Tom Hicks

From Dropped Balls to Breakthroughs: Turning Fear of Failure into Fuel for Growth. Using juggling as a practical tool, Tom teaches you how to reframe failure, build resilience, and turn mistakes into momentum.

Expert on

  • Employee Engagement
  • Teambuilding
  • Leadership
  • Personal Growth
  • Resilience
  • Workplace Culture

Fee Range

$1,500–$3,000

Travels from

IA, US

Biography

Tom has taught thousands of people how to juggle, helping them become more comfortable with failure and how to use it as a powerful tool for growth. He blends storytelling, reflection, and active learning to deliver practical, fun, and memorable leadership development experiences that create deeper connections—inviting individuals, teams, and organizations to play with purpose.

Tom has worked at all levels in higher education for the past 20+ years and has adapted several of his most popular campus-based workshops for organizations of all types.

When he’s not on campus or conducting juggling workshops, Tom enjoys cycling and traveling with his wife Megan and cheering on their daughter Emily in all her activities.
Mantra – Be Competent, Curious, & Kind

Speaker Videos

Embracing Failure & Growth Through Juggling

Inspired by a gift from his grandmother, Tom Hicks delivers a fun, hands-on workshop that transforms the fear of failure into fuel for growth—while teaching participants how to juggle. Embracing Failure & Growth Through Juggling blends laughter, resilience, and connection, creating a safe space to try, fail, and try again while building trust, adaptability, and a true growth mindset. Perfect for teams, schools, and organizations ready to strengthen culture, spark collaboration, and walk away with lessons that last long after the balls stop flying.

Are you ready to juggle?

Workshop Value & Benefits

Innovation & Adaptability – By creating a safe space for teams to try, fail, and try again, this keynote/workshop builds resilience and adaptability—critical skills for navigating change and driving innovation.

Collaboration & Team Cohesion – Shared challenges like learning to juggle foster deeper trust, empathy, and communication, resulting in stronger workplace collaboration.

Employee Engagement & Morale – Fun, hands-on activities energize employees, strengthen emotional connection to the team, and reduce burnout—boosting overall engagement.

Leadership Development – Leaders experience firsthand how to model vulnerability, encourage experimentation, and turn setbacks into learning moments, enhancing their ability to guide others through uncertainty.

Sustainable Culture of Learning – Linking play with practical reflection embeds a mindset of continuous improvement, creating a culture that celebrates growth over perfection.

Flexible – Easily aligned with organization goals, mission, values and works well as the kickoff to retreat, immediately following lunch, or at the end of a long day.

Program Outline & Objectives

  1. Reflection – best gift received and Tom’s juggling gift story
  2. Objectives
    1. Integrate play, fun, laughter, continuous improvement, and growth into work
    2. Learn and purposefully practice the attention to detail needed to juggle
    3. Experience low-stakes failure and respond to mistakes in a “fascinating” way
    4. NOT try to juggle more with the same resources – take a break when needed
  3. Juggling instruction – one ball
    1. Celebration, failure reflection, and sharing
    2. Embracing failure – “How fascinating!”
  4. Jugging instruction – two balls
    1. Growth mindset – “I’m not good at this” → “This is new to me”
    2. The four P’s- Patience, Persistence, Purposeful Practice
  5. Juggling instruction – three balls
  6. Final reflection, goal setting, and resources