Food & Culinary Speakers

As a businessman who has proven his wit and acumen in front of millions as the first winner of what will go down as one of the most successful franchises in reality television history, NBC’s Apprentice, Bill Rancic shares the strategies of what it takes to win in and out of the boardroom.

Fee Range: $10,000–$25,000
Travels From: IL

Fee Range: $32,000–$68,500
Travels From: NY

• Stanley Tucci has appeared in more than 50 films, numerous TV shows, and more than a dozen Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. • He is the host of Searching for Italy on CNN, where Tucci travels across Italy to explore the country's regional cuisine. • Tucci has been behind the camera working as a writer, director, and producer • He is known for his role as "Caesar Flickerman" in The Hunger Games franchise • Tucci is the director, star, and writer of Big Night, which won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards. • Other credits include Spotlight, The Lovely Bones, Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Devil Wears Prada, Captain America: The First Avenger, Julie & Julia, and Easy A. • He is the author of two family-centric cookbooks, The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends, and a memoir Taste: My Life Through Food. • Tucci recently opened up about undergoing successful cancer treatment after a tumor was discovered on the base of his tongue; his wife lost her battle to breast cancer in 2009

Fee Range: $90,000–$250,000
Travels From: Intl

International icon Wolfgang Puck is recognized for both his culinary brilliance and dynamic personality. From award-wining restaurants around the globe to creating the menu for the Oscars Governors Ball for more than 25 years, his legendary name carries an undeniable cachet in America and around the world. His bold and innovative cooking changed the way people cook and eat by mixing his classic French training with California-influenced aesthetics and the highest quality ingredients.

Fee Range: $50,000–$125,000
Travels From: CA

Legendary sports icon, Olympic champion and Hall of Famer, philanthropist, bestselling author, television personality, ringside analyst and longtime face of Skechers’ popular Relaxed Fit collections, Sugar Ray Leonard has established a legacy that epitomizes boxing and invokes the reverence of a champion. Sugar Ray Leonard’s raw and uplifting memoir reveals in intimate detail for the first time the complex human who waged his own personal battle with depression, rage, addiction and greed, that lay behind the champion.

Fee Range: Inquire
Travels From: CA

Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Emmy Award-winning television show host, entrepreneur and best-selling author, is America’s most trusted lifestyle expert and teacher. Millions of people rely on Martha Stewart as a source of useful “how-to” information for all aspects of everyday living – cooking, entertaining, gardening, home renovating, collecting, organizing, crafting, holidays, healthy living and pets.

Fee Range: Inquire
Travels From: NY

Three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee has built one of the most illustrious athletic careers in the world of track & field. Her performance in the heptathlon and long jump in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics, made her a legend. Jackie Joyner-Kersee has set over 18 athletic records, received over 24 recognition awards, is a successful businesswoman, respected community leader, and a dynamic motivational speaker who inspires audiences to go after their dreams with passion and commitment. Working with the 77-year-old Farm Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture, Jackie has embarked upon a nationwide effort to enhance the comprehensive health of our nation’s communities through the promotion of healthy lifestyles.

Fee Range: $20,000–$45,000
Travels From: MO

Steven Aldana is one of the nation’s foremost experts on healthy living and worksite wellness. He is a former professor of lifestyle medicine at Brigham Young University. He is currently the CEO and founder of WellSteps, a turnkey wellness program designed to help employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors for life. Aldana has published over 60 scientific articles on the prevention, arrest, and reversal of America’s most common chronic diseases. He has written 7 books on the ability of healthy lifestyle habits to prevent cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes, and many chronic diseases. His most recent book, The Culprit and The Cure is currently being used by over 4,500 companies and corporations in an effort to boost productivity and reduce employee related health expenses. Most recently, he has become a special advisor to the U.S. Secretary of health and human services. Steven Aldana is determined to educate people about the tremendous impact lifestyle has on disease and is devoted to helping individuals adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.

Fee Range: $3,000–$6,000
Travels From: UT

Fee: $106,000
Travels From: GA

Ira Blumenthal collects quotations. One of his favorites is “The true measure of a man is how many lives he can jam into one lifetime…” Ira has certainly jammed many lives into his productive, successful life. From college football and lacrosse coach to business executive… from consultant to talk show host… from university professor to public speaker… from author to philanthropist… and more… lots of lives here… diverse, distinctive and dynamic.

Fee Range: $6,500–$10,000
Travels From: GA

The owner of the Washington, DC-based CakeLove and the former host of the Food Network's “Sugar Rush”, Warren Brown is an entrepreneurial icon. Taking an unconventional career path, Brown left his job as an attorney for the federal government to pursue his dream. Passionate about cake and the happiness that it brings, Brown opened CakeLove and soon perfected his recipe for success, ultimately expanding to six retail storefronts. Warren Brown has been recognized for his entrepreneurial spirit by local and national media including “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, “The Today Show”, NPR, CNN, and Inc. magazine, and national advertisement campaigns for American Express and Dell computers. He has published several cookbooks: CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch, United Cakes of America, CakeLove in the Morning, and his latest, Pie Love. In this, his fourth book, Brown answers every baker's questions about making the perfect pie and includes recipes that range from sweet to savory.

Fee: $10,000
Travels From: DC

Dan Buettner is a New York Times best-selling author as well as an internationally recognized researcher and explorer who founded Blue Zones®–a brand that compiles the world’s best practices in health, happiness, and longevity and helps people live longer and better.

Fee Range: $75,000–$125,000
Travels From: MN

Leah Cohen is the chef and owner of popular Lower East Side restaurant Pig & Khao and Piggyback by Pig & Khao in Midtown Manhattan. Opened in fall 2012, Pig & Khao is an intimate, 74-seat restaurant serving Southeast Asian cuisine influenced by Leah’s Filipino upbringing and her annual expeditions to the region. Acclaimed by publications including the New York Times, New York Magazine, and The Huffington Post, Pig & Khao has been praised for its Asian street food-inspired fare, casual, inviting ambiance, and inventive bar program. Recipient of a 2013 StarChefs Rising Stars Award, Leah’s main cooking philosophy is to stay true to authentic Southeast Asian flavors while incorporating classical western techniques.

Fee Range: $11,000–$20,000
Travels From: NY

Doug Conant is a top change management speaker who speaks widely to people and organizations on effective and enduring leadership practices for the modern age. Conant is an internationally renowned business leader, New York Times bestselling author, keynote speaker, and social media influencer with over 40 years of leadership experience at world-class global companies. For the past 20 years of his leadership journey, he has honed his leadership craft at the most senior levels – first as President of the Nabisco Foods Company, then as CEO of Campbell Soup Company, and finally as Chairman of Avon Products.

Fee Range: Inquire
Travels From: PA

Ross Dawson is globally recognized as a leading futurist, keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and authority on business strategy. He is Founding Chairman of the Advanced Human Technologies group of companies, and the bestselling author of four books including the acclaimed Living Networks. Strong global demand has seen him deliver keynote speeches to business and government leaders in over 30 countries, while frequent media appearances include CNN, Bloomberg TV, SkyNews, ABC TV, Today and Sunrise shows, The New York Times, and many others.

Fee Range: $12,000–$30,000
Travels From: Intl

Fee Range: Inquire
Travels From: NY

Speaker Morgaine Gaye is a Food Futurologist researching on geopolitics, culture and fashion in order to provide accurate analyses of food trends. Gaye runs bellwether: Food Trends, where she consults for both food and technology companies on all elements of the eating experience. Our food and cultural preferences are interconnected. Which is why Morgaine conducts in-depth research into geopolitics, culture and fashion in order to provide accurate analyses of food trends.

Fee Range: Inquire
Travels From: Intl

Fee Range: $12,500–$20,000
Travels From: CA

Chef Jeff Henderson is an award-winning chef, New York Times bestselling author, philanthropist, television personality, and highly sought-after speaker on personal and professional development. Jeff started his culinary career in the unlikeliest of places: prison. While serving nearly ten years, he discovered an untapped passion for cooking, which led to executive chef positions at Bellagio and Caesars Palace. Jeff's inspiring story has been featured on Oprah's Life Class, Good Morning America, Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, The Steve Harvey Show and in major publications such as The New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, People Magazine, the Washington Post, and many others. Jeff travels the world teaching his life-changing lessons and working with at-risk young people through his non-profit The Chef Jeff Project. He resides in Las Vegas with his wife Stacy and their five children.

Fee Range: $20,000–$25,000
Travels From: NV

Phil Lempert can predict the future — and then help businesses and consumers understand it. For more than 25 years, Lempert, an expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends, new products and the changing retail landscape, has identified and explained impending trends to consumers and some of the most prestigious companies worldwide. Known as "The Supermarket Guru," Lempert is a distinguished author and speaker who alerts customers and business leaders to impending corporate and consumer trends, and empowers them to make educated purchasing and marketing decisions.

Fee Range: $18,000–$32,000
Travels From: CA

• Co-founder, CEO and Board Member of FreshDirect • Currently serves on the board of directors for the New York Common Pantry, whose mission is to reduce hunger and promote dignity. • Recognized expert, advisor and speaker on a broad range of topics including the digital transformation of the food industry, food sourcing, driving company culture, and entrepreneurship. • Served as Fresh Direct’s “Chief Food Adventurer”, traveling the world to source the best-tasting, freshest, and highest-quality foods.

Fee Range: $19,000–$20,000
Travels From: NY

Rosie O’Neill is an entrepreneur with a major sweet tooth. In July 2012, along with her co-founder and fiancé Josh Resnick, she launched Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique for grown-ups featuring the finest confections from artisan candymakers around the world.

Fee Range: $10,000–$14,000
Travels From: CA

• Kwame Onwuachi is a James Beard Award-winning chef and an Executive Producer at FOOD & WINE Magazine. • He is the author of Notes from a Young Black Chef, which looks back on the difficult path that one tough kid from the Bronx took to reach his goal: becoming a chef in charge of a fine-dining restaurant. • Kwame's first cookbook, My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef, highlights dishes that show the true diversity of American food and the culture and history behind it. • Kwame trained at the Culinary Institute of America and opened five restaurants before turning 30, including the groundbreaking Afro-Caribbean restaurant, Kith/Kin. • Since competing on Top Chef, he has served as a guest judge on Top Chef, been named one of FOOD & WINE’s Best New Chefs, Esquire Magazine’s Chef of the Year, and a 30 Under 30 honoree by both Zagat and Forbes.

Fee Range: $25,000–$50,000
Travels From: NY

Dean Ornish, M.D., has directed clinical research demonstrating for the first time that comprehensive lifestyle changes may begin to reverse even severe coronary heart disease, without drugs or surgery. He is the author of five best-selling books, including New York Times best sellers Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, Eat More, Weigh Less and Love & Survival. He is the founder, president, and director of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute, where he holds the Bucksbaum Chair. He is Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Ornish was recognized as "one of the most interesting people of 1996" by People magazine, featured in the TIME 100 issue on alternative medicine, and chosen by LIFE magazine as "one of the 50 most influential members of his generation."

Fee: $50,000
Travels From: CA