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Choose The Right Franchise Speaker

Anthony “AB” Bourke

Leading, Executing & Communicating at Mach 2

There is no business model in the world that requires team members to be aligned and flying in formation like the Franchise Model!  As a Franchisor, it is critical to create and support standards in your business that every Franchisee will embrace and support. As Franchisors, this is your brand and this is what makes you great. This is the secret sauce that differentiates you from your competition, and this is the flight plan that allows your franchisees to execute at the highest level.  In fact, the US Air Force is built on a similar model.  They are the best in the world because they have convinced all their pilots that operating from the same set of procedures and standards is the key to flying in formation and winning the war.   

During his interactive keynote, Major Anthony “AB” Bourke will share the story of how on the morning of 9/11 he found himself stuck on the east coast, 3,000 miles from his home base, and volunteered to help a local F-16 squadron fly homeland defense missions over New York City.  Training and Standards made this transition seamless and allowed him to fly in a brand-new squadron, with a wingman he’d never met, in airspace that he’d never seen while executing at the highest possible level.  Whether you book AB to talk about Leading, Executing or Communicating at Mach 2, he is guaranteed to reinforce your brand and standards in a way that your Franchisees will never forget!

Fighter Pilot Speaker, Serial Entrepreneur, and Proven Business Leader

Travels From:

San Francisco, CA

Fee Range:

$16,500

Favorite Food:

Prime NY Strip Steak

Anthony Bourke's Bio

Major Anthony “AB” Bourke is a highly accomplished and decorated F-16 fighter pilot who flew tactical missions in service to our country all over the world.  He has accumulated more than 2,700 hours of flight time in various high-performance aircraft and was one of the first pilots to fly an F-16 in homeland defense efforts over New York City in the aftermath of September 11th.

Following his impressive military career, AB applied the tools and techniques that made him one of our nation’s premier fighter pilots to the competitive world of business.  He ascended rapidly to become the top producing mortgage banker in the Western US for a prominent lending institution. His success in the mortgage banking industry led to an opportunity with a California based start-up where his team dramatically grew annual revenue from $500,000 to $65M in just three years.  

Following these two endeavors, AB combined his love of business with his passion for tactical aviation to build Afterburner Seminars, a global training company based on the lessons he learned in the military.  While President & CEO, Afterburner grew into a best-in-class training company that was twice named one of Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest growing companies.  

Currently, AB serves as CEO & Founder of Mach 2 Consulting and has shared his message of peak performance to more than 100,000 people in twelve different countries.  AB brings his tactical knowledge and business acumen to the forefront of the management training world to share how fighter pilots, and other organizations where performance truly matters, can develop a feedback system to ensure continuous improvement and peak performance. His wealth of experience and ability to connect with audiences landed AB in Inc Magazine’s 100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next Conference.

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Partial Client List:

  • CarStar
  • Grocery Outlet
  • H&R Block
  • Hertz
  • Papa John’s
  • Puro Systems
  • Red Robin
  • AB Bourke was absolutely the perfect keynote speaker for our 2017 franchise convention. His message was spot-on to help our franchise owners become better business owners and better leaders. He both inspired and gave them actionable takeaways. So many things about AB’s participation in our convention made him exceptional. Franchise owners have showered us with compliments and we often heard that AB was the best presenter we have ever had. “I gleaned a ton of applicable tools to take back into my business!” – and this came from a senior franchise owner. We are always hoping to find ways to re-ignite and re-inspire our experienced franchise owners and AB nailed it! In addition, AB was an absolute pleasure to work with and made the entire process incredibly easy from beginning to end. I highly recommend AB to any franchise group looking to really WOW! their franchise owners.

    Steve White, COO & President PuroSystems, LLC
  • You were a huge hit at OPCON! Very applicable and timely. I had countless people come up to me throughout the day Wednesday and compliment on your presentation. It was really fantastic.

    Tony Thompson, President Papa John's International, Inc
  • Just a quick note to tell you that you were a very BIG hit at the meeting yesterday. I got endless comments last night about how great everyone thought you were and I can honestly say from my perspective that your presentation was nothing short of a homerun. Your approach in understanding our business was thoughtful and the continued parallels that you were able to draw between your experience as a fighter pilot and our company were relevant and resonated clearly with the audience. I anticipate that the concept of “debrief” will be widely adopted throughout Grocery Outlet. I think I mentioned to you before that we hold this meeting twice a year, and it is very rare for a speaker to receive a standing ovation. You had every one of our 300 operators on their feet at the end of your presentation which is a testament to you and your subject matter. We look forward to having you back again in the future and please feel free to use me as a reference for other companies who are considering working with you.

    MacGregor Read, Co-CEO Grocery Outlet Inc.
  • AB, You would be amazed at the buzz and the changes of behavior we are hearing about!

    Eric Houseman, President Red Robin International
  • I wanted to write you to let you know how pleased we were with your participation at our 26th Annual Conference. As I mentioned before, we wanted to hire you for years, and I'm kicking myself for not having done it back in 2010. First, your programs were the #1-ranked item on our post-conference surveys. Our franchises noted that you gave them real, street-level tools that they can implement immediately. Specifically, your information on debriefing was a real hit that will have immediate impact on their businesses. Your breakout session on decluttering sent these guys home focused on the real, needle-moving activities that have a true impact on their company. At the home office, we've already built debriefs into our regular operations, and we will continue to use the information you provided to improve upon our company. I truly look forward to working with you again. Once we get through our season, I look forward to reconnecting on an ongoing engagement. Thank you again for THE BEST KEYNOTE WE'VE HAD IN OUR HISTORY.

    Brandon Stephens President, The Decor Group, Inc.

Anthony Bourke's Keynotes

Leading at Mach 2

All great leaders have a system for driving peak performance. This hard-charging, high-impact keynote offers your leaders the straightforward, critical tools that U.S. fighter pilots employ to lead their wingmen into the demanding environment of aerial combat. Learn how the best fighter squadrons and the best businesses in the world hire future leaders, how they then properly train those individuals and constantly promote a process of continuous improvement to stay one step ahead of the competition.

Executing at Mach 2

There are many companies with great people and great strategies in the business world today.  Ultimately the difference between the winners and the “also-rans” comes down to Execution. During this interactive, multi-media keynote speech, AB will share the tools that fighter squadrons use to make sure that we are aligned, flying in formation and executing at the highest level every single time we fly. This highly motivating and inspiring keynote will equip your team with simple actionable tools that they can apply the very next day to improve execution and drive better results as individuals and as a team.  If your company is pursuing a path of Executional Excellence, this session will reinforce your messaging and provide a fresh perspective on why Execution truly matters in every business. 

Communicating at Mach 2

A high impact Keynote focusing on how the world’s most successful enterprises – where results truly matter – achieve peak performance by creating a culture of honest and open feedback. At the conclusion of this multi-media presentation, your team will walk out the door with a clear understanding of the potential power of open feedback. They will also learn how a “feedback gap” can cripple an organization. Finally, they will see a clear path on how they can make open feedback an integral part of company culture.

Selling at Mach 2

In addition to rising to the top of the aviation community, AB built a business career on sales excellence. After achieving accolades as “Top Producer in the Western US” for a prominent lending institution, AB led a team of 40 professionals to grow revenue at a California based start-up company from $500,000 to $65M in just three years. A quintessential sales professional, AB will teach your people that just like fighter pilots, “great sales people are made… not born.” He draws comprehensive parallels between what makes great fighter pilots and what makes great sales people. For organizations looking to develop a sales team of “Top Guns,” this dynamic, interactive speech is a must!

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