Akeem Haynes
- Change Management
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Health & Wellness
- Leadership
- Mental Health
- Peak Performance
- Personal Growth
- Resilience & Adversity
- Athletes & Sports
- Campus & University Speakers
- Conference
- Education & Teachers
- Family & Parenting
- Guest Panelist & Guided Q&A
- Inspirational
- Lifestyle & Health
AKEEM HAYNES BIOGRAPHY
Born in Savlamar, Jamaica, Akeem Haynes didn’t have much of an advantage from the beginning. With limited options and tragic events happening early in life, he moved to Canada with his mother seeking a better life. When he was seven, he and his mother moved to Yellowknife before settling in Calgary when he was 10. Akeem’s mother struggled to raise her family as a single mother, and Akeem took a leadership role with his siblings at a young age. They fell into tough times and struggled to find stability. In five months, they moved seven times and eventually found themselves homeless in winter when Akeem was 13 years old.
Down but not out, with some friends’ help, they could get back on their feet. Akeem Haynes became involved in sports, mainly football and track and field. Akeem excelled on the field and the track and won many different awards. In the 11th grade, he started to gain offers from Division I schools in the United States. Nevertheless, Akeem’s path to becoming an NCAA Division I student-athlete was not smooth. After taking the S.A.T. three times and the A.C.T. once, Akeem Haynes failed to get the needed scores. In hindsight, none of this mattered. Akeem was automatically ineligible due to an NCAA violation in his ninth-grade math class.
You would think all this adversity, on top of having multiple learning disabilities, would’ve stopped Akeem from furthering his education. But quitting has never been an option for Akeem. He attended Barton Community College in the fall of 2010. Two years later, he would go on to make his first Canadian Olympic Team and earn All-American honours, becoming a national champion and earning a full athletic scholarship to The University of Alabama. Akeem Haynes eventually became the first in his immediate family to graduate from college and become a Division I Track and Field All-American. Through perseverance, a resilient mindset and a stubborn attitude to succeed, Akeem has become a 2x Olympian (2012 & 2016), helping Canada bring home an Olympic Bronze Medal at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
Akeem attended Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kansas, before transferring to the University of Alabama, where he earned a degree in General Health. His self-help books entitled Love, Life & Legacy and Fear, Faith & Fruition which about dealing with hardships and setbacks. With his smooth tone, calm demeanour, and ability to paint a transparent picture with his words, there isn’t a room Akeem Haynes has walked into and not left a lasting impact on the audience by resonating with their hearts.
Videos
Podcasts
Akeem Haynes Topic Presentations
the relentless pursuit to be the best
- Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
A presentation based on motivation, perseverance, leadership, and believing in yourself when no one else does. Once homeless, Akeem Haynes tells the story of how he overcame tremendous adversity and setbacks to get to where he is today. Akeem lived in poverty for most of his childhood with a single parent, often not knowing when the next meal would come. His family immigrated to Canada from Jamaica, and raised in Yellowknife and Calgary, Akeem grew up quickly and embraced being the man of his household.
He had to adjust to Canadian culture quickly, often dealing with racism and exclusion, while continuously having to prove himself. He uses his story to offer the audience inspiration on how to develop and maintain a positive attitude no matter what is going on in their lives. He shows the audience that it was only when he started going outside his comfort zone and faced his fears head-on was when he was able to build the foundation for his success. Akeem Haynes’ presentation explores perseverance, faith over fear, and gratitude for every good and bad experience one goes through. It also explores the important coaches, teachers, mentors and relationships that assited Akeem to become who he is today.
live your story - the olympic dream
- Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
Akeem Haynes faced many challenges throughout his personal and sporting life before he represented Canada at the 2016 Summer Games. He was constantly set back by different institutions, coaches, and himself. Akeem offers the audience his story of how to deal with setbacks, how to let go of the past and to keep focused on your vision. He offers insight into mental resiliency, how to manage opportunity, and to calculate the right decision. Akeem shows audience members how to deal with loss/failure and turn it into motivation. Akeem believes that the importance of positive thinking and positive self-talk is the key to having confidence which then brings success.
Akeem has dealt with a lot of pain and setbacks in his life, there are two types of pain in this world. Pain that makes you bitter, and pain that makes you better. The number one thing is that we trust ourselves and have faith in who we are and what we want to accomplish and that we surround ourselves with those who support our dreams. His story on his early career and life to become an Olympian offers audiences a personable story of overcoming all odds to become who he is today.
own your story - the right balance
- Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
Being one of Calgary’s and Alberta’s most decorated dual sport athletes, Akeem Haynes earned a full athletic scholarship to The University of Alabama. While the student-athlete lifestyle might seem glamourous, it taught him how to be productive and manage his time while getting optimal results. Akeem teaches us that time management, positive habit-forming, the power of positive self-talk, and holding ourselves accountable all play a strong role in being productive. The results of being productive are impacted by one’s discipline to keep focused on small/daily goals, that build you closer to the vision of where you want to be. Akeem helps others focus on how to put the right amount of effort into our work, our lives, our loved ones and ourselves.
write your story - adapt, grow and succeed
- Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
If you truly want to make a change in your life, you first have to accept complete ownership. We are the one constant in our problems and solutions. Akeem’s speech will give you perspective how to grow and development from within yourself and how to deal with internal and external challenges. Akeem shows us the importance of values and maintaining loyalty to our beliefs so that we can more easily deal with change and challenging situations. He shows the importance of building relationships with those who are like minded so that we can master ourselves and control our destiny. This allows us to better handle change and to adapt ourselves to become whoever we need to be in order to accomplish our goals. Akeem’s presentation explores how it is adapting to challenges where we can grow the most, therefore making challenging situations an opportunity rather than a struggle. Being different is never a bad thing as long as you deal with it in a positive way. Akeem teaches us the power of positivity, strategies for dealing with change and how to put it all together for success.
ja-canada: from jamaica to yellowknife to olympic medalist
- Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
In 1998, Akeem Haynes and his mother departed from Sav-la-mar Jamaica and migrated to a small town in the far North of Canada to Yellowknife, NWT. This was a huge adjustment for their family coming from Jamaica. Not only were the winters tough and the days sometimes light for 3 months out of the year, Akeem and his family had to adjust to an extreme version of Canadian culture in being one of the only black families in the area. They struggled early in those days in the forced shift to lose part of their cultural roots, with no access to Jamaican ingredients for home cooked meals as well as learning the Canadian way in an unpopulated and limited access location. Akeem felt the pressure of being culturally different early on in those years. He heard his classmates whispering jokes behind his back, and felt eyes on him wherever he went. A huge culture shock for Akeem and his family, they pulled together to discuss and strategize on how they needed to act, work and respond when faced with challenging situations due to the culture barriers.
It was in these moments that Akeem understood that he was going to be judged in Canada for his looks and his culture. Something hard for a young person to understand, Akeem continued to take the high road and to transform the challenges into proven success. Akeem later went on to go to University on scholarship to Kansas and Alabama. Two of the most culturally divided states in the USA. Akeem used his previous experiences in what his family had taught him early on in Yellowknife as well as what he had taught himself in different situations. Akeem identifies the challenges of what is like to be a new immigrant in Canada in small towns as well as some of our larger cities. Akeem shares a deep and personal story of the troubles his family faced as new immigrants in a remote Canadian community and the struggles he and his family faced early on in his life to be accepted in Canada while also navigating poverty, discrimiation and a loss of identity. He shows the importance of one staying connected to their roots, and what he learned on how to interact with non-black Canadians, as well as how to overcome negative thinking that is usually a result of one being labelled “different”.
- Change Management
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Health & Wellness
- Leadership
- Mental Health
- Peak Performance
- Personal Growth
- Resilience & Adversity
- Teamwork
- Athletes & Sports
- Campus & University Speakers
- Conference
- Education & Teachers
- Family & Parenting
- Guest Panelist & Guided Q&A
- Inspirational
- Lifestyle & Health
- Motivation
- Olympians & Olympics
- Youth Leadership & Students
Testimonials
Articles & Media
Coming Soon!
Books
How to book Akeem Haynes for an event?
Akeem Haynes keynote speaker is an expert presenter and has a wide range of experience speaking to a wide variety of audiences and organizations. Akeem Haynes delivers keynotes, workshops & training sessions. They may also host or emcee events. Hire Akeem Haynes from Calgary, Alberta for your event to inspire the audience to take action and make change in their work and their lives. Your workplace will benefit from our keynote speaker and their keynote talks and speeches will shift the mindsets or behaviours for the audience members in Canada.
Interested in booking Akeem Haynes for an event?
Are you looking to hire Akeem Haynes for your event? Akeem Haynes Calgary, Alberta is a dynamic and engaging speaker that offers audiences researched content paired with expertise and a dynamic speaking ability. Akeem Haynes is also a Canadian corporate consultant and coach and facilitates workshops and training sessions for a corporate audience. Akeem Haynes is an expert keynote presenter and speaks on wide variety of topics. Hiring a great speaker for your event is important and working with a thought leader like Akeem Haynes from Speakers Canada’s roster will engage audiences into the content of the presentation to bring awareness and a fresh perspective for their approach to their work and their lives. Book Akeem Haynes to educate, motivate and activate the audience through an interactive and entertaining presentation at corporate meetings and gatherings.
Known as a popular key note speaker in Canada, Akeem Haynes creates life changing experiences for the participants with practical insights and strategic advice they can implement right after the session. Working with a one our leading expert speaker like Akeem Haynes from Calgary, Alberta offers organizations a fresh perspective to assist the people of the organization. No matter if it is a government, association, or business crowd, Akeem Haynes is a perfect speaker for your event. Through unique practical insights for trending topics and years experience speaking to different organizations, Akeem Haynes focuses on changing individuals to make better decisions at work and their lives. No matter if you are holding an in person or virtual event, having an influential speaker such as Akeem Haynes will engage, motivate, and activate the audience to make a change in their lives and inspire action for results to meet organizational goals. Your workforce will benefit from Akeem Haynes’s presentations and speeches, with measurable results set to shift the people of the organization and core direction of the company. Book Akeem Haynes speaker for your annual general meeting, conference, summit, or convention in Canada.
How much does it cost to hire Akeem Haynes for a keynote presentation or virtual event?
Akeem Haynes is an expert professional key note speaker with a lot of experience speaking and delivering engaging talks to organizations and audiences in Canada. Each of Speaker Bureau Canada’s talent have different ways to assess their fees, and Akeem Haynes speaker fee ranges depending on the size of the audience, event format (in person or virtual), event location, and if the organization booking them is a non profit, association, government department/government agency or business/corporation. The speakers we work with are flexible with their fees, and it is important for us to learn more about your event before we approach them, as it is our role to work for you, and to help you find a speaker within budget.
Please contact Speakers Bureau of Canada and provide us with your event details so that we can contact Akeem Haynes to check availability or confirm the pricing and associated costs to hire a great speaker like Akeem Haynes for your event. As Akeem Haynes's agent and as a Canadian top speaker bureau and talent agency for speakers, we are able to propose each event opportunity from each host organization’s behalf to try to help you get in touch with Akeem Haynes and confirm them for your in person or online meeting/event. We can also provide and advise on the booking process and potentially negotiate their fee. Speakers Canada is a client focused speaker agency, and we work for you in finding good speakers for your team meetings and booking processes.
Akeem Haynes Disclaimer
When SBC receives a request to book Akeem Haynes we provide you with their speaker fees, travel costs and check their schedules. We work closely with the host organization’s event planning team and the speaker to handle the logistics and to relay or negotiate associated costs. Our talented team members then will work with our talent directly or their agent/manager/assistant to confirm the Canadian speaker fee and travel expenses, so that event planning teams can receive an official quote for the speaker appearing at the event. Speaker fees and travel costs vary per speaker and our role is to contact Akeem Haynes about your event, after we have connected with the event organizers to learn all the event details and/or conference program. Each booking request is unique since session durations and audience sizes can vary which may affect the speaker’s fees. If you are looking to hire Akeem Haynes, we recommend filling out the booking request form so a booking agent from Speakers Bureau Canada can get in touch with our talent to help you coordinate with your team to engage the speaker for a successful event.