Rick Searfoss shares with only a handful of people in history the sublime experiences of actually flying in space. In his career he has led many different teams, including commanding the most complex science research space mission ever, the STS-90 Neurolab flight on Columbia. He also piloted two other space flights, including a joint Russian-American mission to the Mir space station.

Prior to becoming an astronaut Colonel Searfoss was a fighter pilot and test pilot in the U.S. Air Force, with over 5600 hours flying time in 70 different types of aircraft. A distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons School, his recent test flying work includes flying the EZ Rocket technology and Rocket Racer prototype demonstrator aircraft as test pilot and Director of Flight Operations for XCOR Aerospace. Rick is currently the only tri-qualified liquid-propellant rocket pilot in the world.

As the Chief Judge for the $10 million Ansari X Prize, Rick built and led the judging team that developed the verification methodologies and protocols to validate the successful accomplishment of all the X Prize requirements. He has also held executive level positions in the aerospace industry and consults regularly for numerous entrepreneurial space companies such as the Zero Gravity Corporation.

Rick is a high-content expert speaker on leadership, teamwork, innovation, and peak performance. His extensive leadership experience and work with some of the most innovative companies of the new millennium enable him to fulfill his mission of sharing the teamwork, leadership, and innovation lessons of human space flight while bringing the wonders of Space to Earth for all to enjoy.

His numerous awards include the Harmon, Fairchild, Price and Tober Awards as the number one overall, academic, engineering, and aeronautical engineering graduate in his USAF Academy class, National Science Foundation Fellowship to Cal Tech, USAF Squadron Officer's School Commandant's Trophy as top graduate, Tactical Air Command F-111 Instructor Pilot of the Year, Outstanding Young Men of America, Air Force Commendation Medal and Meritorious Service Medals, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Legion of Merit.

Rick resides in California with his wife and daughters, who have always graciously and patiently supported his flying, space, and storytelling habits!

• LEADERSHIP - "Mach 25 Leadership - The Real Right Stuff?"
  Attitudes, actions, and approaches for today's leaders at every level. Purpose, program, people, perspective. True leaders balance all these elements to get the job done, build their organization, and uplift their followers. Human space flight lessons learned: invaluable, for any leader, any profession, any time! This program superbly builds and motivates leaders at all levels to boldly take charge and make a difference.
• TEAMWORK "Apogee! - Take Your Team to the Top"
  Principles for all team players from rookie to mentor to leader. Successful human space missions demand that hundreds of different teams perform together flawlessly and consistently, with the flight crew as much at the top of their game as a World Series or Super Bowl team. An awesome model for any team venture! "Apogee!" shares this teamwork legacy to accelerate your team's ascent to the pinnacle of cohesion and performance.
• PEAK PERFORMANCE "Countdown to Success"
  Keys to unlock your potential for sustained outstanding performance. The competition to become an astronaut is fierce - less than one in a hundred qualified applicants is selected. What leads to such competitive success? Constant, dedicated pursuit of outstanding individual performance. Rick will arm your group with the astronaut achievement tool kit to launch on your own trajectories to peak personal effectiveness!
• INNOVATION "Dare to Explore!"
  Flexibility, adaptability, and real-time innovation in dynamic, potentially life-threatening situations -a must for space mission commanders. Learn the three-part sequence for innovation success: "hyper-observation" to sense and prioritize the real needs, "a culture of possibilities" to make iconoclastic approaches the norm, and an ever onward and upward" process using constant, rapid visualization, modeling, and prototyping to quickly reach elegant, creative solutions to real-world challenges.
• FUTURE "As We Dream - A Spacefarer's Vision"
  Exciting and optimistic view of the future we can make. In a short 100 years humankind has gone from earthbound to living in space. What challenges and opportunities await us in the next 100 years? With the rare combined perspective of having flown in space, a world-class technical education, and ongoing direct involvement with many private entrepreneurial space ventures, Rick offers a unique view of the technical and cultural possibilities. Unloose your imagination!

  Spectacular video and still imagery in every program to amplify Rick's powerful messages.

  The Vision: "Sharing the leadership, teamwork, and achievement lessons of human space flight while bringing the wonder of Space to Earth for all to enjoy!"

• PATRIOTISM
  "America the Beautiful from Space" Fascinating stories, breathtaking images. America - truly a blessed land. Through the glorious medium of astronaut earth observations photographs, we'll take a breathtaking journey around America. A fascinating combination of inspiring historical, geographical, and cultural stories with stunning images testifying of sublime beauty, wonder, and hope. It will make you more proud than ever to be an American.