Business executive, mountain climber, international speaker and co-author of
Together On Top Of The World, the remarkable story of the first couple
to climb the fabled Seven Summits - 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. She led teams to sales records, beating quotas from $1 million
to $600 million. Ending as a vice president of sales for a multi-national
telecommunications corporation, she was responsible for their fast-growing
Internet division. She also worked at US WEST, United Technologies,
FedEx-Kinko's, and GTE (Verizon). During her business career, she earned 11
annual President's Club sales awards - the top honors awarded to the sales
people in these companies.
But as she was marking these achievements, she and her husband Phil, a
professional mountain guide, were climbing the Seven Summits, the highest
mountain on each of 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 New York Times and many others. As Alex Ward of the
The New York Times put it, "Surmounting Everest's 29,035 feet remains
one of the great mythic achievements, an undisputable display of skill and
courage against ice and rock, bottomless chasms, body-numbing temperatures and
tent-shredding winds, all in an oxygen-deprived danger zone. Ms. Ershler worked
hard to get there".
Though 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.
Her leadership message begins with visualizing a goal, no matter how
difficult or out of reach. She continues with techniques to improve focus and
discipline and shows how essential teamwork is to achievement. And she
concludes with a passionate affirmation of the value of life and the thrill of
celebrating your success from the top of the world.
Susan's message stands apart for its credibility and power. Having climbed
the mountain - in work, and in the world, Susan Ershler is the real deal.
