Looking for a virtual guest speaker for your wellness or mental health event?
Enjoy a few laughs while revving up your resilience and problem-solving skills. I’m Josh Martin: a cancer survivor, author and motivational speaker with a focus on overcoming obstacles. For more than a decade, I’ve been sharing the lessons I’ve learned from life’s awesome and absurd moments. (I like to think of it as self-help with a sense of humour.)
Over the years, I’ve delivered keynote presentations to national organizations. I’ve facilitated professional development workshops for educators and taught online classes for the Canadian Mental Health Association. And I’ve partnered with therapists and other wellness experts across the country to share free resilience resources.
More than your typical talk
My services go beyond the traditional talk. In addition to my live presentation, your group will also get:
- one year of free access to UpLift, my wellness webinar series
- a free electronic edition of my latest book, “Simply Blunderful: A cancer survivor’s illustrated guide to flaming tennis balls, camping catastrophes and the many obstacles life throws our way.”
Funny stories. Good advice. Oodles of doodles.
Whether you’re looking for a 20-minute motivational talk, an hour-long skills-building workshop or a half-day interactive program, I’m here to help make your next event awesome. Below, you’ll find details about a few of my more popular talks.
More than a coin flip: What my so-so odds at survival taught me about overcoming obstacles
From tight deadlines to conflicts with co-workers, obstacles come in all shapes and sizes. In this presentation I draw on my personal journey with cancer to explore what it takes to tackle life’s prickly problems. It’s all about stocking your team’s resiliency toolbox!
Misadventure merit badges: Lessons in resilience from life’s awesome and absurd moments
If you prefer a presentation that doesn’t include stories about my experience with leukemia, no problem at all! In my Misadventure Merit Badges talk, I share a variety of funny stories from my childhood and what those taught me about getting through tough times.
Staff and volunteer appreciation
Looking for a fun way to say thanks to your team? Give them a few laughs and a healthy dose of gratitude with my presentation about the importance of teamwork.
Wellness webinars and other resilience resources
UpLift: Cultivate wellness in your team with a self-directed webinar series featuring 16 motivational modules and a slew of recommended resources.
In 2022, the Durham branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association invited me to create an online course about overcoming obstacles based on my latest book. The result was UpLift: a 16-part wellness webinar series. Each self-directed module features entertaining stories from my many misadventures, advice about tackling adversity and a collection of practical resources.
Simply Blunderful: A cancer survivor’s illustrated guide to flaming tennis balls, camping catastrophes and the many obstacles life throws our way
This handbook is packed with laugh-out-loud true stories, as well as practical advice to help you through whatever challenge you might be facing. Find out what duct-taping a duffel bag to my brother’s back taught me about quick fixes. Or what digging wells in Africa taught me about getting to the root of a problem. Or what multiple run-ins with Bill Clinton’s security detail taught me about adaptability.
The Overcoming Obstacles Handbook: Free online resilience resources
Prickly problems demand well-equipped problem solvers. And my experience with cancer taught me a lot about tackling adversity. Inspired by that journey, I created the Overcoming Obstacles Handbook. Here, you’ll find a free collection of stories, inspiration and advice about getting through tough times — from broken legs and broken hearts to money troubles and more.
“We are in a mental health crisis now that will last for years to come due to covid, and there are limited resources. So it’s wonderful to see things like this popping up!”
Sarah, Therapist – Winnipeg, MB
“You took a terrible experience, turned it into art and are finding ways to use it to help others.”
Chris, Social Worker – Kitchener, ON
“I love the stories. They add so much to the lessons, rather than just a list of resilience ideas.”
Dr. Karen Armstrong – Timmins, ON