Paula Reid

Paula Reid is an adventurer, Psychologist and Business leader who has completed some of the world’s toughest challenges including a 1000km trek to the South Pole, only the third British woman to do so in history. Only 300 people have completed this journey which shows how Paula is able to battle her own mental demons to continue pushing through some of the toughest conditions. She uses her adventure experience to help individuals thrive in the unknown, and develop the mindset necessary to ensure businesses thrive in challenging conditions.

In 1994 Paula graduated from West Sussex Institute of Higher Education with a Bachelor of Education. She then graduated from the University of East London with a master’s in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology. Throughout her career, Paula has held numerous positions including the Senior Manager & Shareholder for Involve, a Creative Catalyst for Cancer Research UK, the Co-Founder of The Hive Collective and a Trainer for the Centre for Strategy and Communications Ltd to name a few. Paula is also the former Chair of Vistage UK and the former Chair of the Academy for Chief Executives.

Currently, Paula is an Advisory Board Member for Thrivall, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and Founded her own company, Paula Reid, in 2005 where she inspired businesses to build their resilience and learn how to thrive during difficult times. Passionate about combining her love for adventure and passion for psychology, Paula Founded Adventure Psychology in 2018. Unlike sports psychology which is based on obtaining peak performance for a short period of time, adventure psychology builds resilience and endurance for a long period of time so you are always able to perform at your maximum. To date, Paula has completed over 120 adventures. Some of her greatest feats include being a core crew member of the Global Challenge World’s Toughest Yacht Race, paddling 600 miles down the Mekong, cycling across 16 countries, and plans to cycle across Ukraine for Siobhans Trust in September 2023.

From cycling to snorkelling, sailing to trekking, fire walking to skiing, Paula had to develop a mindset so she could continue to battle some of the harshest conditions on the planet. Paula has spent over 30 years working with businesses across a wide array of sectors including Barclays, PaloAlto, the M.O.D and GSK. As the author of 5 books, Paula is well-equipped to help businesses anticipate the best mindset and strategy to adopt to ensure future success. When you are looking for a speaker who uses her experience as an adventure and her skills as a Psychologist to help people develop a mindset which will not falter in difficult times.