Susan Ershler

Biography

Susan Ershler tours the world speaking about her life journey and sharing with others her secrets for success, determination, and achieving seemingly impossible goals.

Susan`s record would be remarkable enough if it only detailed her business achievements. During her 23-year corporate career, she has held a series of increasingly responsible executive positions in the sales divisions of Fortune 500 companies including Verizon, Qwest, United Technologies, and FedEx. She`s led teams to sales records, beating objectives from $1 million to $600 million, ultimately as a Vice President. Along the way, she earned 11 annual President`s Club awards - for leading teams to top performance.

During that era of corporate achievement, she and her husband Phil, a professional mountain guide, were climbing the Seven Summits - the highest mountain on each of the world`s the seven continents. That remarkable journey culminated at the top of Mount Everest on May 16, 2002. With that climb, she and Phil became the first couple in history to climb the Seven Summits together.

That feat earned them world-wide media attention, including Good Morning America, CNN, the Today Show, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and many others.

Their book, TOGETHER ON TOP OF THE WORLD: The Remarkable Story of the First couple to climb the Fabled Seven Summits was published by Warner Books.

Not a professional mountain climber, Susan trained by climbing the 35 stories in her high-rise office building on her lunch hour for a year - with a 40-pound pack on her back.

Susan tells her electrifying story to audiences with clarity and passion. She lifts her audience`s ambitions by showing them how hard work, dedication, perseverance and a total commitment to excellence can pay off in reaching seemingly impossible goals.

As a business speaker, Susan illustrates how she utilized her experience as a sales leader as the foundation to her training for climbing mountains. She begins with visualizing a goal, no matter how difficult or seemingly out of reach. She continues with demonstrated techniques to improve focus, discipline and teamwork. She concludes with a passionate affirmation of the value of life and the thrill of celebrating your success from the top of the world.

Having climbed the mountain in work and in the world, Susan`s message stands apart for its credibility and power.

Publications

TOGETHER ON TOP OF THE WORLD:
The Remarkable Story of the First couple to climb the Fabled Seven Summits

Susan: a Fortune 500 executive. Phil: a mountaineer with a secret. Together on Top of the World is the story of their journey through life-threatening illnesses, to the highest mountain on every continent, to the extremes of elation and despair. It is a love story, an adventure story, a story of success against all odds.

Above all, it is the story of two people who refused to back down in quest of a seemingly impossible dream.

Most inspiring, Together on Top of the World is a story of going for your greatest dreams against all odds and pushing past mental and physical boundaries.

Titles

Fit for Business
How do you achieve your dreams in both your personal and business life -- especially the ones that seem impossible? In my talks, I share my road-tested methods for combining a demanding job with a fulfilling life, while still achieving all that you desire.

Seven Summits of Sales: "We don`t climb alone, and we don`t sell alone."
Before I started climbing mountains I climbed sales `summits` for over 20 years, culminating in $600 Million sales goals as a Vice President in Sales. My mission is to help others avoid the crevasses and achieve their professional and personal dreams. This talk focuses on the particular challenges of sales teams with stretch goals to meet and how to help them reach the top year after year.

Reaching New Heights: Everest & Beyond
When Phil and I stood on the top of Mount Everest in 2002, it was the realization of a dream that had begun more than a decade before. Illustrating my talk with slides and stories from our climbs of the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, I help audiences discover how to set impossible goals and reach them despite the odds.

Personal Best, Professional Best
I learned an important, simple truth from our quest to reach the top of Everest: to achieve something that seems impossible, you`ve got to first set the goal, then prepare, then keep going until you get there. My husband Phil and I were the first couple to climb the Seven Summits not because we were superhuman, but because we were humans who kept going. I believe that`s what achievement is made of. Personal and professional successes go to those who show up and do the work -- until they reach their goals.
Here`s the way I remember it: Project, Prepare, Persevere.