Fawn Germer

If you want to read a very inspiring book, read Hard Won Wisdom.
- Oprah Winfrey

OK, the truth of it is, if you are a professional speaker and author, and Oprah Winfrey loved your book, you are going to use her quote. Over and over and over again, because Oprah doesn’t feature very many books and if she has told the world how “very inspiring” you are, you’d better work it.

And maybe that really is the reason Fawn uses it. Or maybe it is because she once had a very nasty boss tell her that she’d never be more than she was at the time — a newspaper reporter. In the decade since, Fawn has become the bestselling author of five books and one of the nation’s most beloved motivational speakers. Why? Because she’s real. She’s honest. And, she is the only author and speaker who has personally interviewed so many of America’s most successful leaders to learn their specific success and leadership strategies.

Her new book, Pearls, brings together the wisdom, insight and leadership strategies from more than 200 famous women leaders Fawn has interviewed them. Among them? Hillary Clinton, Martina Navratilova, Erin Brockovich, Susan Sarandon, Jane Goodall, Nobel Peace Prize winners, women prime ministers, presidents, CEOs. Olympic athletes and so much more.  Pearls is Fawn’s seventh book.

Her timely book, Finding the UP in the Downturn, is a shot of adrenaline for men and women facing adversity because of our collapsing economy. Fawn shows that the one variable we can count on and control is us. This is the time to buck up, get moving and gain ground, rather than surrendering to the negativity and bad news that never seems to stop. She makes the case that we have our greatest opportunity to succeed when others are giving up. She shows how we can use the bad economy to our advantage.

Fawn is a regular columnist for the Huffington Post.

When Fawn left journalism to write her first book, it was rejected fifteen times — by every major publisher in the country. She persevered, figured out the problem, then had her choice of publishers. She figured she was about to become a famous billionaire in the process, but she received her first copy of Hard Won Wisdom one day before the Sept. 11 tragedies, and had to get out there and promote her book — and herself — at the most difficult moment in our history. The experience taught her everything about obstacles, risk-taking and success. The book was buoyed by this four-time Pulitzer nominee’s ability to connect so well with live audiences, and soon, thousands of people had connected to her powerful message of possibility.

As soon as Oprah told the world how inspiring Fawn’s book was, Fawn became one of the nation’s most sought after speakers.

Audiences love Fawn because she’s been there. Up, down, winning and losing. Fawn shares stories of creating triumph out of defeat, inspiring others to believe in themselves and take the risks involved in living a bold life.

This acclaimed investigative reporter has worked as a Florida correspondent for both The Washington Post and U.S. News and World Report. Her distinguished reporting career earned her numerous state and national awards including four Pulitzer Prize nominations and the prestigious Green Eyeshade Award from the Society for Professional Journalists. She has worked as a staff writer for The Miami Herald and Denver’s Rocky Mountain News and was an editor for The Tampa Tribune.

Fawn looks back on that old bully boss who tried to hold her back and says, “Some people have mentors. I had a tormentor.” If not for him, she’d never have looked for anything different from her career. And, the one thing she has learned again and again is, it’s all about the obstacles.