He’s a highly sought-after international motivational speaker, extreme adventurer, TV presenter, youth developer, and author of the bestseller “The Great Run,” but most of all, he is a no-nonsense conservationist. Braam has an infectious energy that is fed by his life-long passion to protect the environment. He inspires countless others to do the same!
Braam has worked extensively as a youth developer, facilitating outdoor leadership camps where he teaches children about their place in nature as well as survival skills.
Through his guidance Braam empowers them to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others. His mottos are: “the greatest gift in life is giving” and “nothing is impossible if you have big dreams”. In 2006 he put his convictions to the test when he and David Grier achieved a world first by running the entire length of the Great Wall of China, a distance of 4218km, at a pace of a marathon a day for 98 days.
This expedition funded the inaugural mission in South Africa for Operation Smile, an international charity organization providing corrective surgery for children born with cleft lip and cleft palate disfigurements.
After serious knee surgery and his doctors saying he’d never run again, in 2008 Braam and David completed another world first by running a “Smile around South Africa”, following the entire coastline from Namibia to Mozambique, a distance of 3278km.
Through these achievements, in excess of R2.5 million was raised for Operation Smile.
Then, in 2011/12, Braam and Peter van Kets raced 768km over 24 days, to the South Pole. The 100th-anniversary race commemorated Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen’s epic journeys in 1911/12. Only three teams finished, with Braam and Pete coming third and, in a show of tremendous camaraderie, assisting one of the British teams to the pole.
Braam has presented extensively on the SABC nature programme 50/50. In his series “Get Connected with Braam”, he motivates the audience to become aware of and appreciate the connection we all have with animals and our natural world.
As one of South Africa’s most sought-after motivational speakers, Braam leaves his audiences not only inspired, but also empowered to embrace change as a process to greater personal fulfillment.
