everyone. Sally even took time after her speaking slot to take photos with delegates and had even brought along her winning medal too. I would highly recommend Sally to inspire, engage and motivate any audience and hope to see her at another event soon."

British Parking Association

Membership Engagement Manager
Sally is an incredible individual a world-beater. Sally has achieved so much in her career and private life and is a great role model. When Sally presents to any audience, young or old, she captivates them and takes them on her incredible journey. I can highly recommend Sally.

Big Change

Martin Port
Founder & CEO
What an inspiration Sally Gunnell is. Hearing her talk about the life-changing journey she undertook, as she evolved from a 15-year-old runner dreaming of greatness into an Olympic gold medal-winning champion, was both empowering and moving. Here at BT, we are on a transformational journey of our own and it was a thrill for over 1,000 of us to hear Sally relate her experiences of overcoming setbacks and embracing change to the pioneering work we are doing as a technology company. “Run your own race” was Sally’s parting message: wise words from a fantastic role model, who also took the time to speak personally with as many of us as possible, helping to turn our day into a memorable occasion that will stay with us all for a very long time.

BT

Rachel Higham
MD IT and BT Technology Volunteering Lead
"I thought I’d give you a flavour of the feedback we’ve been getting from her stint for Gateway. It’d be great if you could pass this on. Sally’s a brilliant speaker but even so I guess it’s nice to reflect on just how good sometimes!! Two days later and staff are still coming to see me to tell me how brilliant they thought Sally’s session was. I’ve just been to make a cup of tea and someone has told me the talk, ‘woke her up – at work and outside’. I’ve had some shy repairs guys come in to tell me the session was ‘the best ever’. And the amount of people who’ve been showing off their photos to family and friends is awesome. Overall, for a small organisation which is on a journey to greatness, people felt really special to be in the company of such a sporting hero. There’s a real energy about the place and it was exactly what I wanted. Sally is so great with the staff and is utterly professional with the brief whilst being really down to earth and accessible. Believe me, I’ve seen some conference speakers in my thirty years in housing and Sally just nails it every time. I’ve also been contacted by a few other housing CEOs and this from one of our sector senior recruitment partners, ‘My colleague has just seen that you have Sally Gunnell at your conference! I just wanted to say – wow! She was my absolute hero when I was little'."

Gateway Housing Association

Kate Dodsworth
Chief Executive
"I was thrilled when Sally was able to join us for our Prize Day. She was delightful, inspirational, down-to-earth and natural. A fine example to our students."

Caterham School

Julian Thomas
Headmaster
"Sally’s speech was highly inspirational and motivational. Her story, while unrelated to our profession, was easily translatable to our line of work. She went down a storm with our delegates and would be an ideal speaker for virtually any audience."

IRMS

Matthew Stephenson
Chair
"Sally Gunnell is a big name, who has achieved so much by working hard. Sharing her personal experiences with us was priceless. I was very impressed when she spoke about mindset; how we can achieve anything if we are mentally strong and put all of our hard work in the right direction. I felt like I could relate to her and her sporting experiences; she spoke my language. I found her inspirational and awesome!"

Armadillo Self Storage Conference

Delegate
"Sally is such an inspiration. She is down to earth and a brilliant motivational speaker. At the Women in Construction Awards 2012 she had everyone on the edge of their seats, you could even hear a pin drop. All of our guests loved her. I would definitely recommend her as a speaker."

Excel Publishing

Amber Engle
Events Manager
"Given the subject matter, it would have been easy for Sally to sound full of herself, so the humorous and self-deprecating way she shared her fears and internal thoughts as the race approached was both surprising and extremely easy to relate to."

The John Knowles Company Ltd

David McGuire
"We were thrilled that Sally was able to come and open our new gym at Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre. She spoke to customers and staff for hours, posed happily for photos and gave countless interviews to the local media. Sally is a fantastic ambassador for sport and fitness. She talked passionately about her sport and the importance of keeping active. Sally’s presence at our event certainly helped raise our profile and the profile of fitness locally and nationally. She was a pleasure to work with."

Abbeycroft Leisure

Warren Smyth
CEO
"Sally was an ideal choice to open our new state of the art physiotherapy gym. During our exclusive opening event she was professional, engaging and really down to earth which made everyone feel comfortable. We cater for people with sports related injuries and Sally gave an inspirational speech; in which she highlighted well from her own experiences about the necessity for a gym that provides physiotherapy services such as ours. We were overwhelmed by her willingness to chat to everyone and took an active interest in the service The Horder Centre can now provide."

The Horder Centre

Luke Garner
Marketing Co-ordinator
"We wanted Sally’s talk to be motivational and it certainly was! Guests spoke afterwards about the hairs of the back of their neck standing on end, when she showed winning the gold at Barcelona. The event was a huge success and Sally was pivotal in that success."

Gravesham Borough Council

Melanie Norris
Director of Communities
"Sally was “guest Olympian” at our event to launch a new development programme for high potential managers and captivated the audience with an inspirational and motivational presentation. We were also struck by how friendly, approachable and humble Sally was as she chatted with guests afterwards."

Wholesale & International Banking Lloyds TSB Bank Plc

Mike Edwards
Learning Consultant
"Just wanted to email you to say a huge thank you to you and Sally for yesterday! Our leadership team have all commented on how truly inspirational Sally was (and they all loved getting their hands on an Olympic Gold medal)! Sally Gunnell was truly fabulous. Her unexpected arrival, for the delegates, at today’s Leadership Conference was amazing. The WOW factor was palatable and the ‘I am so in awe’ of you’ evident. Thank you so much for allowing JLR to make full use of the connections you’ve built through PINS. She was amazing."

Reading

John Lewis
"The girls were full of Sally Gunnell’s talk after the event. Girls have told their teachers they have been inspired in their sport and academic studies to aim high. At a Parents’ evening two days later parents were volunteering positive comments about the visit and explaining that their daughters had recounted the messages given by Sally. I have no doubt that Sally’s wise words will stay with the girls for many, many years."

St Albans High School for Girls

Headmistress
"Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your support with Sally’s visit to the branch today. We had the best time…..Partners loved it, with a real buzz being created across all departments. Sally and Jon were fantastic, and we’ll be riding on the wave of their visit for some time in the branch."

Bluewater

John Lewis
"I just wanted to drop you a note to say a big thank you for speaking at our event last week, it was the perfect end to the day. I’ve received excellent feedback from delegates, who found your talk hugely inspiring, you accessible and very down to earth with many saying that you were the highlight of the day!"

BT Global Marketing

Louisa McCabe
"Just a short note to say how fabulous Sally was today. She was so professional and accommodating – a real pleasure to work with. Her after lunch speech was excellent; perfectly judged for the audience and you could literally hear a pin drop whilst she was talking. I’ve had lots of really positive comments from our guests saying how much they enjoyed it already. I’d also like to thank her for letting so many of our team have photos taken with her – and for letting them hold her medals – they really appreciated the time she gave to them. Sally’s talk perfectly accompanied the theme of our employee awards event and I’d have no hesitation in recommending her to anyone looking for a top notch presenter who is capable of really engaging with any audience."

Support Services Babcock International

Julia Dixon
Head of Communications
"On behalf of my colleagues at the ICFM, I am writing to extend a big “thank you” to Sally for doing such a terrific job at our Conference on Wednesday. We had a record number of delegates in attendance and the day was a complete success, with Sally playing a significant part in this achievement. Her motivational and illuminating talk was spot on and we have already received some excellent feedback from a number of delegates who attended to say how much they enjoyed her contribution on the day. Please pass on our sincere thanks and appreciation to Sally for a job very well done."

The Institute of Car Fleet Management

Peter Eldridge
Director
"Our inaugural “Right Works” awards evening was a big event for Raymond Brown Construction, with people representing shortlisted sites arriving from all over the country. Sally Gunnell’s presence and after dinner speech transformed the evening from good to excellent. Her footage of her 1992 gold medal race left us all feeling inspired and quite emotional. Later, she certainly had a very relaxed approach as she interacted with our guests – they were delighted. The feedback we have had has been superb."

Raymond Brown Construction Ltd

Commercial Director
“On International Women’s Day 2019, it was my sincere pleasure and a massive honour for me to interview Sally Gunnell. She was a brilliant interviewee, generous with her time and incredibly humble and eloquent. She spoke with an appreciation for the hard work and sacrifice which went into forging a professional career in which she became one of only five GB Athletes to win Golds at Olympic, World, European, and Commonwealth Games. It was amazing to hear her explain the technicalities of hurdling. Above all though, as an ambassador for her sport, a pioneer for females in sport and working closely with many charitable causes not least the Stroke Association, her exemplary character shone through. A star in every possible sense.”

Verulam Sport

Tony Rice
Producer/Presenter
"It has been an absolute pleasure to have Sally as an ambassador for the Stroke Association. No ask has been too much trouble. She has undertaken numerous media interviews on our behalf, earning us invaluable exposure in both regional and national media which we otherwise wouldn’t have gained. It’s so important to have someone as respected and beloved as Sally being a public advocate for us, getting our key messages across to a wider audience. She also very kindly agreed to take part in a charity fun run for us and remained happy to participate despite strong gales and rain! She’s been a total star!"

The Stroke Association

Vanessa Langford
Artist Liaison
"Sally was certainly a highlight. Her speech was amazing and everyone in the room was hanging on to her every word. Even the younger attendees who may not have known Sally were totally engaged throughout the speech. I spoke to quite a few people over lunch and all said how inspirational she was. Please pass on our thanks to Sally for an incredible job"

Manpower Group
"Sally is always fantastically supportive and she’s so professional, both times I’ve met her she’s received a really warm welcome from the crowds and spoken so eloquently."

BN5 Magazine

Emma Osman
Editor
“Sally was the ideal speaker to engage our audience of HR Directors. Our company regularly engages with HR Directors and are always trying to find a topic and speaker who will resonate with them. Sally delivered a highly interactive talk on 'resilience' explaining to our audience of HR Directors the challenges she overcame in her athletic career and how this translated into her business career. Sally provided an ideal blend of theory and practice, which resonated perfectly with the audience. I would thoroughly recommend Sally to other organisations.”

Leathewaite

Kevin Matthews
Global Head of Marketing
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