Robin Clark, Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, AXA Group
Thank you for attending my recent annual global team seminar in Istanbul to present your 3D methodology for the science of success.
In 90 minutes you captivated and motivated a diverse group of 30 people from 10 different countries with your first hand tales of how you came back time and again to finally achieve your goal of a world title. The feedback from participants was excellent, and they clearly also enjoyed talking with you afterwards.
We wish you every success with this business venture and hope that there will be further opportunities for you to work with the AXA Group.
Dean Evans, Chairman, Open Door Design (Leeds Ltd)
Just a brief line, to pass on my sincere thanks for your efforts with our Team last Friday. As a small/medium sized business we were not quite sure initially how the workshop would relate to us and exactly what return and effect could be gained, but as a tight team with some new and key employees we felt the timing would be perfect to bring in ‘an outsider’ and watch the levels of involvement and interest.
The professional yet accessible manner in which the workshop was conducted was a testament to your efforts (but having followed your fighting career I expected nothing less)! The journey you describe and the way in which this is demonstrated was absolutely fascinating and I found it difficult to try and watch my own team as I became totally engrossed in the content and elements some of which firmly struck a chord to me personally!
What I did notice (and as a Director is absolutely vital) was key signals at every stage from each person within the room to issues and content to which they related – good and bad! As if completely naturally, insecurities, weaknesses and strengths emerged and painted a perfect picture of areas to be encouraged or supported throughout the next few months along with vital management information as to how to further develop the Team (myself firmly included in this).
In a nutshell – two things emerged from this highly valuable Team Workshop.
Firstly how can you put a financial value on sharing on such a candid and emotionally moving experience, and secondly how else could we obtain such valuable information about oneself and colleagues in an open environment in such a short space of time – both are completely priceless!
Thank you once again for generating the opportunity and I look forward to welcoming you in a few months to see how we have developed.
David Brady, Soho Editors, Managing Director Worldwide
I have now had the pleasure of working with Billy and his team on various projects, and every time without fail, Billy has managed to work his magic.
His extraordinary ability to bring together mixed groups of varied age and background is second to none; this left me with not only an enthused team, but also a group of highly motivated individuals who believe they can succeed.
On many occasion I have had need to call upon the skills of Billy and Co for my personal development. Whether I am trying to mentally poison myself for a board meeting, or trying to understand attitudes and actions of others they have NEVER failed to give me the competitive edge or deeper understanding of the human brain that I need to succeed.
I would challenge any company, corporation or individual to spend more than half and hour in the company of Mr Schwer & Co, and not come away feeling positively charged and ready to take on any new challenge.
Neil Kane, Managing Director, A1-Envirosciences
Billy’s skill, enthusiasm and achievement in the ring has seamlessly transferred to the speaking and entertainment arena. We were so impressed and inspired by Billy’s story at one of our sales meetings that we booked him to speak at one of our other companies up in Liverpool and they loved him. He is a wonderful and compelling storyteller who had you on the edge of your seat waiting for the “knockout”. I will definitely book him again without question.
Paul Crewe, Central Services Director, Land Securities Property Management Conference
Billy was invited to speak at our recent Property Management Conference, which was entirely themed around ‘change’. Billy closed our first day with what I can only describe as a very passionate, enthusiastic, high-energy and motivational session. Billy focussed on the audience as individuals and how we all handle and manage change both positive and negative in our lives, through Billy sharing his thought provoking and emotional personal experiences both in and out of the ring.
Steve Corcoran, Chief Executive Speedy Hire
To mark the successful completion of our Speedy Senior Leadership Development programme, we invited Billy to speak at our end of course dinner. The feedback from the group was extremely positive; Billy spoke from the heart, and was disarmingly honest about his life - the good times and the bad. His determination, commitment and resilience to fulfill his dream were absolute - values that we can identify with here in Speedy. There are numerous parallels from Billy's life story that have real relevance to today's challenges that we all as business leaders face. Having spoken to the audience some months after hearing Billy, it is clear that they each have retained key messages that they took from Billy - which has to be the best indicator of Billy's impact
Bob Parker, Managing Director, Forever Living Products (UK) Ltd
Billy Schwer was the inspirational speaker at our monthly recognition day last Saturday. With over 1,000 people in the room, many of whom have seen a lot of motivational speakers, he was a true inspiration. With a fast paced direct style, he kept everyone’s attention. His story of perseverance, focus and courage, was a journey that each of our people could relate to, and be inspired by. Many thanks Billy.
Lisa Bates, Director Sporting Lunch Club & Events Manager, St Albans District Chamber of Commerce
Billy, thank you so much for inspiring me and our guests at the charity lunch in aid of Youth Talk in St Albans. I have received so many positive comments following the event. I think most guests just expected you talk about your achievements in the ring, you demonstrated that behind the scenes there is so much depth to a winning formula which can take time, courage and dedication. What was most interesting was your emotional intelligence, inspiring determination and your will to succeed....all essential attributes needed for a successful business today. Please keep me informed of any workshops in the near future - an essential toolkit for any sales team!
Alistair Cox, Fellow Associate of the Institute for Independent Business
Your session was outstanding, and the way you interacted with my colleagues was extremely effective. You told your story in an entertaining way and with genuine passion. Your ability to then relate your experiences both good and bad to ‘our story’ was great.
Grainne Farrell, Integrated Healthcare Business Manager, Astrazeneca
Billy came along for an afternoon to a team meeting to work with my sales team. By the end of the session the energy in the room was amazing! People were left feeling empowered and with specific actions which have really improved their performance and motivation.
Gavin Wheeler, Managing Director WDMP Communications, Craig Wheeler, Managing Director WDMP Communications
Just to let you know that Billy was excellent.
The story really captivated the team but more importantly he delivered it in a way that everyone (the ladies too) could really relate to. It was personable, charming and real to the team. It has left them on a real high…and made them think about the future and how they should/could contribute.
Ian Eggers, Director, Mace Limited
Thank you for a most enlightening talk last week, it’s fascinating how your personal experiences parallel many challenges we face in business today. I found your talk uplifting and very entertaining, an insight into another world – but not necessarily a million miles from our own!
Mark Warne, Managing Director, DOTgroup International
Firstly, I would like to thank you for attending the DOTgroup 3rd Annual Golf Day last Thursday. It was great that you came for the whole day and everybody enjoyed your company, as well as your positive words of encouragement, which helped turn some painful rounds of golf into pleasurable ones! Your speech at our presentation dinner was excellent and everybody enjoyed your boxing stories and how you've turned your experiences into a successful mentoring business. Thanks again and all the very best for the future.
Aaron McSkimming, Managing Director, AD Bly Construction
Having known Billy for many years on a personal level I seized the opportunity to use his executive coaching skills on my management team here at A D Bly Construction.
The coaching sessions were direct, focusing on improving motivation level and perception of others on both a professional and personnel basis to improve all aspects of our busy lives.
Billy visited us some seven months ago now and the topics raised are still being referred to in our office to this day, with the lesson learnt being used in all our business/social encounters. The 3D methodology, interspersed with Billy's life experiences in the ring, has certainly helped us grow individually and as a team to achieve greater success and satisfaction.
I can't see any evidence of this new way of thinking fading, however should it we will definitely be inviting Billy back in for further sessions.
Parm Flora, Managing Director, Aquila Consulting Group
“Billy attended one of our quarterly off-site sales meetings and proved to be an inspiration to the whole team.
His open and frank manner coupled with an enthusiastic style of presentation hit exactly the right note.
It is refreshing to see a business coach talk about the low times as well as the highs. I recommend him highly.”
Ivor Tucker, Founder, Entrepreneurs Club of the UK Ltd
I would like to congratulate you on the very interesting and entertaining talk you gave at the June lunch event of the Entrepreneurs Club of the UK in London. Our members, who comprise Chief Executives of companies turning over more than £1 million per annum, form a demanding and inquisitive audience who expect to be both informed and challenged by our speakers. You fulfilled this brief completely with your fascinating story of the road you took from a frightened child to become a World Boxing Champion, and how you overcame setbacks and obstacles to achieve your dream of a World title. What is more, your frank evaluation of your life after retirement and how you struggled to set a new direction resonated with many of our members. Our feedback from the attendees was very positive and they all thoroughly enjoyed the talk and the interactive discussion that followed.
I can highly recommend you to other organisations that wish to engage your services as a speaker and I look forward to a continued association with you. We wish you luck in developing your second career and fully expect you to achieve the same level of success in your mentoring business as you did in the ring.
Paul Shanley, Operations Manager, Signposts (Luton)
Signposts (Luton) is a charity working with homeless and vulnerable people in Luton & South Bedfordshire and employs around 50 staff.
In 2007, we decided to have our first full staff conference with a theme of ‘Quality’.
Billy Schwer was invited to be our key speaker to close the conference. Billy was chosen due to his local links and how he had overcome challenges that the client group we work with, could relate to.
Billy took on board our conference’s theme and delivered an enthusiastic message for our staff team and clients, to understand that we make choices in life and by making the right choice, you can overcome challenges.
I would recommend Billy to other organisations who may wish to use his services in a similar way.
Lucinda Roberts-Holmes, Business Development and Marketing Manager, Buckingham Business School
“It was a great pleasure to have Billy work with the students on the BSc in Business Enterprise – not only was he an inspiration to the young entrepreneurs, but he showed how to translate his academic model into practical solutions for them all to integrate into their future business dealings. Since he spent the morning with them the buzz has continued and motivation is running super high. We hope to have him return on a more regular basis in the near future.”
Martin Cunnison, Founder & Director, MEZZO
As a fast growing small business, change is our natural state. Billy's unique experiences and motivational delivery was inspirational for all of us to draw on personal skill-sets and to cement emerging team dynamics. The session was a resounding success.
Euphame McDonald, Event Manager, Asylum Events
Billy, thank you for providing us with a fantastic finish to an awesome week, it really was the icing on the cake and I think I can safely say, that everyone left feeling wiser, stronger and confident enough to take on their next challenge.
Christopher Arscott Cert PFS, CeMAP, Independent Financial Adviser
Thanks very much for coming in and seeing us this morning. I found your talk very interesting and thought provoking. In particular I found it very helpful to hear about the listening "filters" that we all seem to have. As we normally apply these filters unconsciously it was good to have this pointed out and it will be interesting to see if I can identify them in future conversations, and try and to remove as many as possible.
I found your "open" style very refreshing, especially hearing about both your past failures (or learning points) as well as your successes as this made the presentation more true to life compared to some speakers who make themselves out to have the perfect solution/life etc. I especially thought your phrase "my life doesn't even belong in the same town as perfect!" was fantastic........if you could work that in earlier on in the presentation I think that would set the scene to reinforce the message that you are here to help and encourage rather than preach a perfect solution.
Richard Wall, Talktalk
I was in the afternoon session at First Colonial Investments a week or so ago and I would like to thank you for sparking off a series of events which now have me on course to fulfil my true desires. I'm sure George didn't have staff leaving the company in his plans when he arranged the group discussions, but ever since your session I have thought long and hard about what I truly wanted and am now dedicated to achieving my goals.
Lisa Summerfield, Portfolio 1 Administrator, London Portfolio, Land Securities
I wanted to thank you for an enlightening yet surprisingly enjoyable hour. I will admit I had my "listening filters" on when you began to talk to us but within a very short space of time I'd locked into what you were saying and enjoyed myself. I'm not easily impressed with people a good deal of the time but what I did enjoy was the feeling that you were being genuine with us and that you were sharing rather than telling - this made a big difference.
Jarrod Lupson, General Manager, Next Generation, Clubs
We have been working with Billy over a number of months on a few projects which have been well received by both our team and members. Our teams were inspired and motivated by Billy’s story. He communicated with them in a way they could relate to in their own lives and made them think about success and what they could do different at home and work.
Billy has also been working with us and our corporate members, focusing on how his messages can be translated into the work place and again they have found his presentations relevant and motivational.
Our regular club members have additionally been working with Billy on how they can maintain their workout regimes and keep focused on using the club.
During all these projects Billy has been seen as approachable, personable and with a great message. He has always had time to chat about his career, have photos taken and be available for people.
We have enjoyed working with Billy and look forward to doing so in the future.
Gemma Hopkin, Account Director, frank PR
I've been to a few motivational speaker talks at previous jobs and I really think yours was the best I've been to.
The previous one I went to was a really great [4 hour] session - you came out of it feeling top of the world, but then the feeling wore off a few days later! The 'rules' they gave you in that one were really hard to remember, let alone stick to! I can probably remember one rule out of ten-plus. Not much help unless I want to spend ages everyday looking them up.
Yours wasn't like that - the more you think about it, the more inspirational it becomes....
The beauty of your system is that it's so simple to remember. I'll be honest, I didn't realise that straightaway, but since the talk I have found it really easy - and inspiring - to think about what I want to do and how I will get there; and because the ‘D’s are so easy to remember, they pop into your head (even when you're not thinking about them!).
Gulfraz Riaz
“Having attended many other similar types of presentation I felt that yours was probably the most realistic and one that the man on the street could easily relate to. I and the other guys that I have spoken to felt that there were a lot of positives and we all went away having learnt one or two new things. A lot of what you said really can be applied to all everyday things or even long term plans.
My son was also very impressed having met a World Champion and to see your belt made him really happy.
Once again thank you very much for Sunday and I wish you all the success for the future”
Justin Watkins (Personal Trainer)
Firstly, many thanks for speaking to us at Next Generation on Thursday, I thought I'd contact you directly with feedback rather than wait for it to go through the several links in the chain to get to you.
As I mentioned to you on Thursday, I quite often switch off when people try to tell me how to achieve my goals. I think this is simply because, as a high-level American Footballer, I have usually used my own methods to successfully achieve my 'desires'. Also, most ‘'life coaches' and other speakers have no real experience in having the singleness of purpose that it requires to be a champion, so it’s hard for me to take them seriously. The fact that you have that experience immediately demands that respect. Also, anybody that is part of a contact sport demands a higher level of respect. I can genuinely relate to the fear that you faced before a fight, The risk of catastrophic injury in American Football is always high, so you quite literally do put your life on the line while playing the game, also, the first game back after sustaining a serious injury is a nervous one to say the least so I can imagine how you felt after your scares in hospital.
Most 'motivational' speakers that I have heard only really talk about the upward path of achieving your goals, whereas as we both know, it’s important to know about the downward spiral. Any athlete, or even those in business, will experience a low at some point in their career so I think it was fantastic that you focused some time on that; also, talking about your own experiences and your private life really helped me to relate even further to your speaking.
Kevin Lawler, Secretary Sutton Primary School Sports Association
As organiser of this year’s Annual Primary Schools Athletics Championships in Sutton, I had the pleasure of meeting Billy who had been invited to attend as guest of honour.
Everyone warmed to his friendly, easy going personality and his willingness to engage with adults and children alike. He brought his IBO Championship belt for the children to see and spoke to over 400 participants in a down to earth and relevant way about the virtues of ambition, listening and dedicating yourself to achieving a goal in life.
By the end of the afternoon, many children left the arena feeling they had met someone special.
I would have no hesitation at all in recommending him for similar events.
Sally Phillips, SP Consulting
What I liked and enjoyed about Billy's presentation was that, "what you see is what you get, but the honesty with which he reflected on his success journey so far was truly inspiring". Billy has clearly worked hard on his speaking career. He has used his life experience to put into words the challenges he confronted and got over, that many of us would have just given up at the very thought of doing.
Dennis Watson, Club Captain, Boston ABC
I'm just e-mailing to say thank you to you, Mickey and Russ for an excellent evening last night. Being on the head table last night was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, it will be a moment in my life I will never forget. Your story was really inspirational to me and it just goes to show with perseverance, determination and dedication what you can achieve. Your story has taught me one thing - visualise what you want, then go out there and get it (as you did). I also want to take the time to say thank you for posing for countless pictures and for your opinions on boxing, again something I will never forget. You, Mickey and Russ all came across as down to earth guys, real gentlemen and had time for everyone, nothing was too much for you, that to me makes you champions out of the ring as well as in the ring. I wish you well for the future and hope your motivational speaking is a huge success.
Sadia Bashir, Forever Living Products (UK) Ltd
Just wanted to say thank you, for your inspirational speech at the Forever Living Products Success Showcase yesterday. The term 'mental boxing' really struck a chord with me as that is exactly how I feel with my fight against depression. Your 3D ideology was brilliant and made me feel that it’s the model I need to adapt instead of having coaching and counseling sessions. My depression has prevented me from finishing off my degree studies, but after listening to your experiences, I thought if you can get your World Title championship after 4 attempts, than why can’t I finish my degree!!!! Thanks again and keep up the great work.
Claire Stokes, Events Executive, Business Link
Please do pass on our HUGE thanks to Billy for his fantastic presentation this morning, which was so real and heart-felt as well as both inspiring and motivational.
The delegates loved him and came away inspired and enthused. They had so many questions at the end, many more than usual at this series of events that we had to advise more could be asked over breakfast!
John Williams, Headteacher, Hillborough School, Luton
At Hillborough Junior School on Thursday 6th November 2008, Billy Schwer demonstrated that he’s much more than a Luton sporting icon. His motivational address to our school inspired children to believe that with hard work and dedication, they can achieve their dreams in life.