Jake is an experienced public speaker whose incredible story of climbing Mt Everest aged only 21 and his quest to climb K2 are inspirational tales of determination and an unerring will to succeed.
Jake was only 14 when he set his sights on wanting to climb the ‘7 Summits’ – the highest mountain on each continent. At 6.30am on the 4th June 2005, aged only 21 and 135 days old, he reached the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world and his 7th continental highpoint. At the time, he was the youngest Briton to climb Mt Everest, and the youngest man in the world to complete the 7 Summits.
Since 2008 Jake has been focusing on trying to climb K2 in Pakistan, the second highest mountain in the world and arguably the most difficult and dangerous in the world with a 1 in 5 death rate. He made attempts in 2009 and 2016, but on both occasions he was forced to turn back on his summit attempt, mere hours from his goal. Undeterred, in 2018 he returned for a third time, and on the 21st July 2018 he finally stood on the summit of K2. In doing so he joined an elite and extremely small group of some of the world’s best climbers to have done the same – fewer than 400 people who have stood on the top of K2 (more people have been into space) and 85 have died trying. Jake’s 10 year odyssey shows that perseverance can truly pay off.
Jake has worked as a full-time leadership development consultant for the Inspirational Development Group (IDG) since 2010. IDG offers first-class training designed to transform the behaviour of individuals and teams, and lead to sustainable change within an organisation. They offer a range of bespoke Leadership Development programmes focussing on the interlocking areas of Leadership, Followership and Partnership, to produce accomplished leaders who are also effective followers and highly skilled team players.
He was an ambassador to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards Scheme, and regularly presented the Gold awards at St James’s Palace, and has worked closely with a number of charities including Walking With The Wounded, Help for Heroes, The Prince’s Trust, the Prince’s Teaching Institute, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the CAIRN Trust.
Jake is also a commissioned officer in the Army Reserve, and in 2012 spent 6.5 months in Afghanistan as a Battlegroup Influence and Consequence Management Officer.
Jake is available as a thought-provoking, inspirational and motivational speaker for events around the world. His presentation can be tailored specifically to the audience and to fulfil the aims and objectives of the client. He is comfortable providing focused and intimate discussion with small teams of Senior Executives, or presenting to large audiences of 1800+.
"An inspiring book written by an inspiring young man. A call for young people to transform their lack of self-belief and release their potential”
"The reactions from the group were very good - we were very impressed with Jake's charisma and humour."
"10 out of 10. Jake linked well into the theme of our conference and was happy to tailor his talk to fit perfectly with our brief - he had an interesting story and was very engaging. Jake was confident with a great manner and good presentation skills. We will definitely be using him again.”
“There was also an excellent balance of speakers with a particularly inspirational speech given by Jake Meyer, encouraging me to think about the aspirations and ambitions of young people and their entitlement to a range of stimulating and exciting opportunities, both within the curriculum and in an extra-curricular context.”
“Although I had high expectations, Jake exceeded them. We really appreciated how he linked his experience to ours in what came across as a very natural way and the story he had to tell was such a fascinating one that no-one could fail to be enthralled. Feedback from the group has been extremely positive.”
“Please pass on excessive thanks to Jake as well for great speech. He really understands risk and return – so many lessons for business.”
“You made every effort to understand the theme of the event in advance and ensured that your presentation set an excellent platform for the business exercises that were to follow. Your delivery style was engaging and balanced the right level of humour and seriousness. All of the conference attendees without exception were buzzing after the presentation and it remained the highlight of the conference.”
"What was great about Jake was his ability to motivate and enthuse the audience in Moscow. We had excellent feedback, everyone thought Jake was an excellent speaker. He is able to deliver his message with drive, energy, passion, dedication and with a joke. He is a perfect fit with our young and ambitious professionals. The synergy was really there, and the audience was really energized by his presentation. Excellent work and a great story. Absolutely to be recommended and Jake clearly has a great future ahead of him.”
"Jake worked really well with us, we were very pleased with the outcome.”
"The queue to see Jake speak went right round the whole exhibition hall; he was one of the most popular speakers this year at both Olympia and Birmingham NEC."