Terry L.
Fossum

#1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Keynote speaker behind the #2 New TEDx Talk in the World. Winner of a prime-time survival competition. Former U.S. Air Force Captain & Executive Officer.

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As featured on The Wall Street Journal

Baby Terry L. Fossum in his father's arms outside their home — Terry and his father.

He grew up in the poorest city in the entire U.S., on the wrong end of an assault rifle in middle school, lost his father in high school, changed history in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, became a decorated Air Force Officer, reached the top fraction of 1% in his industry in business, and even won a survival show on prime time network TV.

Everything he now teaches, he has actually walked. That’s the only kind of teacher he respects, so it’s the only kind he’s willing to be.

The whole story →

Cover of Never Miss a Goal Again by Terry L. Fossum

Books

#1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author

The Oxcart Technique hit #1 on the Wall Street Journal, Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and made the USA Today bestseller list. Its second edition is Never Miss a Goal Again. Also the award-winning S.I.M.P.L.E. Guide to Public Speaking.

Buy on Amazon ↗All the books →

Terry L. Fossum delivering a keynote on a large stage under stage lights

Keynotes

International Keynote Speaker

“Without doubt, the best speaker we’ve ever had.”— Conney Edmondson, Executive Director, Central Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance

Keynotes & booking →

TEDx

#2 New TEDx Talk in the World

Named one of the 30 most impactful TEDx talks of this century, listed alongside Brené Brown and Sir Ken Robinson. “Why You Didn’t Reach That Goal… Again,” TEDxSpokane.

Watch the TEDx talk ↗

Fossum's Hard-Won Insights

Lessons from the leaders behind The North Face and Terminator 2. One real story on leadership, inspiration or resilience, every other week, free. Latest: He Co-Founded James Cameron's Studio. At 25, He Bet His Job on a War Movie.

Read every edition →Subscribe on LinkedIn ↗

Podcast

Apple Podcasts “New & Noteworthy”

The Comeback Chronicles, hosted by Terry. In his chair: the founders of E! Entertainment, The North Face and Dippin’ Dots, on how they came back from the bottom.

Listen ↗

Terry L. Fossum. Subzero nights, wrapped in a buffalo robe.

Terry L. Fossum. The Amazon jungle. A shelter he built himself.

Terry L. Fossum. The Amazon jungle. A bow trap he set.

Terry L. Fossum. Barefoot in the Arctic.

Terry L. Fossum. Waist-deep, and still in the hat.

Terry L. Fossum. The Quetico wilderness, by canoe.

Terry L. Fossum. A few feet from mountain gorillas, Rwanda.

Subzero nights, wrapped in a buffalo robe.

Global Adventurer

Won $250,000 on the 2017 prime-time survival competition Kicking & Screaming

Caribou with the Inuit in the Arctic Circle. Piranha-water swims in the Amazon. Silverback gorilla treks in Rwanda. Solo in Death Valley. Subzero solo snowshoe expeditions.

Terry L. Fossum in a suit beside the Terry Fossum Center 2012 plaque on a brick building in Rwanda

Global Philanthropist

The Terry L. Fossum Educational Center, Rwanda

His philanthropy includes the Terry L. Fossum Educational Center in Rwanda and the Agricultural School for Family Independence in Malawi. Watch the village in Malawi that welcomed him with a song of thanks.

Watch the video →

Retreat

Owner, Sweetwater Ranch

Terry’s private Montana retreat: eighty private acres on a mountaintop. Come up to get clear, think at full size, and go back down ready to prove it, with Terry himself. By invitation only.

See the ranch ↗

Terry L.Fossum