Afterburner Communications

Mike Savicki, Chief Thinker

Mike Savicki founded Afterburner Communications with firsthand knowledge that what you say is as important as how you say it. Sharp thinking. That’s where it begins and ends. As a published writer, creative thinker, tireless and well-connected advocate, keynote speaker, passionate motivator and meticulous organizer, Mike is as creative as he is disciplined. His writing style is powerful and emotional. His talks are stirring. He helps clients develop and deliver their image, promote their brand and communicate their message. Armed with an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, writing experience on topics as broad and varied as knitting to NASCAR, comfort both in front and back of the camera and nearly twenty years of high level project management expertise in the private, public and non-profit business sectors, Mike Savicki works with clients on a wide variety of specialized initiatives. He creates sharp messages for those who demand the very best in their fields.

CORPORATE SPEAKING

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In November 1990, while training to become a U.S. Navy F-14 fighter pilot, Mike Savicki sustained a severe spinal cord injury after diving into the waters off Pensacola Beach, FL. In an instant, the then twenty-two year old went from being a fit, active, promising Naval officer – commissioned as the top flight candidate in the nation’s number one ROTC college graduating class – to a spinal cord injured individual who was challenged with learning to live life again using a wheelchair. After completing seven months of rehabilitation in a VA Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) unit, Savicki relocated from his family home in Massachusetts to attend graduate school at Duke University in North Carolina. Along the way, as he regained his independence, earned an MBA and delivered the commencement address, Savicki became involved in wheelchair sports. Competitions took him across the Unites States and around the globe to countries including Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. And now, just over half his life later, Savicki continues to pursue his passion. Not only is he an 22 time finisher (and five time division winner) of the prestigious BAA® Boston Marathon, he has also earned more than 100 gold medals in the National Wheelchair Veterans Games (the nation’s largest annual sporting event for athletes with disabilities). A triathlete since 1999, Savicki became the first quadriplegic to finish the 70.3-mile Beach to Battleship Half Ironman Triathlon in his home state of North Carolina in 2009. He also played quad rugby – a Paralympic sport more popularly known as MURDERBALL – for 13 years and spent three years as a high performance program member competing for a spot on the Athens 2004 Paralympic team. He is a husband and father, a small business owner, a high school teacher, a triathlete, skier, sailor, golfer, writer, marathoner, kayaker, photographer, frustrated fisherman and aspiring drummer. Through stories, anecdotes, jokes, some self-deprecation, and even failure and pain, Mike Savicki shows that people can overcome perceived limitations and reach their dreams.

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Mike Savicki travels from Charlotte, North Carolina.

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2020 Topics


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“Earn Your Wings” (*Signature Keynote)

“Sports and the Human Condition”

“Reinventing Your Life”

Regional and national media samples appear in –
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Film

CURRENTS Magazine
The Adversity Advantage, by Paul G. Stoltz, Ph. D. and Erik Weihenmayer
Triathlete
PN
Over the Counter
One Voice
Duke Magazine
Tufts Magazine
Lake Norman Magazine
Lake Wylie Living
University City Magazine
Center City Living
The Charlotte Observer
Para-Life (Japan)
Outside
Men’s Journal
Sports ‘N Spokes
Challenge Magazine
New Mobility
Education World
USA Today
Great Lake Living
Today’s Charlotte Woman
Making Waves

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Internet

Disaboom.com
Worldteamsports.org
Faceofamerica.org
MSNBC.com
Nobarriersusa.org
Askasia.org
Vietnamchallenge.com
Darynkagan.com

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Television

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
CBS News
ABC News
New England Cable News
New England Sports Network (NESN)

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Film

Vietnam, Long Time Coming (Emmy Award winner)

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Mike Savicki has been profiled nationally in major media outlets including:

The New York Times
The Boston Globe
Triathlete
New England Cable News
NBC News
ABC News
CBS News