Testimonials

Speaking Testimonials

We were looking for a speaker who not only had an interesting story tell, but who would also be able to weave our objectives and themes for the day into an engaging presentation. Ellis Stewart exceeded our expectations on both counts!

Ellis captivated the audience with his life-long ambition and tales of his dedication and determination. The theme for our conference was ‘The Challenges Ahead’, Ellis seamlessly wove the topical and organisational challenges we face as a sector of professional services to provide context to his life story to date. He left our delegates entertained, inspired and keen to hear what the next chapter would be in an already dynamic and fascinating story.

Douglas Aitken, Director, Peak Performance Limited

On Monday 4th July 2016 I had the great honour of being a Presenter Marshal at the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Gold Ceremony at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. Ellis Stewart was the presenter and I must admit I had never heard of him so I frantically googled him beforehand!  What a fascinating, awe-inspiring, personable man he turned out to be.

He recounted his Mount Everest and DofE Experiences to an audience of 31 young people  receiving the Gold DofE Award and their various guests and was also introduced to the Duke of Edinburgh himself. This must have been nerve-wracking (well my nerves were wracked just standing next to him!) but his natural gift of telling his fascinating life stories shone through.

He handed out awards to the young people and then stayed to chat and answer questions. Nothing was too much bother – many of the young people were keen to look at his DofE Record book and discuss those experiences as well as those on Everest and conversation flowed.

I would thoroughly recommend Ellis as an inspirational speaker – he is an inspiration to us all.

Lisa Hignett - DofE Manager | Resources and Transformation Directorate | Cumbria County Council

Ellis came to speak at fundraising event for Kidasha, a charity which works to improve the lives of children living in chronic poverty in Nepal. Ellis was an excellent choice for this event. Almost 200 guests turned up to hear him speak passionately and inspiringly about his lifelong dream and personal journey to try to reach the summit of Everest. Sadly it was not to be so far, with his two attempts thwarted by unpredictable natural disasters. However Ellis’s engaging tale of persistence and adventure kept the audience captivated and I am sure will motivate anyone reading his book to go after their dreams. Ellis unfortunately was poorly throughout the talk and endured a 14 hour round trip with a fever and chest infection yet he never complained once and even donated his fee back to the charity.  A truly magnificent gesture from a gifted individual.

Janice Miller Chief Exec, Kidasha

On behalf of Hartlepool Borough Council- Economic Regeneration Team I would like to thank Ellis for his attendance at Hartlepool’s Global Entrepreneurship Event on 21 November 2014. His opening speech was thoroughly engaging and the inspirational message helped get the event off to a great start. The feedback from the secondary school students that attended, their teachers, local businesses and local authority staff was that he made a lasting impression on them, describing his speech as “excellent”.

Feedback from the students included “never give up on your dreams” and “that you have to keep trying and challenging yourself”.

Thank you again and we wish Ellis every success in fulfilling his Everest dream in the forthcoming year.

Caron Auckland Project Officer- Employment Economic Regeneration Team

Ellis delivered a talk on his experiences ‘on the mountain' to a room of EDF Energy's IT Leaders. His delivery was confident, entertaining & full of inspiration. He managed to take us all on his journey from the boy who had a dream to the man who almost managed it, with his North East charms he was really easy to listen to and focused on the audience.

The key takeaway for the room were the qualities required to deliver on his dream, teamwork, dedication and planning all of which we recognized as valuable attributes in our day to day practices.

Ellis says he lives by the principal of ‘One dream, one chance, one life’ and this was very much embodied in his talk.  I’d thoroughly recommend.

Craig Gill CIO Business Partner - EDF Energy

Ellis has been a Speaker three times to our Tangent Group and on each occasion his talk with slides has been both fascinating and inspiring but above all life-affirming.  We are a group of 36 local women from professional and business backgrounds, many of us are now retired and all are keen travelers and seekers after experience and knowledge. Ellis has been a great favourite with our group as his delivery is clear and concise, he speaks with humility and humour and he has never ‘lost the audience.’  

At his first visit Ellis spoke enthusiastically about his life-long ambition to climb Mount Everest, his determination to achieve this goal carried us all along and we asked him at that time if he would return to tell us of this once-in-a-life-time adventure.  

Sadly, Ellis's ambition had to be put on hold, when in May 2014 we all learned from local and national media that an avalanche on Mount Everest had caused devastation and tragic loss of life and the climb had to be abandoned. Later on Ellis was contacted (albeit tactfully) by one of our members as to whether he felt he could still come along to tell us of this harrowing experience and he readily agreed.  

That talk had a very different tone but was still most uplifting and positive. Despite this dreadful tragedy Ellis had forged strong friendships at Base Camp and his enthusiasm for his project was not at all dimmed. Again, we asked if he would return to speak to us should he be successful in a further bid to climb this iconic mountain and he promised he would.

Ellis did return to speak to our group recently and this time his talk was really gripping and very moving as he described his personal terrifying and experience when the earthquake had struck. This was a difficult talk for Ellis in many ways and with footage shot at the time the sheer emotion of the events came across to us all in no small measure.  

We did feel privileged that Ellis felt he could speak so freely to us and can only express our admiration for his courage and eloquence.  We would certainly endorse him as a speaker to all groups and organisations regardless of background or age and I personally feel his account of his adventures would be a real inspiration to young people and anyone with personal ‘mountains to climb.’ 

Patricia Raine, Tangent Secretary

Ellis Stewart’s whole adult life has been devoted to conquering the highest peak on Earth, when he’s not running his on-line business. He came to Ian Ramsey Church of England Academy in October 2015 with his story – and what a story! He had the pupils in Years 10 and 11 gripped with tales of his 2 attempts on Everest – both thwarted by events, which made global news. Ellis tells an inspirational tale and his story of resilience and determination makes for a great experience. You can’t help but be inspired to take on ‘your own Everest’. 

Peter Snowdon   Deputy Head – Ian Ramsey Church of England Academy

Ellis’ talk and accompanying presentation was absolutely fascinating and pupils, parents and staff alike were fully engaged by what he had to say. The presentation was pitched perfectly to the target audience but the message was a universal and inspirational one. The purpose of Ellis Stewart's’ presentation was to encourage his audience not to give up in the pursuit of their own ambitions and to be determined in their efforts to summit their ‘own Everest’.

Parents and staff were clearly inspired by Ellis as were the pupils. Their realisation that someone from the local area with a similar socio-economic background could experience such adventures in pursuit of a dream has encouraged them to think about their own lives and how they might strive to make the impossible a reality. 

Emma Renwick Assistant Head Teacher   Northfield School and Sports College

Ellis Stewart delivered an impeccable after dinner speech which was both inspiring and a real eye opener to the dedication and commitment needed to reach ones dream….however long it takes.

The feedback from the +150 people who attended from across businesses’ in the IT industry was that he made a lasting impression on them and was a great choice for our inaugural alliance event.

Tony McMurray Regional Finance Director   Ingram Micro UK Ltd

Personally, I am sorry that I was away and was unable to hear what other members have told me was one of the best talks we have had in recent years delivered by Ellis Stewart.

Jeremy Edkins  Treasurer Bishop Auckland Rotary Club

Just to let you know how very much we enjoyed Ellis's 'gripping' lecture about the perils of Everest. One of our difficult members, Doris, said it was the best talk she had heard in her life!!. A difficult achievement"

Min Whitehouse   Stockton Ladies Club