Inspirational keynote speaker, Mark Pattison, is a former NFL player who has just completed the Seven Summits having scaled Mt Everest on May 23rd, 2021. He became the 2nd NFL player to ever accomplish this goal having climbed the world’s highest peaks (Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Elbrus, Mt Kosciuszko, Aconcagua, Denali, Vinson and Mt Everest) which he started in 2013.
Mark played 5 years in the NFL and then went on to start several successful multi-million-dollar businesses in which one was venture backed and acquired by University Games in 2008. Today, Mark is a senior executive for Sports Illustrated and helped to take the parent company, The Arena Group public onto the NYSE in February 2022.
In 2017, Mark launched his weekly podcast series, Finding Your Summit. He interviews high achievers who have overcome adversity and gone on to find success in whatever medium they have chosen: Mark’s guests have ranged from a shark attack victim, POW in Vietnam, Navy Seals, Professional Athletes, Mountaineers to Relationships & Business & Music & Hollywood stars.
Mark launched his Facebook Fan Page in 2016 and now has over 320,000 “likes” with a global engaged audience as his page continues to grow over 1,000 people per week.
Mark shares his journey of how he found the mountains after going through a challenging time in his life. In the Fall of 2021, the NFL debuted a documentary called Searching for the Summit about Mark’s epic journey he experienced on Mt Everest. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography and was also nominated and WON Best Short Documentary in 2022 Sports Emmy Awards.
