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Blair Braverman        

Dogsledder, Adventurer, Author of "Small Game," "Dogs on the Trail" & "Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube"

Adventurer, dogsledder, and author Blair Braverman is an expert in perseverance and resilience. She and her team of dogs have traveled through thousands of miles of wilderness in Alaska, the Yukon, and Scandinavia, and completed the Iditarod race, showcasing her expertise in long-distance dogsledding. Braverman is the author of three significant works: "Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North," "Dogs on the Trail: A Year in the Life," and her debut novel "Small Game," which explores themes of survival and resilience in a fictional survival reality show gone wrong. She shares insights on developing grit and courage, working as a team under pressure, and offers fresh perspectives on leadership.

Braverman is a contributing editor for Outside magazine, and her storytelling has been featured in major publications such as The New York Times, Vogue, and on the This American Life podcast. Her experiences and insights have also been showcased on The Today Show, in O: The Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post, TIME, Teen Vogue, and on NPR. In 2023, she expanded her storytelling to broadcast media by hosting a series on animal-human relationships for BBC Radio 4, further solidifying her expertise in the human-animal bond.

A seasoned speaker, Braverman has delivered keynote addresses at significant events, such as TEDxOshkosh, where she discussed survival and courage. She has also spoken at events for major companies like Microsoft, Google, and Procter & Gamble, covering topics such as high-performing teams, digital storytelling, and her extensive experience in dogsledding. Her speaking engagements are well-regarded for their impactful narratives and practical insights, often leaving audiences with lasting impressions on how to tackle challenges with determination and team spirit.

Speech Topics

How to Be Brave

How do you set off into the wilderness, knowing you’ll meet tremendous and unpredictable challenges? In this talk, Braverman uses stories from the trail to demonstrate that courage isn’t a quality, but a practice that combines preparation, problem-solving, and trusting your future self—and she offers practical lessons that anyone can implement in their life and work.

Secrets of High-Performing Teams and Leaders

A team's success depends on how well its members collaborate in high-pressure situations—and no one knows this better than mushers, whose lives depend on trust and teamwork with their dogs. But true leadership is far quieter than many people assume. Using lessons from animal behaviorism, psychology, and her own experience, Braverman breaks down common misunderstandings about leadership and the myth of the “alpha dog,” instead offering a blueprint for confident, collaborative teamwork that helps every member to excel.

Digital Storytelling

How do you tell a story in a tweet? A page? A single caption? In this fun and interactive workshop, Braverman—whose stories on social media have gone viral time and again—shares techniques for establishing characters, conflict, intrigue, and humor in practically no space at all.

Author Talk: ‘Small Game’

In this engaging conversation about her debut novel Small Game, adventurer Blair Braverman shares her journey writing her gripping and provocative exploration of the comforts, rituals, and connections we depend on. An expert in perseverance, Braverman offers insights about how we find the courage to build a new life from the ground up.

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