Col Dame Kelly Holmes MBE (Mil), the British army

At 18 Kelly joined the British Army. A fully qualified HGV driver and Physical Training Instructor with an army career spanning 10 years, she was awarded an MBE for services to the British Army in 1998.

In 2018 Kelly was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Armoured Corps, marking her return to the army.

She was the first person to ever be attached to a regular unit which was signed off by The Queen.

Athletics

Pursued her talent at running due to the belief and support of her PE teacher at school. She was ferried to race meetings up and down the country by her family growing up and dreamed of Olympic Gold but her running career was overshadowed withrepeated physical injuries and periods of clinical depression and self-harm that affected Kelly right up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

She won Olympic Gold in the 800m and 1500m races at Athens, becoming the first woman ever and the first Briton in over 80 years to do so.

She was BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2004 and awarded a Damehood in 2005 for services to athletics.

She still holds various track records to this day.

Charity Work

Founded the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust in 2018 with a vision to get young lives back on track using the unique skills of world-class athletes to engage, enable and empower young people.

Find out more about Kelly’s charity work below:

Entrepreneur, Fitness expert , Wellness advocate and Author

Kelly has channelled her love of fitness with good physical & mental health into her business interests.

The owner of a unique events hub she has several distinct operations including two Apps being launched in 2020 under her brands.

She published her second book, Running Life which won the Sports Health & Fitness Book of the Year Award for the Telegraph Sports Awards2019.

Speaking.

Kelly is passionate about raising awareness of mental health. Her own  experience led her to learn more and how to help others. A trained Mental Health First Aider, she assists corporates and individuals through both her commercial work and her charitable activities.

She continues to be President of the charity she founded in 2018, the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.

SPEAKER STYLE

Kelly approaches her talks in a style that is eloquent and humorous. She is an effortless speaker who explains how the techniques she has learnt on the track can be applied to all areas of life. She draws on humble, encouraging and empowering stories from her early life, athletics career and career in the British Army.

Kelly provides practical advice and inspirational vision for achieving ambitions in both the professional and personal worlds, whether that be on the track, in the office or at home. In her talks, she encourages the philosophy of nothing is impossible.

Keynote topics include:

• Mental Health in the Workplace
• Overcoming Adversity
• Achieving Peak Performance
• Health & Wellbeing
• Women’s Empowerment/Networking
• Motivation & Inspiration Goal

Clients include:

BP, Linkedin, Cabot Financial, GSK, Unilever, Actis,