Accelerent - Kansas City

At 19, Jeremy Poincenot was your typical college sophomore. Friends, sports, fraternity and most importantly, perfect 20/20 vision. Then it happened, no warning, no time to prepare. Life began to blur. Over the next few months, Jeremy lost central vision in his right eye, followed closely by his left. The diagnosis: a rare genetic disorder called Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), a disease that affects a mere 100 people in the U.S. each year with no treatment or cure in sight. At first, Jeremy thought losing his vision meant forfeiting his life. But he soon learned that with every challenge comes an opportunity for growth.

When Jeremy lost his central vision, he thought the game of golf he loved was over. But with some hard work, dedication, and the support of his family and friends, he quickly learned that his golfing career had just begun. At 20 years old and with his Dad as his guide, Jeremy competed in and won the 2010 World Blind Golf Championship with a dramatic chip-in in a playoff. They have since gone on to win 8 National Championships, an Australian Blind Open, an Italian Blind Open and two more World Blind Golf Championships. In 2011, Jeremy was honored as the San Diego Hall of Champions Challenged Athlete of the Year. Like all things, it’s the most difficult trials that shape who we are—and Jeremy is a better athlete and person because of this sport.

Now, Jeremy strives to raise awareness of LHON, and along with the help of his friends, they have created the C.U.R.E. (Cycling Under Reduced Eyesight) Ride, an annual fundraising bike ride that has raised over $350,000 for LHON research. Their goal is to raise a million.

Today, Jeremy is an Inspirational Speaker traveling the world, sharing his story to inspire audiences to take control of life and turn trauma into triumph. Jeremy is not your ordinary motivational speaker. With a powerful personal narrative, a little wit and a strong inspirational message, he has made it his mission to help his audiences rise up to their biggest obstacles and see them as opportunities.

Jeremy’s objective when he steps in front of an audience is not to dictate how to succeed in life; it’s to convince individuals that independence is good, while interdependence is great. He speaks from experience and has discovered that with a focus on the good, key insights, and the determination to persist through the challenges, anything is possible.

Jeremy has had the privilege of being featured on ABC's 20/20, ESPN.com, CNN’s “Great Big Story” and MTV's True Life and has spoken for many prestigious companies including Aflac, Honda, John Hancock, Kaiser Permanente, Wells Fargo and many more.

Patrick Houlahan is the Founder and CEO of Strategic Leadership Consultants LLC. Founded in 2019, Strategic Leadership Consultants’ mission is to Build Inspired, Compassionate, Mission-Driven Leaders. Since 2019, Patrick has conducted Keynotes, led Workshops, and Consulted with numerous organizations such as State Farm, Technology Marketing Toolkit, Association of Inside Sale Professionals, and Mission Produce. Patrick has had a distinguished career in both the military and business world.

Patrick graduated from The Citadel in 1992 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He was stationed in San Diego, CA. serving as a fighter pilot flying the F/A-18 Hornet and deployed twice to the Western Pacific. Patrick graduated from the United States Navy Post Graduate Fighter Weapons School, “Top Gun,” and served as an instructor pilot. In 2003, Patrick was selected as the Instructor Pilot of the Year.

After leaving active duty in 2004, Patrick flew the A-10 Warthog with the United States Air Force Reserves and joined the Marine Corps Reserves in 2006. After returning to the Marine Corps, he established the first Reserve Training Unit and continued to serve as an Instructor Pilot. As a reservist, Patrick deployed to Al Assad, Iraq and again to the Western Pacific.

Patrick has trained over 500 replacement aircrew, accumulated over 2800 hours of flight time, and rose to the rank of Colonel. He is a graduate of the United States Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School, the United States Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and earned his Master of Strategic Studies as a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Army War College. Patrick has served in a variety of roles in the Marine Corps including as a Supply Officer, Maintenance Officer, Operations Officer, and Unit Officer in Charge.

In 2004, after Patrick left active duty and joined Afterburner Inc.. Patrick quickly rose to become an Executive Consultant and Director of Seminars. In 2006 was selected as the San Diego’s MPI (Meeting Professionals International) Speaker of the Year. During his 13-year career at Afterburner, Patrick led over 450 keynotes, workshops, and consulting engagements with today's leading corporations such as Verizon, ExxonMobil, Medtronic, DOW, VMware and H&R Block to name a few.

Patrick has also worked as the account manager for Southern California for Kratos Public Safety and Security, as the Director of Business Development for Citadel Defense Company, and as the Organizational Development Executive (ODE) for Brooks International. As an ODE, Patrick worked with numerous executive leadership teams and was responsible for gaining consensus and alignment in support of the CEO’s imperative.

Throughout his career, Patrick recognized that the organizations that succeeded in any endeavor possessed great leaders. Those that did not, failed. Recognizing the need for leadership training, Patrick founded Strategic Leadership Consultants in 2019 to help organizations Build Inspired, Compassionate, Mission-Driven Leaders.

Retired Navy SEAL Jason “Jay” Redman is the author of “The Trident: The Forging and Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader,” which captures his 21-year career and journey in leadership serving with the US Navy SEAL teams. He has encapsulated those profoundly transformational lessons learned and now shares his life-changing motivational messages with companies, churches, teams, executive leadership, and other organizations and individuals worldwide through motivational speaking, training, workshops, personal coaching, business consulting and more. His messages of leadership, teamwork, the OVERCOME Mindset and surviving life ambushes by “getting off the X” resonate with audiences of all types, within the contexts of both personal and professional development alike. Jason is frequently sought as a motivational leadership keynote speaker for professional sports teams, schools, associations, and Fortune 500 companies such as NASCAR, the NFL, MLB, McDonald’s and Dell. He has been mentioned and/or featured in The Wall Street Journal and other prominent news outlets as well as numerous distinguished leadership blogs, podcasts, books, panels and forums.