Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenyon Salo.
Kenyon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Throughout my entire life, I have been doing one thing through and through. I have been saying ‘Yes’ to as many experiences as possible and ultimately saying ‘Yes To Life’.
My father passed away when I was three and since then it has been the common thread in my lifeline. It’s my complete understanding that it does no matter whether I jump out of airplanes or someone else drives super safe to work. All of us are on a level playing field. None of us knows if we have tomorrow.
Knowing that basic concept to be as true as the sky is blue and water is wet, it’s how I live every day and what I truly desire to share from the stage.
I have moved from one extreme sport to another. From BMX to skateboarding. From Pro Snowboarding to Pro Skydiving and now sharing all of those adventures from the stage. It was because of all these experiences and my desire to share them with others that opened up so many doors in the future.
All of that allowed me to follow the path that has now led me to one of the top trainers, facilitators and keynote speakers in the fields of adventure, leadership, team building, sales, customer service, and inspiration/motivation.
I am one of only five members on the Denver Broncos Thunderstorm Skydive Team, who is seen each week flying into the Denver Broncos Stadium at 60+mph, ending with a soft tip-toe landing on the ten-yard line. I now bring to the stage over 20+ years of successful audience engagement through humor, awe-inspiring moments, prolific storytelling, and ‘edge-of-the-seat’ content.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Success is never a straight line and certainly not one that is a brand new smooth paved road. I remembered I always wanted to be a successful speaker and I was willing to do whatever it takes. One example was the time I slept under a hotel table.
I found a speaker mentor and in the very beginning, he had an event. He was leading these three-day events and I wanted to go one to one of his personal development events. I was in Colorado, this was in New York. I had $500 for a budget to be able to make it happen. The tickets for the plane, we’re $400 that meant that once I got there, I wouldn’t be able to pay for the event and I wouldn’t be able to pay for the hotel room. So, I realized the process of what I needed to do was buy the tickets first say ‘yes’.
So, I said yes and let the how to figure itself out later. I got on an airplane. I flew to the event. When I got to the event, I walked in and said, I would like to volunteer. And they said, well, you’re not on the volunteer list. I said I would like to volunteer, I will do whatever it takes. I want to make this happen. Just how can I help? And they said, actually, just come this way. You can talk to Rich. He gave me my first break.
So, I volunteered all day listening to David Wood, he was on the stage, other speakers were on the stage. I was learning. I was helping out in the back of the room, anything I could do to help. Then the end of the day came we closed up, packed everything up for the end of that day.
That’s the point that I was thinking, where am I gonna sleep tonight? I didn’t drive here. I can’t sleep in my car. I don’t have money for a hotel room. So, I started walking around and I was in the hotel in the conference center and I thought, I need a place to sleep. And then, as I walked over, I saw this and I thought, this’ll be perfect.
And at 10 o’clock at night down a long hallway in the hotel. I made sure nobody was looking and I got down and I rolled under the table and I had the most perfect man cave ever. Now, I had a sleeping bag and a pillow and I thought, this’ll be perfect, and I put my head on the pillow and I fell asleep. When 6 am rolled around in the morning, I peeked out from under the cloth and came out from under the table and I started my day.
I did that for three nights in a row. I slept under a table in the hotel.
I did that so that I could be at that event so that I can learn so that I could take in as much knowledge as possible to be a part of that event. People really helped out along the way. People say that I wasn’t eating and they brought food. They saw that I was volunteering and they help out. At the end of the conference, somebody had seen me crawling out from under the table and then they brought me on stage. And David at that point was able to share with the audience what I was willing to do to learn. That was ten years ago. A clear example of overnight success in ten years.
I now ask my audiences what they are willing to do to be able to get value in their life, to get where they want to go? Because decisions are the key thing. Because your life can change in a moment from a decision. And when I said I’m going to buy that plane ticket, my life changed. And then, when I got to the event, I made it happen and I slept under a table. My life changed. And I had a lot of moments where I said, am I doing the right thing? There was self-doubt. There were moments where I was like, why am I here? What is this for? But when I look back, I know the value in the experience was so huge.
What do you do? What do you specialize in?
As the James Bond of Speaking, I share a message from the stage called The Bucket List Life with three core principles.
Create More Experiences. Share More Stories. Live More Fulfilled by Helping Others.
The Bucket List Life Keynote is built off the above three core principles that have helped me design a fulfilling life of travel, adventures, meaningful interactions and achieving my dreams.
The entire presentation is structured around these three simple steps that anyone can do to set them on a path to accomplish what they desire in life, both personally and professionally.
I am often known for standing on top of a 10′ ladder right in the middle of the presentation.
The impact we make on adults, school kids, and many other people is what fires me up. I never know who needs the message when I step on stage, but I do know for sure someone needs the message. So, I give my all every single time.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
As cliche as it may sound, I would never change one thing. Every event, moment, turning point, challenge, success and important detail has made me who I am today. Everything has happened exactly as it should and will continue to unfold exactly as planned… whatever that plan is.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kenyonsalo.com
- Phone: 970-389-6133
- Email: kenyon@kenyonsalo.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kenyonsalo
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/kenyonsalo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kenyonsalo
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenyonsalo/
Image Credit:
Kyler Knutson and Brandon Russell
Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
