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Erik Wahl

Graffiti Artist | Best-Selling Author | Entrepreneur | Philanthropist | Key-Note Speaker

The Art of Vision

As an internationally recognized graffiti artist, and a #1 best selling business author, Erik redefines the term “keynote speaker.” Pulling from his history as both a businessman and an artist, he has grown to become one of the most sought-after corporate speakers available today.

There is a distinct reason why people say that calling Erik Wahl “another speaker” is the equivalent to calling the Mona Lisa “another painting.” When Erik is standing on stage invigorating the audience, there is no mistaking the fact you have made the best possible decision by partnering with him. The attendees will profusely thank you for inviting Erik to share his personal story as he offers a bold new vision for your group. To have this as your reality, the next move is yours to make.

Erik’s on-stage painting seamlessly becomes a visual metaphor to the core of his message, encouraging organizations toward profitability through innovations and superior levels of performance. His list of clients includes AT&T, Disney, London School of Business, Microsoft, FedEx, Exxon Mobil, Ernst & Young, and XPrize; Erik has even been featured as a TED presenter.

In the past ten years, Erik has shared his incredible message with the largest and most influential companies in the world, leaving behind his prized artwork as a reminder of his passion for breakthrough thinking. Organizations proclaim his presentation to be the single moment when their team finally “got it”. The responses received have been nothing short of incredible, with standing ovations to prove it.

The responses received have been nothing short of incredible, with standing ovations to prove it.

  • The Art of Vision ®
  • The Art of Leadership
  • The Spark and the Grind: The Discipline of Creativity
  • Unthink™

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!”
AT&T

“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!”
Gwen Peters, Senior Event Manager, Digital Insight, an NCR company

“Brilliant”
Wells Fargo

Below is a list of financial, banking and credit union clients that Erik has worked with.

Financial

AgStar Financial
Allianz Life Insurance Co
Allstate
American Express
American Express Asia Pacific
American Express Australia
American Home Mortgage
Ameritrade
AXA Financial
Barrons
CAPCO
Carr, Riggs, and Ingram
Cetera
CUMIS Group Limited
CUNA Mutual Insurance
CUSO Financial Services
Deloitte
Edward Jones
Elavon
Ernst and Young
Equifax
Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance
Farm Credit Council Services
First Command Financial Services
Genworth Financial
Guidant Financial
HD Vest
Hirtle Callaghan
Infinex
ING Financial
Independent Bankers of Texas
Independent Insurance Agents
International Financial Group
Insurance Conference Planners
Investor Services
Lincoln Financial
LPL Financial
MD Financial Management
Met Life
MHA Insurance
Midland National Life Insurance
Midwest Claim Assn
Monumental Life
Mutual of Omaha Insurance
Premier Insurance
Raymond James Financial
SII Investments
State Farm Insurance Co
Sunlife Financial
TD Ameritrade
Thrivant Financial
United Capitol
Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe

Banking

American Bankers Assn
Alliance Bank
California Bankers Assn
Citizens Bank
Colorado Bankers Assn
Community Bankers Assn
First Northern Bank
Florida Bankers Assn
Georgia Bankers Assn
Independent Bankers Assn of America
Indiana Bankers Assn
Kansas Bankers Assn
Kentucky Bankers Assn
Natixis
Nebraska Bankers Assn
Nevada Bankers Assn
New York Bankers Assn
Oregon Bankers Assn
Wyoming Bankers Assn
Prosperity Bank
Riverside Bank
South Dakota Bankers Assn
Texas Bankers Assn
Texas Mortgage Bankers Assn
Union Bank
Wells Fargo
West Bend Savings
William Blair

Credit Union

American Credit Union Mortgage Association
America’s First Credit Union
Baxter Credit Union
California Coastal Credit Union
California Credit Union League
Colorado Credit Union
Coastal Federal Credit Union
Credit Union National Association (CUNA)
Cyprus Credit Union
Founders Federal Credit Union
GTE Credit Union
Illinois Credit Union
Iowa Credit Union
Kirtland Federal Credit Union
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union
Missouri Credit Union Assn
National Assn Federal Credit Unions
New Mexico Educators Credit Union
New Jersey Credit Union
Ohio Credit Union League
San Antonio Federal Credit Union
TDECU
Traverse City Credit Union
Texas Credit Union
Texas Credit Union Assn
Utah League of Credit Unions
Wisconsin Credit Union League

Travels From:  California
City:
$30,001 and Up

Biography

Erik Wahl is an internationally recognized graffiti artist, # 1 best selling author and entrepreneur. Erik redefines the term “keynote speaker.” Pulling from his history as both a businessman and an artist, he has grown to become one of the most soughtafter corporate speakers available today. Erik’s on-stage painting seamlessly becomes a visual metaphor to the core of his message, encouraging organizations toward profitability through innovations and superior levels of performance. His list of clients includes AT&T, Disney, London School of Business, Microsoft, FedEx, Exxon Mobil, Ernst & Young, and XPrize; Erik has even been featured as a TED presenter. The responses received have been nothing short of incredible, with standing ovations to prove it.

Erik’s bestselling business book UNTHINK was hailed by Forbes Magazine as THE blueprint to actionable creativity and by Fast Company Magazine as Provocative with a Purpose.

Erik’s understanding of vision was originally born in the school of disappointment. After a eight-year career as a partner in a corporate firm, he became frustrated by the lack of innovative thought and corresponding profits he saw in business. So he set out to challenge companies to change their way of thinking, while simultaneously pursuing his own individual passions. He rediscovered his love for art, and now plays in the business world by workingthrough his art.

In the past 10 years, he has shared his incredible message with the largest and most influential companies in the world, leaving behind his prized artwork as a reminder of his passion for breakthrough thinking. He’s the Warhol of Wall Street, the Renoir of ROI, the Picasso of Productivity, the Jobs of… well, having a Job.

He is Erik Wahl: graffiti artist, author, entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Presentations

The best sustainable edge in business is the ability to differentiate yourself from your competition. Through this entertaining and highly practical program, we will uncover new ways to make your organization more creative, innovative and profitable, but more so, help your employees see the need to become better storytellers within and for your company and industry.

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
  • Outthinking the competition

EMBRACING CHANGE

  • Working smarter, not harder
  • Sustaining excellence in a changing economy
  • Leveraging chaos to capitalize on opportunities

Today’s leaders face a pressure to innovate—or else perish—unlike any other time in history. Advances in social, mobil and cloud technology, coupled with fierce global competition has made the business landscape nearly unrecognizable from what it was a mere 10 years ago.

Erik Wahl’s entertaining and invigorating Art of Leadership presentation paints a compelling new portrait for what the successful leaders of tomorrow will look like. He inspires audiences to shed old ways of thinking and “business as usual” processes that are outdated, inefficient and detrimental to productivity. Audience members learn new ways to build an emotional connection to drive future employee engagement. Erik’s presentation stretches traditional assumptions on leadership.

The end results include:

  • innovative solutions to further your organization
  • attracting and engaging quality employees
  • new efficiencies and the end of detrimental redundancies

Growth and comfort cannot co-exist. When leaders come from a place of authenticity, curiosity, exploration and purpose, this leads to more meaningful connections among team members and with clients and customers—and ultimately, a more profitable organization. An engaged employee equals an engaged customer.

It’s one thing to understand the importance of creativity to the success of your business, but what most people don’t understand is to how to put a structure in place so that innovation can find its way. The paradox of creativity is that structure creates freedom. Even the wildest minds require extreme orderliness and attention to detail so that they have the space and discipline to create.

Consider:

  • Beethoven sat down everyday at daybreak, regardless of season, and composed until 3:00pm.
  • Kafka started writing at 11:30pm each night.
  • Mozart taught lessons by day and composed only in the evenings.
  • Picasso ate lunch each day with his family in silence and only allowed visitors one day per week.
  • Mark Twain awoke at 5:30 am, ate a hearty breakfast, and wrote until 5:00 pm.

This program will allow your organization to:
1. Deconstructs the discipline of the creative process to ignite ideas to action.
2. Explores The Psychology of Success and the Science of Innovation to achieve superior levels of performance.
3. Harness The mental toughness required to navigate ambiguity and master complexity in a rapidly changing business environment
4. Disruption is the new normal. Are you creating or reacting?

Somehow we’ve come to believe that creativity is reserved for the chosen few: the poets, the painters, the writers. The truth is bigger and better than that. Creativity is in all of us. We simply need to rediscover the keys that will unlock our potential. UNthink is the keynote experience that will push members of your organization beyond their traditional thought patterns and habitual levels of performance. UNthink will inspire audiences to realize they are capable of so much more than they have been led to believe.

The UNthink program helps reframe your organization’s thinking so that new creative actions become possible. Learning how to UNthink will inject your daily grind with new passion, allowing employees to see how the organization wants and needs all of their talents and energies, not just the ones they’ve been using so far. You’ll begin the process of rethinking your life as a blank canvas of limitless opportunity on which to create your masterpiece.

This program will allow your organization to:

  1. Step outside convention to discover new and unexpected solutions to business challenges
  2. Challenge pre-conceived notions about what’s possible
  3. UNthink your way to increased creativity, productivity and passion

Areas of expertise

  • Differentiating Yourself
  • Becoming a High-Performing Culture
  • Creating Disruptive Strategies
  • The Art of Business Excellence
  • The Science of Re-Programming Our Minds
© 2023 Ro Morrison & Assoc.