Special Guest Amy Purdy

Amy Purdy
at a glance...
Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com • 
Motivational Speaker
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World Class Snowboarder / 2014 Paralympic Medalist
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Founder of Adaptive Action Sports
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Actress
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Model
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Dancer
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Clothing Designer
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Author
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Product Spokesperson
Ø  Hometown:Las Vegas, NV Ø  Resides: Los Angeles, CA / Copper Mountain, CO Ø  Birth date:11/7/1979 Ø  TW/INST: @AmyPurdyGURL Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com Amy’s Story: Living Beyond Limits…
At 19, after experiencing flu-like symptoms, Amy was rushed to the hospital in a state of
septic shock. En route, she experienced respiratory and multiple organ failure which caused
her to lose circulation to her extremities. When she entered into the hospital she was given
less than a 2% chance of survival, put on life support and placed into a coma. After multiple
blood transfusions, and the removal of her ruptured spleen, doctors diagnosed Amy with
Meningococcal Meningitis, a vaccine preventable bacterial infection. Due to the lack of
circulation she had suffered doctors had to amputate her legs below the knee. She later
received a donated kidney from her father a week before her 21st birthday.
After going through this life-altering experience, Amy challenged herself to move on with her
life and attain goals that even those who have both legs struggle to achieve. Just three
months after her kidney transplant, Amy entered the USASA National Snowboarding
Championship where she won medals in three events. Today, she is one of the top ranked
adaptive snowboarders in the world, and was the 2014 Paralympic Bronze Medalist. She is
the only double leg amputee competing at the world class level.
Amy’s creativity, positive outlook and her never give up attitude have opened doors to many
other opportunities including being featured in a Madonna music video, a lead actress role in
an award winning independent film and multiple creative modeling projects including a photo
shoot with musician and artist Nikki Sixx where her legs were custom made from steel to
look like ice picks.
Amy has evolved into a powerful inspirational and motivational speaker who has literally
been seen by millions of people and invited to share her story to audiences around the world.
Amy’s story and images have been featured in numerous national and international
publications, and in 2012 she and her longtime boyfriend, Daniel Gale, raced around the
world on The Amazing Race.
Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com In May of 2013 Amy was named by the International Olympic Committee as one of the top
15 most marketable Para-athletes in the world.
Although Amy has numerous accomplishments, she is most proud of co-founding Adaptive
Action Sports. Created in 2005, AAS is a non-profit organization which helps those with
permanent disabilities to get involved in action sports. AAS has partnered with ESPN and
runs “adaptive” action sport competitions at the summer and winter ESPN X Games.
These events were instrumental in getting adaptive snowboarding added to the 2014
Paralympic Games.
In the Spring of 2014, Amy inspired millions of fans with her stunning performances on
ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, eventually becoming the show’s runner up. She is now in
the process of launching a new clothing line in partnership with Element Eden (due out for
Spring 2015) and recently completed her first book (due out in December).
Through her partnership with Toyota, Amy’s latest adventure was sharing her remarkable
story alongside Oprah Winfrey, as part of Oprah’s The Life You Want Tour. She toured with
Oprah from September through November last year to eight cities across America.
With a passion for fashion, Amy is releasing a new clothing line in partnership with Element Eden which will debut in the Spring of 2015. More online here: hWp://us.elementeden.com/c/blog/congrats-­‐amy-­‐purdy-­‐
dancing-­‐with-­‐the-­‐stars-­‐2014 Amy is highly experienced professional speaker, including being a featured presenter at both TEDx and POP Tech. Her TED speech has been viewed over 1.4 million Vmes and translated into mulVple languages: hWp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2QZM7azGoA Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com Amy is an experienced model who has worked on features with both Madonna and Nikki Sixx. She has appeared in campaigns for Toyota, The Haraord, P&G, Duracell, Kellogg;s, Element, Coca-­‐Cola and others. Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com Amy is the top ranked adapVve snowboarder in the U.S., a three-­‐Vme World Cup Para-­‐Snowboard winner, and the 2014 Paralympic Bronze Medalist. Amy is the co-­‐founder of Adap%ve Ac%on Sports, a non-­‐profit organizaVon which helps disabled youth, young adults and wounded veterans get involved with acVon sports. AAS was instrumental in geeng adapVve snowboarding added to the 2014 Paralympic Games. Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com Three days afer winning a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Paralympics Amy became a breakout star of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. Inspiring the judges, fellow compeVtors, the professional dance staff and millions of fans, Amy delivered one stunning performance afer another and was eventually the show’s runner up. Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com A highly experienced spokesperson, Amy has been featured in adverVsing campaigns for Toyota, Coca-­‐Cola, Kellogg’s, The Haraord, Element, The U.S. Olympic CommiWee, NBC, Procter & Gamble, Duracell and others. She has performed hundreds of brand integrated interviews, SMTs, voice-­‐overs, commercials and more. Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com http://www.oprah.com/app/oprahs-tour.html
In the fall of 2014, through Amy’s partnership with Toyota, she joined her lifelong idol Oprah Winfrey and fellow speakers Deepak Chopra, Elizabeth Gilbert, Iyanla Vanzant, and Rob Bell on a remarkable journey across the country as part of Oprah’s “The Life You Want Weekend” tour. Amy presented a grant to women who were making a difference in their communiVes enabling them to conVnue their inspiraVonal work. Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com In January of 2015, Amy released her memoir, On My Own Two Feet. Amy Purdy, who inspired a nation on Dancing with the Stars and
has been called a hero by Oprah Winfrey, reveals the intimate
details of her triumphant comeback from the brink of death to
making history as a Paralympic snowboarder.
'Her riveting memoir, On My Own Two Feet, is shot
through with honesty, compassion, a sunny
steeliness, and, above all, a sense of humor.''
--O, The Oprah Magazine
In this poignant and uplifting memoir, Dancing With the Stars
sensation Amy Purdy reveals the story of how losing her legs led
her to find a spiritual path. When the Las Vegas native was just
nineteen, she contracted bacterial meningitis and was given less
than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience,
she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you
can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it’s all going to make
sense in the end.” In that moment, Amy chose to live.
Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com Super Bowl XLIX In February of 2015, Amy will be featured in a Toyota Super Bowl commercial. Watch it here: hWps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjUfygo5mzw Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com For more informaVon about Amy Purdy contact: Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners www.ChicagoSEP.com Jeannie Goldstein Jeannie@ChicagoSEP.com 773 680 9800