Jessica Cox

First seen on Ellen, Jessica is the world's first armless pilot. Inspire your team to believe that nothing is impossible.

Expert on

  • Motivation
  • Success
  • Personal Development
  • Innovation
  • Creativity
  • Inspirational

Fee Range

$25,000–$35,000

Travels from

AZ, US

Biography

Jessica Cox is a motivational speaker featured on TV shows like Ellen, CNN, National Geographic, Fox and Friends, and BBC News. Her speaking career spans 17 years, 27 countries, and audiences up to 40,000 people. Companies like AT&T, NASA, the Smithsonian, State Farm, and Cisco have asked her for inspirational workshops, keynotes, and more.

Jessica was born without arms and uses her feet the way most people use their hands. Jessica grew up asking with frustration and anger, “Why me? Why do I have to be different?” She learned to see the blessings in her life and accept herself as a whole person. Now, Jessica flies airplanes, drives cars, is married, and otherwise lives a normal life.

Jessica has been described as a speaker “no one will forget.” John Donald of The Brandlaureate said, “She is so positive, and she holds the audience spellbound with such an incredible story.” An event organizer at GoDaddy simply stated, “You left us in awe, Jessica!”

Jessica is the author of Disarm Your Limits, an autobiographical self-help book that has sold more than 10,000 copies. She also writes a monthly article for Flying Magazine. In 2020, Jessica announced plans to build The Impossible Airplane, a custom 200 mph, 4-seat airplane she will use to circumnavigate the world. When she’s not flying off into the sunset, Jessica mentors children with limb differences and their families through her nonprofit.

Speaker Videos

THINKING OUTSIDE THE SHOE

As a person who has never viewed herself as a victim of her condition, Jessica shares in her speech humorous stories of struggle and success living in a “two-handed” world. She provides critical insight on how best to approach a challenge, redefining the concept of innovative thinking. She helps people reconnect with their own inner strengths and aptitudes. 

Jessica believes in combining creativity, desire, persistence, and fearlessness; with them, nothing is impossible. In her presentation, she will dig deep into her experiences living armless in a two-handed world and share how these four elements helped her achieve the seemingly impossible.

AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY SCREENING WITH Q&A

Despite a childhood full of enormous mental and physical challenges, we see how a young Jessica earned a college degree and two Taekwondo black belts, learned to drive a car and, incredibly, became the first person in the world to pilot a plane – using her feet. Jessica’s achievements launch her career as a public speaker and, as the film begins, we see her begin to mentor children with disabilities. 

Fueled by relentless personal drive and strong personal faith, her mission is to tell her story and spread the idea that ‘disability does not mean inability’. We see her mentoring children with disabilities and their families in ways that are beautiful, moving and effective. 

Soon an important opportunity presents itself, as Nobel Prize winning NGO Handicap International invites her to visit Ethiopia to promote inclusion of people with disabilities, especially in schools. Ethiopia is a place where those born with a disability are marginalized, denied an education, and viewed as cursed. 

Jessica appears in the media and does her best to debunk these beliefs, and works one-on-one with children to encourage them to attend school. After returning from Africa, Jessica begins to wonder whether she might make a larger impact through political advocacy. She questions how much love and personal connection can really achieve. How many people do you have to touch to really change the world?