**Ralph HeathRph Heath - Keynote Speaker“Ralph Heath is a master storyteller,
and the life lessons he shares send a
powerful message.”
- Jerry Kember, Superintendent,
School District of La Crosse,
November 2009.
Author
Ralph’s first book, published in July 2009 by Career Press, is called
Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes, and
Thinking Big.
Celebrating Failure and Audible, a division of Amazon, bought the audio
rights.
As a former ad agency owner Ralph has worked with Career Press and
their ad agency Newman Communications to promote Celebrating Failure.
The book has received excellent reviews from TimeMagazine,Soundview, Blue Ridge Business Journal, andHoustonMagazine. Prepublication testimonials about Celebrating Failure can
Executive Book Summaries
Style
be found on the book’s web site that include quotes from Senator Russ
Feingold and best-selling authors James Autry and Jeff Thull.
He writes a weekly blog called Thoughtful Leadership and Marketing that
explores leadership issues.
Background information
Ralph was founder and president of Ovation Marketing, a successful ad agency, located far from
Madison Avenue that represented some of America’s most iconic brands, including Budweiser, Hershey’s,
Betty Crocker, State Farm and Microsoft. The company was twice named to Inc.magazine’s 500 fastestgrowing
companies and recognized frequently for their management and health innovations.
Ralph is a member of the National Speakers Association. He has taught advertising and marketing
courses at the University of Wisconsin. He earned his B.S. in mass communications from the University
of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He is past-president of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy and Human Powered
Trails, organizations dedicated to preserving a natural environment. He serves on the board of the
La Crosse Fitness Festival. The U.S.A. Triathlon Association has honored Ralph as a four-time Triathlon
All-American. He is a two-time finisher of the Hawaii Ironman competition and a 2008 and 2009 bronze
medal winner in the Wisconsin Cycling championships.
“I want to thank you for your excellent presentation to our students, faculty, and
community leaders on Tuesday evening. Your lecture, The Leadership Manifesto,
was very well done, informative and interesting. I have received many positive
comments from the approximately 200 attendees.”
- Bill Colclough, Dean, College of Business, UW-La Crosse, November 2009.
“Ralph’s real-life examples put to words many management concepts I knew or felt subconsciously.
I especially enjoyed the “burning the pile of purchase orders” story as a vivid example of how to
enforce taking ownership.”
- Michael J. Juran, President, HAB Inc, October 2009.
“I had always feared failure, but after listening to your speech I have a new appreciation for
the value failure delivers to my learning. Outstanding presentation!”
- UW-La Crosse student, November 2009.In December, McGraw Hill bought the international rights to**
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