Jim Connelly one of 15 hand-picked top business leaders and speakers from around the country each sharing their unique vision was the next stop on 2017 Speak Like a Champion Speaking Tour and Business Event Experience at the prestigious University of Notre Dame held July 30th VIP night, July 31-Aug 2.
After the hugely successful Speak Like a Champion event at NASA Houston – Johnson Space Center, last January, the tour is picking up momentum and this promises to be another epic business learning and networking experience.
“From the first day, I was amazed by the depth of knowledge of each speaker. The education I received was the best investment I have made in 2017. I not only learned so much, but I met great people and had a ton of fun.” Dave Gould – CEO – Essential Wisdom LLC
The Notre Dame event is being headlined by VIP Keynote, legendary Napoleon Hill Foundation featured speaker, author, and businessman, Jim Connelly.
Jim Connelly, entrepreneur, author, and speaker has always lived life by his motto “It’s not what happens to you in life, but what you do about it that matters.”
Born in Turtle Creek, a small factory town in Western Pennsylvania, he was the son of an abusive alcoholic father and learned at an early age to fight for survival.
In every area that society measures success, he was a failure, and yet against all odds, at age 27, six years after leaving Turtle Creek with $100 in his pocket, he became the youngest General Manager in the history of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, one of the most prestigious hotels in the world.
During his tenure as GM, he earned the trust and friendship of many notables, including Hollywood stars, sports greats, five United States presidents and captains of industry who stayed the his hotel – such as John and Robert Kennedy Kirk Kerkorian, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Ara Parseghian and Frank Sinatra, to name a few. Some of Jim’s special memories include late night dinners and walks with Jack and Bobby Kennedy during the presidential campaign and at Sinatra’s request, he planned and hosted his 50th birthday gala at the hotel.
Exploring new opportunities, Connelly was invited by the chairman of Shearson Lehman to join the Wall Street investment-banking firm. He became the first non-college graduate accepted into their management program and graduated from the New York Institute of Finance in the top 10% of his class. He went on to become the #1 produced for the firm.
After five years as one of the firm’s top brokers, Jim moved on to start a number of successful businesses, including Jim Connelly and Associates, a consulting firm specializing in the hospitality industry, where he was an advisor to Kirk Kerkorian for the opening of Caesar’s Palace and was the point man for Frank Sinatra during the transition of the Cal-Neva Lodge.
In addition, Jim founded International Leadership, a consulting firm dedicated to the development of personal leadership skills, which was instrumental in helping to draft the guidelines for the President’s Council on Employment of People with Disabilities at Stanford University.
He is the author of the book One More Sunset, which chronicles his dear friend Donna Jones’ journey after a traumatic brain injury and the unorthodox methods his used to advance her recovery and strengthen her quality of life.
Today Jim is a trustee and Vice President of the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame. His clients include Fortune 500 companies as well as universities and individuals. He lives in South Bend, Indiana at the edge of the Notre Dame campus with his wife Kate and daughter Katy Clare. He is currently working on his new non-fiction book, “Inside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel: through the keyhole. My life with the rich, famous and the mafia.”