
[email protected]
Rick Nielsen
President of Blue Print for Life; Motivational Speaker
Rick has demonstrated on many occasions a unique ability to relate to audiences of all ages and occupations. Not only is he a dynamic speaker, he is also a magician, juggler, and humorist. These talents are combined to provide a motivational, inspirational, and entertaining program. After graduating from the University of Northern Iowa, Rick was a teacher and coach. Then he became Iowa’s first State Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, coordinating the growth of the program into one of the strongest in the nation. He founded Blueprint For Life, Inc. in 1986 and as President speaks and entertains on a national scope.Rick’s diversified abilities provide a platform for him to speak for a wide variety of organizations.Since 1986, Rick has given approximately 100 days a year volunteering his time with the Bill Glass Prison Ministry. Rick’s abilities as an entertainer, speaker, counselor, and leader lend themselves very well to this unique and challenging arena of service. Working with professional athletes and lay counselors, Rick effectively communicates a message of hope that will last a lifetime. His work includes frequent visits to death rows, segregation lockdowns, AIDS wards, and hospital units, and he has been in over 500 of America’s toughest prisons.
Rick is the author of Doin’ Time, a book that relates many of his incredible experiences in prisons and features 300 photos contributed by Pulitzer-prize nominee Ron Kuntz. In 1997, Doin’ Time won the prestigious International Angel Award for excellence in moral media.
In 1997, Rick was presented the “Leading the Way” award from KCCI Television in Des Moines for “caring, creating hope, inspiring others, and making a positive difference in the community.”
With messages that address the needs of today’s students, he has become one of the most popular speakers on high school and college campuses nationwide. Areas of work include school assemblies, seminars on drug and alcohol abuse and an alternative lifestyle, athletic banquets, faculty workshops, and administrative conferences. He spends an entire day with a school providing numerous assemblies and seminars that include students from kindergarten through college, as well as their parents.
Leading business professionals have all agreed that Rick’s program is a sound investment in the success of their companies. The message he delivers will motivate and inspire employees.
Within the framework of the church, Rick’s presentations provide a strong spiritual challenge, and many a congregation has been encouraged in their faith from his participation.
Having been an outstanding high school and college athlete, and a coach, Rick is right at home in the sports world. He is a frequent speaker for high school, college, and professional teams in all sports. He is also involved in communication workshops and television, and has completed five videotape projects. He has done tapes on goal setting and self-image in two Survival Guide for Teenagers series, and has served as the host on two five-tape series on parenting and marriage.
Rick has been a keynote speaker from coast to coast sharing the platform with some of the most successful people in America and is often asked back, providing something new and exciting each time.
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