TYLER
PELKE
My goal is to help others build their mental health resilience and
overall well-being through inspiration and education.
About Tyler
Learn the story behind the power of living a life of building resilience and well-being.
The Early Days
In November of 1990, at the age of 14,Tyler’s friend Curtis was murdered while he was sexually assaulted, his throat slit, set on fire and left to die by the same attacker. After years of surgical procedures, including skin grafting, Tyler was the key witness in the trial which led to the conviction and life sentence of their attacker.
For years he dealt with survivors guiltand unforgiveness, but refused to believe that an event or circumstance could define him. Over the years, he learned to press on make the most of everyday and committedtohelping others, believing there was a reason he was still here.
Featured on the Biography Channel’sacclaimed series - “I Survived”, Tyler tells the compelling story of confronting his attacker in prison and finding peace and purpose in life through exploring mental wellness and a journey of forgiveness.
Over 30 years have passed since theattack on Curtis & Tyler, and after serving a life sentence, Earl Giesbrechtthehigh school boy who attacked them that night has since been released from prison.
Over all those years, Tyler has developed a genuine curiosity about understanding mental health & well-being, and continues to grow and
explore how we can all live a life to the full everyday.
Professional Experience
Professionally, despite sustaining 3rd degree burns to 25% of his body, Tyler went on to pursue a career as a Firefighter/Paramedic and has continued to rise within the ranks of the Canadian fire service over the last 28 years, working today as a Deputy Chief.
Further to his career in Emergency Services, he is also a member of Canada Task Force II (one of 5 national disaster response teams within Canada), where he has had the opportunity to serve in Incident Command / Emergency Operations Center roles a at the 2011 Slave Lake Wildfires, 2013 Calgary Floods, 2016 Fort McMurray Wildfires and the 2021 Yukon Floods.
Tyler is also an innovation geek - He loves exploring concepts around design thinking, and people centric problem solving. Tyler led a large scale innovation movement within Emergency Services from 2016-2018, which included the development of a large scale innovation community of practice built from grass roots interest in Emergency Services. This provided him invaluable expereince in facilitating groups of diverse people.
He holds a Bachelors of Public Administration and most recently completed his Certificate in Diversity & Inclusion through Cornell University.
Public Speaking
Based on his experience as a burn/post traumatic growth survivor, first responder and crisis leader, Tyler is a sought after speaker and facilitator, having reached audiences as far as Central America.
His goal is simply to help others build resilience through inspiration & education relating to developing pyshcological safety and mental health awareness and resilience. Tyler has had his share of mental health struggles & speaks to audiences about practical steps we can all take to make the most everday and make healthy choices.
Through all aspects of his personal and professional life, his goal is to support motivated leaders at all levels and teams of all kinds so they can develop themselves & their organizations to reach their maximum potential.
Tyler is well versed in small and large group faciliation, as well as delivering Keynote, or interactive sessions for the cilent needs. His dynamic and interactive approach will inspire audiences to develop a healthy perspective and continue to push forward both personally and professionally.
Sessions & Cilent Offerings
Tyler’s interactive style, his emergency services training and facilitation background make him adaptable to requests of all kinds. Whether it be a keynote, discussion panel or workshop, he is able to work with the client to suit their needs. Specifically, Tyler specializes in 3 key areas based upon his experience as a survivor of violent crime and decades of emergency services and disaster response experience.
He has been able to adapt those learnings into 3 types of sessions including Thriving Through Adversity, Crisis Leadership and Exploring Forgiveness. The basis for all these sessions is grounded in priniciples of mental health & well-being principles for individuals or teams.
Thriving Through Adversity
This session explores key points related to being proactive in our approach to facing challenges and adversity in everyday life.
Our Mind, Body & Spirit need to be in alignment to fully explore ourselves and undersand how to live life to the fullest, regardless of our experiences. The session is built upon the notion that our resilience can be developed, and that we can help ourselves overcome and be stronger everyday.
The key points include:
No One is Coming - It Starts with You
(our mental health & well-being is on us)
You May Need Help - Developing a Support Network
Purpose - You are NOT here by accident
The importance of understanding what we can control
(explores forgiveness in this instance specifically)
Helping Others - Saving You in Service of Others
These points are explored through my perspective and experience both as a
survivor of violent crime & victims advocate, burn survivor and first responder.
Format: Keynote or workshop
Length: 30mins to 2.5hours in length depending on client request.
Crisis Leadership
This session is built upon lessons learned & experiences working in Emergency Services and Emergency Management over the last 28 years on the frontlines everyday, or serving in command roles at some of the largest natural disasters in Canadian history:
Slave Lake Wildfire (2011), Calgary Floods (2013), Fort McMurray Wildfire (2016) & Yukon Floods (2021).
Drawing from these experiences, as well as other relevant examples to emphasize how today's teams and leaders at any level need a greater focus on no fail environments for team success.
More specifically, this session will explore some of the foundational building blocks of what true crisis leadership looks like including 4 key elements:
Building Culture
(what is it? cultural conversations & reinforcing the desired state)
Building Trust
(leading by example, empathy, speaking
truth & being transparent)
Essentials of Team Dynamics
(a clear north star, an inspirational leader,
balanced environments, valuing diversity & perspectives,
being a good teammate and healthy conflict)
Essentials of Communication
(establishing norms, shifting mindsets, using the right medium,
asking powerful questions and challenging assumptions)
Format: Keynote or workshop
Length: 2.5 hours to full day session in length depending on client request.
Exploring Forgiveness
This session explores my journey of forgiveness that brought me face to face with the man who tried to kill me. It is built upon the premise that forgiveness should be considered a key part of our make up as emotionally intelligent people and leaders.
Forgiveness is a part of a persons ability to thrive in adversity and will ultimately be a determining factor in one’s ability to chose to live in their past or future.
The idea of developing our mindsets to foster our own self-care & compassion for forgiving ourselves and others helps to explore elements such as dealing with and or accepting change, restoration or reconciliation of relationships and the concept of severity in relation to one’s ability to forgive.
Format: Keynote or workshop
Length: 30mins to 2.5hours in length depending on client request.
Podcasts
Catch the latest discussions with Tyler and today's thought leaders...
Click on the links below to listen!
The Second Act Podcast - Episode 69 (Tyler chats with Gord Kiteley on Trauma and Resilience)
Warriors Unmasked - Episode 29 (Tyler chats with Chuck Thuss & Clint Malarchuk on Forgiveness)
Who's Crime is it Anyway - Episode 43 ( Lisa and Chelle Discuss True Crime)
Contact or Book Tyler
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All inclusive fees (travel expenses included) are negotiable based on event date, event location, audience size and composition.
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