About Erik
Erik Wahl is an internationally acclaimed artist, TED speaker, and No. 1 bestselling author. Known for his energetic keynotes, Erik blends creativity and business innovation to inspire companies to embrace disruption as the new normal. His message emphasizes the importance of agility and creative thinking in a rapidly changing world, urging organizations to lead as disruptors rather than risk being left behind.
Erik’s books, The Spark and the Grind and Unthink, have earned high praise for their actionable insights on translating ideas into reality. Forbes hailed Unthink as "the blueprint to actionable creativity," while Fast Company described it as "provocative with a purpose." Drawing from his experience as a corporate partner, Erik saw firsthand how companies that prioritized creativity thrived, motivating him to challenge businesses to innovate.
In addition to his corporate work, Erik is an acclaimed graffiti artist who uses his art to raise money for charities. His client list includes AT&T, Disney, Microsoft, and XPrize.
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By embracing innovative strategies, professionals at all levels can achieve superior levels of performance by creatively and visibly differentiating themselves from the competition. No matter what kind of organization you have—from a small company to a large corporation—employees at all levels will better able to embrace the future by becoming more innovative, more productive and ultimately more profitable.
ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE
– Differentiation, differentiation, differentiation
– Telling a better story
– Out thinking the competition
EMBRACING CHANGE
– Working smarter, not harder
– Sustaining excellence in a changing economy
– Leveraging chaos to capitalize on opportunities
THE ART OF VISION
Awards & Publications
Books published
- Unthink
- Spark and grind
- Unchain the elephant
- The Wahl story
- I am artist
More About Erik
In his book, "The Spark and the Grind," Erik delves into the essential elements of transforming ideas into action, earning acclaim from prominent figures in both the art and business realms. His previous bestseller, "Unthink," was praised by Forbes Magazine as the blueprint for actionable creativity and by Fast Company Magazine as "provocative with a purpose." Erik's clientele includes prestigious organizations such as AT&T, Disney, the London School of Business, Microsoft, FedEx, Exxon Mobil, Ernst & Young, and XPrize.
Reviews
Huge hit
- Gwen Peters
Erik’s presentation was one of the highlights of our three day conference for financial institutions! People were not just inspired, they were challenged to look at things differently, which I believe will make a positive impact on the financial service’s industry. Erik and his entire team were wonderful to work with and I would definitely hire him again and highly recommend him to others!
Best speaker
- AT&T
Erik Wahl was the highlight of our entire conference. He captured everyone’s imagination with his creativity and added a whole new dimension to the usual motivational message. Not to mention his artistic finale was a complete knockout!
never disappoints
- LexisNexis
Erik’s presentation was outstanding and it was exactly what we were looking for.
Perfect fit
- United Healthcare
Erik was INCREDIBLE. He was extremely well received… Standing ovation. Thank you!
Perfect fit
- National Parent Teachers Association
Your presentation was once again, outstanding! After seeing you at the National Realtors conference and now our National conference, I am amazed at your ability to customize your message for both corporate and educational audiences.
positive & energetic
- Dr. Jenna Sage
I’ve never seen a speaker drive such positive, energetic engagement in a virtual setting. Halfway through Q&A, my inbox was flooded with encore requests from our staff. Due to the demand, we invited him back a second time, and unsurprisingly, it was another smash hit. The impact Johnny’s talk has made on our company culture is still talked about to this day. He truly became part of the UMA family!
Impeccable!
- Guela Ferguson
Johnny was the keynote speaker at our recent dinner for philanthropic professionals and the response from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive! Attendees shared that they appreciated Johnny’s very personal presentation style and his willingness to engage with them. Johnny was very attentive during the two pre-session meetings we had in tailoring the session to best suit the needs of our audience. He took our input to heart and incorporated ideas and concepts seamlessly into his presentation without sacrificing any of his core messaging. The attention to timelines, deadlines, requests for additional information and session descriptions was impeccable and very much appreciated!
absolutely recommend
- Jennifer Wills
Johnny’s talk was very well received and the youth who attended the BRAVE Summit learned about acceptance, and that it is ok to not be ok from Johnny. The excitement has not quelled and the youth are still talking about the talk that Johnny gave and how he inspired them to take control of their mental health and seek help when needed. I would absolutely recommend Johnny to speak to ANY group
refreshing!
- Jess Atchison
It is refreshing to see a speaker of his caliber take the time to interact with attendees in such an authentic way. Johnny was personable, kind, relatable, and compassionate to each conference attendee and staff member he interacted with, and was definitely a key highlight of our event.
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