Kevin Carroll is the author of the highly successful Rules of The Red Rubber Ball and is also the founder of The Katalyst Consultancy, where his "job" is to nurture and care for the individual and communal inner spirit and inspire new ways of thinking. It's not unusual for him to work with the CEO's of Fortune 500 companies and a group of equally unruly 1st Graders on the same day. In fact, it's expected. He considers himself an excitatory agent for change; in other words, he's a "Katalyst." The "K" is for Kevin.
Raised by his grandparents in Philadelphia, Kevin spent endless hours across the street at the neighborhood playground where he found his calling: a red rubber ball. Kevin's pursuit of play and his red rubber ball took him overseas with the Air Force and quickly won him fluency in Croatian, Czech and Serbian and conversational fluency in German and Russian.
After the Air Force, Kevin landed a job as Athletic Trainer and Physical Education Teacher at The Haverford School in Philadelphia, which quickly led to his job as Head Athletic Trainer for the Philadelphia 76ers. While at the 76ers, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight tapped Kevin to bring his unique experiences to the sneaker giant and help inspire their creatives. Although no job existed at the time, Knight encouraged Kevin to "hang out" and create any job he wanted at the company. Kevin accepted the challenge and stayed for 7 years as "Katalyst." He was instrumental in helping Nike develop a deeper understanding of athletic product performance, team dynamics and interpersonal communication. He was also the inspiration for the Lance Armstrong wristband phenomenon. Kevin left in 2004 to found his own brand, The Katalyst Consultancy.
Since leaving Nike, Kevin has traveled around the world promoting the importance of play in everyday life, whether at the office, at home, or on the playground. He has helped turn creative ideas into reality for such organizations as Nike, The Discovery Channel, ESPN, HBC Bank, Mattel, Capital One, The National Hockey League, The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Television, and Starbucks (his encouraging words will appear on 17 million of Starbucks' grande cups beginning in January 2006).
In September of 2005, ESPN Books released Kevin's first book, Rules of The Red Rubber Ball, which Newsweek calls "an adult's version of Dr. Seuss's Oh, the Places You'll Go! -- a pocket-size guide to finding your way in life." The acclaimed book is already in its second printing. Kevin's second book, Play@Work: How the Genius of Youth Manfiests Itself in Business, will soon follow along with three more books - all with ESPN.
Kevin spent ten years in the United States Air Force as a language Interpreter and Translator. He is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association as well as the National Strength and Conditions Association, and the Oregon Athletic Trainers Society. In May of 2005, Kevin addressed dignitaries from 31 nations at the United Nations about the importance of play in their developing countries, which led to his appointment at Special Advisor to the global outreach organization, Right to Play. He is also heavily involved in the organization Architecture for Humanity, which builds playgrounds for children around the world.
Kevin holds a MS in Health Education from St. Joseph's University, a BA in Speech Communication with a minor in Physical Education from Angelo State University, and an Associates Degree in Interpreting and Translating from the Community College of The Air Force. Kevin is a frequent visiting professor across the United States and often teaches at the University of Colorado at Boulder's School of Journalism.
Over the past 25 years, Kevin has helped the world chase and realize its dreams. His favorite quote is from The Alchemist, "to realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation," inviting everyone to join him in the chase and to - most of all - enjoy it!
Kevin Carroll has the ability to touch audiences with his simple, transformative message: "Find your passion, your joy." At ADVANCE he will reawaken your drive and ambition, and guide you to rediscovering the things that propel you toward your goals, with his talk on Rediscovering Play: Bringing Fun and Passion to Your Work...and Life. Kevin will combine personal anecdotes with strategies for discovering new and creative ways of thinking and problem solving to help you build mission-oriented teams. A life-changing experience packed in a presentation that's not only fun, but provides return-on-investment, bottom-line success.