Award Winning Keynote Speaker, Leadership & Sales Expert, Bestselling Author, Former NFL & NBA Executive

Paul Epstein
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Paul Epstein At A Glance:

PAUL EPSTEIN has spent nearly 15 years as a professional sports executive for multiple NFL and NBA teams, a global sports agency, and the NFL league office, where he has broken every premium revenue metric in Super Bowl history, opened a billion-dollar stadium, and founded the San Francisco 49ers Talent Academy, where he became known as the “Why Coach.”

As an award-winning keynote speaker named one of SUCCESS magazines top thought leaders that get results, Paul’s impact continues off stage providing leadership development and culture transformation programs for companies and teams including Amazon, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, NASA, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Cowboys—and his work has been featured on ESPN, NBC, Fox Business, and in USA Today.

He is also a 2x best-selling author of The Power of Playing Offense and Better Decisions Faster.

PAUL EPSTEIN is a former high-level executive for multiple NFL and NBA teams and a 2x best-selling author of The Power of Playing Offense and Better Decisions Faster. In 2022, he was named one of SUCCESS magazine’s top thought leaders who get results—alongside Tony Robbins, Brené Brown, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Mel Robbins—and his work has been featured on ESPN, NBC, Fox Business, and in USA Today. 

In nearly 15 years as a leader in the world of pro sports, Paul helped take NBA teams from the bottom of the league in revenue to the top two, broke every premium sales revenue metric in Super Bowl history while in the NFL’s league office, opened a billion-dollar stadium, and founded the San Francisco 49ers Talent Academy, where he was known as the “Why Coach.” 

As an award-winning keynote speaker, Paul’s impact continues off stage providing leadership development and culture transformation programs for companies and teams including Amazon, Disney, Johnson & Johnson, NASA, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Cowboys. 

He’s also the founder of the Win Monday community (an elite personal and professional development network) and host of the Win Monday podcast, where he interviews high-profile guests who reveal their secrets of confidence and work-life mastery. 

When he’s not on stage as a global keynote speaker, Paul is a proud father of PJ and Lucca, married his best friend on the field of Levi’s Stadium, and has a slight obsession with bacon—just don’t make it too crispy. 

  • The Power of Playing Offense in Defensive Environments: How to Lead with Courage while Navigating Uncertainty

    Global upheaval, unrelenting change, and economic uncertainty have us all playing defense.

    The result: confidence gaps that drive defensive mindsets and actions at organizations all over the world. But what if you had a playbook for playing offense — CONFIDENTLY pursuing and achieving meaningful goals and breakthrough performance — while everyone else is sheltering in place?

    This is exactly what Paul delivers in this flagship keynote inspired by 15 years of leading teams in the NFL/NBA and his bestselling book, The Power of Playing Offense: a Leaders Playbook for Personal and Team Transformation.

    Every audience member will walk away with a 5-pillar Playing Offense framework, curated for universal insights and actionable takeaways to implement in any industry or organization.

    Keynote Outcomes
    • Identify the keys to attracting, engaging, and retaining talent with confidence
    • Inspire your team to leverage purpose as a driver of commitment and performance
    • Learn to build an environment of intrinsic motivation, no carrots or sticks required
    • Cultivate a culture of grit and resilience to endure any climate
    • Understand the best and ‘next practices’ of trust building, empathy, and belonging
    • Know what the greatest leaders do, and how to scale these behaviors across organizations
  • How to Make Better Decisions Faster: Unshakable Confidence when you Need it Most

    Even the most elite performers can rush to bad judgements, become paralyzed by indecision, or get worn down by decision fatigue.

    In this keynote, Paul reveals the streamlined three-step process he’s used to turn around major sports franchises — from the locker room to the boardroom. Avoid decision traps, move forward clear and CONFIDENT, and make the best out of your MVDs: Most Valuable Decisions.

    Discover the secrets to always making the right call when it comes to:

    • Picking Strategy A or Strategy B
    • Choosing who (and when) to hire, fire, or promote
    • Deciding whether to spend your time on X, Y, or Z
    • Moving forward with a deal or hitting the eject button

    The secret? The Head-Heart-Hands equation: a simple and repeatable process that taps into the power of our three most basic human tools for making better decisions faster.

    Keynote Outcomes
    • Flip fear and uncertainty into clarity and confidence
    •Empower leaders and talent to become highly decisive, aware, and intentional in their actions
    • Acquire an operating framework designed for speed, efficiency, and winning time back
    • Learn a simple, holistic method to promote personal and professional well-being
    • Build high-trust teams through heightened authenticity and collaboration
    • Leave with a playbook where everybody knows what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to
  • Purpose in Action: Scaling Championship Culture: How to Apply North Stars on Monday Morning

    Every company has a purpose. The challenge is not in identifying it, it’s in bringing it to life...through daily action, that scales. This keynote exists to ensure that your team’s collective and individual purpose is the cultural foundation of everything you do. It represents who you are, what you stand for, and how you show up—all in one.

    Once optimized for action, purpose can be the strongest unifier we have, a 365 driver of performance and engagement, a magnet for recruiting, the glue of retention, the soul of leadership, and the DNA of WHY we do what we do. Ultimately, it’s how we scale championship culture - with CONFIDENCE.

    Paul is an expert at putting purpose in action, once known as the “WHY Coach” of the San Francisco 49ers and now senior advisor for the WHY Institute, he became fixated on not allowing a WHY or purpose to stay a distant North Star. Instead, he got obsessed with applying it on Monday morning, one decision and action at a time.

    He’s since been training these principles to organizations worldwide, all in the spirit of
    WINNING MONDAY with purpose, on purpose.

    Keynote Outcomes
    • From organizational to individual purpose, learn how to align and connect both
    • Hear the latest research on the ROI of Purpose and how it ties to confidence and performance
    • Engage with activities to apply purpose to daily decisions, behaviors, and actions
    • Understand how to scale purpose across teams, organizations, and micro-cultures
    • Learn how purpose can elevate the mental, social, and emotional wellbeing of your team
    • Leave with the habits and rituals required to make purpose in action ‘stick’
  • Closing the Confidence Gap in Sales: The Mindset and Game Plan Required to WIN

    Sales is the lifeblood of every organization. Without it, there is no business to operate. No people to employ. No purpose to fulfill. No impact to ignite in the market.

    CONFIDENCE is what makes it all possible.

    Paul realized how confidence can be the ultimate separator and competitive advantage needed to win as a sales leader in the NFL and NBA, breaking the all-time Super Bowl revenue record, surpassing billion-dollar goals while opening new NFL stadiums, and transforming cellar-dwelling NBA teams from 28th in league revenue to 2nd.

    This keynote unpacks exactly how he and his teams did it. The lessons and insights are industry agnostic and universally applicable. It’s the perfect blend of sales mindset and winning psychology, coupled with tactical toolkits to maximize confidence and achieve breakthrough performance...
    immediately.

    Keynote Outcomes
    • Learn the best practices of elite performers and how they separate from the pack
    • Identify the confidence gaps that get in the way of optimal and sustainable performance
    • Discover the habits and rituals required for daily growth and success
    • Understand the secrets and tactics of overcoming adversity and navigating uncertainty
    • Acquire a process to unlock your mindset, lead with authenticity, and drive purposeful action
    • Leave with a toolkit to drive greater passion, impact, and results to Win Monday, and beyond
Incredibly impactful message! Our goal was to motivate our elite sales people during a critical quarter at ADP - Paul's keynote accomplished that tenfold.

— Amy Cordes, ADP, Director Continuous Sales Learning & Development

Paul’s keynote touched our head, heart, and hands. The mindset shifts were transformational, our hearts are now our competitive difference, and our hands are inspired to action. His ability to teach others to win one day, one decision, and one action at a time drives IMMEDIATE ROI in a way that's unparalleled in our industry!

— Greg Kish, SoFi Stadium, Head of Revenue

Ever since Paul Epstein's keynote to our commercial sales team, the PLAYING OFFENSE mindset and 5-pillar game plan has had infinite impact in the field and beyond. Our team was inspired with purpose, became more resilient, built more trusting relationships, and our culture is that much stronger thanks to Paul. Couldn't recommend him more!

— Linda Gordon, Johnson & Johnson, Commercial Marketing Leader

Paul’s energy is infectious, his stories touch the heart, and he instills a mindset to be your best. We all walked away with actionable tools to navigate uncertainty, battle through indecision, and perform with confidence, leaving us with a rallying cry to WIN MONDAY.

— Tre Menzel, Google Cloud, Head of Sales

After a year of COVID, my team at work was really starting to show the strains of being physically distanced for so long: we were all feeling disconnected, we had difficulty communicating and there was just a general feeling of malaise among the group. Paul created a two-part workshop that helped us reconnect with our personal goals, each other and why we do what we do. He helped improve communication among the team and everyone left feeling seen, heard and hopefully more valued. I look forward to following up with Paul to continue the work we started together.

— LACMA

Paul’s interactive workshop at our conference provided our attendees an opportunity to identify a gameplan for their personal success and their roles as leaders.   You could see individuals engaging with Paul’s message and anecdotes in a fun, thoughtful and informative format. His emphasis on building human relationships and playing offensive provides a foundation for individuals to apply actionable items to work towards their personal and professional leadership goals. His workshop was a perfect fit for our program and added a tremendous amount of value to our conference agenda.

— Laura Case, Senior Program Director, Sports Business Journal

Paul led our leadership and staff through his coursework on identifying and living/working with purpose through core values and an over-arching “WHY” that optimizes performance and challenges us to level up to our full potential.  He’s done a ton of work with other teams/leagues and companies to focus on our best asset, people.  I’ve received incredible feedback from our group around connecting and creating a culture that celebrates personal growth, talent and performance that centers on authentic and purpose driven energy.
 

— Michelle Kajiwara, Senior Vice President, Premium and Events Business, STAPLES Center/AEG

We are a fast growing tele-therapy startup company with it's entire workforce operating from home. We were looking to build the foundation of our company with the combined values of our people. Paul's session was powerful. He made the team stronger and guided us through identifying the most important values we wanted to embed into the work culture.

— Syed Mohammed, CEO Enable My Child

Playing Offense challenges us all to lead with purpose, authenticity, and courage—characteristics that make Paul the ideal coach for this transformational journey to know who we are and why we serve. Paul was able to plant deep-rooted seeds that blossomed into self-awareness and change for my team.

— Michele Kajiwara, Senior Vice President, Sales & Service AEG / Staples Center

Paul’s work with our hotel’s management team has been invaluable, inspiring individuals of all different tenures and experience levels to find their purpose and become more fulfilled leaders. The impact on our organizational culture has been tremendous and the fundamental lessons from his workshops have become a core part of our organizational DNA.

— Matthew Lehman, Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows, Former General Manager

Paul imparts practical and action-oriented lessons from the trenches of leadership through his Playing Offense system. His people-first approach will resonate with leaders at every level, inspiring both teams and individuals who are determined and driven enough to take on the challenge.

— Rich Diviney, Retired Navy SEAL Officer, Author & Speaker On Leadership & Optimal Performance

In football, the most successful teams develop a plan and take deliberate and consistent steps toward achieving their goals every single day—leadership is no different. Paul has provided the ultimate game plan for leaders that are driven to achieve their vision of success for themselves and their teams.

— Merrill Hoge, Former NFL Player, Former ESPN Commentator, Bestselling Author

Many of us have been promoted from player to coach and were never provided a playbook on how to lead. Playing Offense was curated to solve this problem. The impact it will create for your team, career, culture, and life, is infinite.

— Santor Nishizaki, Award-Winning Chief Executive Officer, Formerly With NASA And Disney Imagineering

Paul’s keynote exceeded all my expectations and my team was profoundly moved by Paul's authenticity, and by the leadership principles he taught us using amazing storytelling skills. Paul helped Amazon understand the core values at the center of leadership such as Compassion, Character, and Trust.

— Oumar Diagne, Former Amazon Sr. Manager, Honeywell, Sr. Director Global Operations Finance

What makes a great leader? Mountains of books have been written on the traits, skills, and qualities that provide this answer. In my mind, one easily rises to the top: The Power of Playing Offense.

— Eric Yuan, Founder & CEO, ZOOM Video Communications

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