Naomi Riches MBE was part of the Great Britain Para-Rowing team for a decade, where she competed in the Mixed Coxed Fours, until she retired in 2013. Her legacy includes winning medals at national, world and Paralympic level and breaking the Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to row the river Thames by single scull.
Naomi has been a motivational speaker in schools since 2008, using her story to inspire and empower young people to achieve their goals and dreams. She is now working as a Sport and Education Development Consultant for Thomas International, helping athletes as well as students cultivate their performance.
Naomi will bring her inspiring story to the keynote stage at In-house Recruitment LIVE! London on 4th September 2018. Read on to discover an exclusive insight into what you’ll be taking away from her talk. For your chance to hear Naomi’s inspirational story in full, you can register for free here but be quick, as spaces are limited!
As a keynote speaker at In-house Recruitment LIVE! why can’t attendees afford to miss your presentation? What should they expect to learn from you on the day?
I will share with attendees a real-life account of resilience and determination but also what was learned along the way, the importance of self-awareness. They will hopefully leave feeling that anything is possible, despite the barriers that might stand in their way.
You draw on your personal journey as a Paralympic Champion and a Guinness Record Holder to inspire young people to follow their dreams. What has motivated you to achieve such amazing results?
It is hard to answer this without giving away too much, but in a nut shell I suppose what motivated me was that desire to prove wrong all those who told me I would not achieve.
What attracted you to your current role as Sport and Education Development Consultant at Thomas International?
Thomas International gives me the opportunity to give something back to the world that gave me so much (sport); it also gives me opportunity and tools to support young people in the world that to a certain extent failed me (education).
The tools and solutions we have to offer can be used in any environment and can give people a better understanding of themselves. When you join an organisation of any sort and at any level, you can never guarantee that you will get on with everyone… You won’t atomically find your new best friend, but you have to work together to achieve what you need to achieve. Being able to provide tools and solutions to help people understand themselves, their team, their company culture and become more effective gives me such a buzz!
Teamwork was a vital factor in your Paralympic journey to victory, how can in-house recruitment teams adopt similar tactics and strategies to achieve success?
In essence, the foundation of it all is trust. Trusting that everyone knows where they and their team are heading, trusting and respecting the differences in people, trusting that when it gets tough, you have each others’ backs.
