Julie Angus

Julie is an accomplished adventurer, bestselling author and scientist. She is the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean from mainland to mainland and a recipient of the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year award. She has also cycled across continents, rowed thousands of kilometers of coastlines and rivers, and organized a National Geographic expedition that sailed the ancient Phoenician trading routes. Explore Magazine listed her as one of North America's leading adventurers and she is regularly seen on television shows such as Canada AM, CBC Sunday News and Daily Planet. She is an engaging and entertaining speaker who inspires audiences and demonstrates techniques we can all use to reach goals and overcome challenges. 

What makes Julie's story remarkable is that prior to rowing across an ocean, she had no previous experience as an adventurer. A trained biologist with a graduate degree in Molecular Biology, Julie worked in venture capital, business development and technology transfer to build and grow innovative biotech companies. She applied the skills she learned in the business environment to adventure, quickly realizing that the strategies to success in each realm are strikingly similar. Whether she is leading a National Geographic expedition or navigating a rowboat through a hurricane, her techniques offer businesses and organizations insights into negotiating today's challenging environment.

Julie's unique approach has been highlighted in business publications including Investor's Business Daily and BC Business, and she has written for The Globe and Mail, National Post, and enRoute magazine. She is the bestselling author of three books and co-producer of two award-winning documentaries. Her photography has appeared in Outside magazine, Explore magazine, Reader's Digest, The Guardian and various National Geographic publications. She was awarded the Arch Award for her achievements from McMaster University. 

Julie has addressed hundreds of groups. Her clients include professional associations, school districts, government agencies, non-profit organizations and corporations. Her clients have included Rolls Royce, Helly Hansen, Freestone Capital Management, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Alberta Health Authority, Annual Cardiovascular Conference, Entrepreneur's Organization, Canadian Association for Earthquake Engineering, RBC Wealth Management, District of Maple Ridge, Capital Regional District, Canadian Association for Earthquake Engineering, IdeaCity, Associate Veterinary Clinics, Wallace & Carey Inc. and Mountain Equipment Co-op.

• 1. Rowboat In A Hurricane: Dealing with Change and Unexpected Setbacks

  Imagine surviving a hurricane with nothing more than a rowboat to shelter you. When Julie set off on a quest to become the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean from mainland to mainland this was not what she anticipated. But Julie soon realized that to succeed she'd not only need to deal with adversity and uncertainly, but embrace it and use it as an opportunity to grow and prosper. Julie shares techniques to deal with changing environments including altering our perception, preparing for the unexpected, assessing risks, and improving communication.
  
  Presentation Themes: Coping with change, adaptability, communication, risk assessment, motivation, goal setting, inspiration

• 2. Office in a Rowboat: Taking Teamwork to the Extreme

  Julie and her expedition partner and husband, Colin Angus, deliver an engaging and entertaining account of the five months they spent rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, focusing on strategies they used to foster teamwork. It doesn't get more stressful than living, eating, and working within the confines of a rowboat for months on end and this dynamic duo will share their strategies for fostering harmonious and productive dynamics. They dissect the essential components of effective teamwork including conflict resolution, motivation and communication.
  
  Presentation Themes: Team building, project management, leadership, adaptability, inspiration

• 3. Rowing Across the Atlantic: Strategies to Reach Your Goals

  Rowing across the Atlantic Ocean seemed impossible at times - the distance was too vast and the obstacles too great. Yet through goal setting, managing risk, perseverance and dealing with the unexpected, including two hurricanes, Julie crossed 10,000 km of open ocean. By juxtaposing the difficulties she faced to the challenges in our business and personal lives, Julie offers an insightful and entertaining perspective on how to overcome our fears, learn more about ourselves, and set goals that help us reach our ambitions.
  
  Presentation Themes: Goal setting, inspiration, motivation, leadership

• Colin and Julie were a HUGE hit! Everyone came out thoroughly amazed and impressed.

  Freestone Capital Management

• We loved having Julie speak to us! Everyone came away feeling awed and amazed.

  Woman's Business Network Comox Valley

• Not only was her story exciting for our delegates but she was also able to apply the lessons learned on her journey to the specific challenges that we face in our industry and the process of technology commercialization which made it that much more engaging to listen to.

  WestLink Innovation Network

• I know everyone at our annual marketing conference greatly appreciated your presentation and went away equally as inspired as I did. I was so moved it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  Helly Hansen

• Julie and Colin's presentation and involvement in our Charity Golf Tournament was truly inspirational.

  Wallace & Carey Inc.

• We all fell in love with your ordinary/extraordinary spirit, your down-to-earth nature and your calm but humorous delivery.

  Every Woman

• Thank you for being with us and for delivering your presentation with such enthusiasm, humour, sincerity and spirit.

  Canada West Ski Areas Association

• Everyone loved your presentation, you are inspiring, courageous, amazing individuals.

  Capital Regional District

• 
  September 2009

  Rowed Trip

  One sunny day in 2006, Julie and Colin Angus were talking about the future, as newly engaged couples do. More unusually, they were at the time travelling together from Moscow to Vancouver by human power — boat, bike, and foot. Julie traced a route of interconnected canals, rivers, and coastlines that led from Colin’s parents’ homeland of Scotland past her mother’s homeland, Germany, and on to her father’s, Syria. She said, half-seriously: We could row (yes, row, as in propelling a tippy little boat on a pond) all the way from Scotland to Syria to visit our relatives. The result is Rowed Trip, an odyssey by oar (and bike) from Caithness, Scotland to Syria. Julie and Colin each describe how the trip allowed them to test their relationship, to explore their roots, and to indulge to the max their shared taste for adventure.

  
  
• 
  March 2009

  Rowboat in a Hurricane

  In 2005–06, Julie Angus, with her fiancé Colin, rowed 10,000 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean, becoming the first woman in the world to travel from mainland to mainland in a rowboat. The 145-day journey gave Angus, a trained scientist, a unique perspective on the ocean. The slow-moving boat became an ecosystem unto itself, attracting barnacles, dorado fish, trigger fish, turtles, sharks, whales, birds, and more, which she was able to observe and document. Angus also saw unmistakable signs of the ocean’s devastation, with far more plastic bottles, wrappers, toys, and bags than sharks or other once-common sea life. Four cyclones, including two hurricanes, hammered the small boat so intensely that Angus and her companion weren't sure they would survive. Rowboat in a Hurricane records this amazing journey in meticulous, dramatic detail, in the process offering a personal record of an awe-inspiring ecosystem, its fascinating denizens, and the mounting threats to its existence.