A Quick Look
Flying Before Driving
Funded by after-school jobs and a burning passion for aviation, Ryan started flying lessons at 14 and flew solo for the first time on his 15th birthday.
A Guinness World Record-Breaking Pilot
After two years of planning, training, and fundraising, Ryan became the youngest person to fly solo around the world in a single-engine airplane. 24,000 nautical miles. 35 stops. 15 countries.
Author
At 20, Ryan published Born to Fly, the best-selling story of the around-the-world flight.
A Plane Crash and Paraplegic Diagnosis
At just 21, in a split-second moment, Ryan’s life changed forever. Cut from the wreckage of an airplane and diagnosed as a paraplegic, Ryan began the toughest challenge of his life.
The Mental Health Rollercoaster
From five months in the hospital and eighteen months in rehabilitation to the journey back to walking and flying, Ryan quickly discovered the foundational importance of mental health.
Keynote Speaker
Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ryan is a renowned keynote speaker bringing an unforgettable, emotional, and transformational keynote to stages across America and around the world.
Meet Ryan
Born and raised in an Australian coastal town, Ryan discovered his passion at a very young age — flight. Aviation would be the dominant fixture in the young Australian’s life, providing some amazing but also traumatic, life-altering experiences. As a 14-year-old fixated on becoming a pilot, Ryan took on a number of after-school jobs to finance his flying lessons. Shortly thereafter, he went on to achieve his first prominent goal in life as he flew an airplane solo for the first time on his 15th birthday. The passionately determined young man soon found himself researching a goal so lofty it had never been accomplished before—to fly a single-engine airplane solo around the world as a teenager. The next two years of Ryan’s life would prove to be transformative. He was forced to grow up at a young age as he personally fundraised $250,000, trained, and planned for a world circumnavigation. Ryan made international headlines as he flew his way around the globe in a rented airplane, including a feature story on 60 Minutes, countless television appearances, radio, and print interviews. The world watched this young man chase his dreams. It was an expedition for the history books.
Ryan’s life blossomed as he was named one of Australia’s 50 Great Explorers, the 2013 Australian Geographic Young Adventurer of the Year, and a finalist for Young Australian of the Year. Life after the world flight was all about awards, sharing his story through speaking engagements, and publishing a book titled ‘Born to Fly.’ The young kid from a normal, Aussie family even met The Royals. Life was incredible.
In an instant, two years after the end of the around the world flight, Ryan’s life changed following a very seriously light plane crash. He survived against all odds and was admitted to a spinal rehabilitation ward as a complete paraplegic with no movement or feeling from his waist down. With a further five breaks in his back and broken bones ranging from his face to his feet, Ryan needed to tap into everything he learned during his global expedition and more. The biggest undertaking of his life was just beginning.
Over five months in the hospital and eighteen months in rehabilitation formed the foundation of his recovery, not just back to walking but flying. With a long list of permanent physical limitations, Ryan’s recovery was one of adaptability and resilience.
Now, Ryan is an advocate for mental health and a firm believer that life is won and lost above your shoulders. As a keynote speaker based in the US, Ryan helps individuals and organizations understand adversity and the role of resilience and is passionate about sharing his favorite tools for improving mental health, achieving, and overcoming. Ryan is passionate about helping others, whether it be through stories of a world record-breaking flight around the world, a paraplegic diagnosis and spinal rehabilitation, or the most unexpected yet powerful lesson hidden within the purchase of a 1960 Pink Cadillac.
Start the Conversation
Reach out to Ryan and the team and set up a call to discuss your next event.