Lena Kemna is a keynote speaker whose voice blends high performance insight with grounded experience in extreme environments. As Germany’s first female Big Wave Surfer, she brings a calm and precise style to the stage, shaped by a decade spent training in the Atlantic. Her work as a freediver, athlete and consultant gives her talks a rare mix of physical courage, academic understanding and business relevance.
Lena grew up in Germany and followed a broad academic path that shaped her curiosity about human behaviour. She studied at University College Maastricht, spent a semester at UNSW and completed her master’s degree at the Nova School of Business and Economics where she is now completing her PhD in Marketing and Consumer Behaviour. While building this academic foundation, she worked across Europe and Australia in roles that connected marketing, community projects and social impact work. Moving to Portugal more than ten years ago marked a turning point. The powerful coastline of Ericeira and later Nazaré became her training ground where long days in the water taught her focus, humility and the importance of trust.
Lena’s achievements span sport, academia and consulting. In 2025 she became the first female German Big Wave Surfer, a milestone captured in the international film L E N A, which has been screened across Europe and selected for release on several global platforms. That same year she competed in the German National Freediving Championships and finished third in the newcomer category. Alongside her athletic journey she has built a respected academic career, including her role as Assistant Professorat Nova SBE and six years as a Teaching Assistant and Master Thesis Supervisor in brand management. She has worked as a Branding Consultant for organisations such as BMW, Deutsche Bank and EoM. Her invited speaker role at ISPO 2025 reflects her position as a trusted voice at the intersection of sport, brand strategy and purpose driven leadership.
People book Lena because she brings real clarity to complex topics. She speaks about leading under pressure, building strong communities in a world shaped by algorithms and empowering women who move through male dominated environments. Her stories from the ocean give these ideas weight. She recalls training for her first season in Nazaré, learning to manage fear by focusing on preparation and trusting her team.
Lena Kemna’s official speaker topics are listed below:
- Leading Under Pressure: Insights from Big Wave Surfing
- Building True Community in the Age of Algorithms and AI
- Empowering Women in the Corporate World and the Ocean
- Purpose, Persistence and High-Pressure Decision-Making
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
“Lena´s talk was clearly one of the top highlights of the entire trade show — both for me personally and for ISPO itself. It was relevant, authentic, and very well structured.
Working with Lena before and during the session was highly pleasant and professional. She communicates clearly, is reliable, and brings a calm, positive presence that made preparation and execution very smooth. I can highly recommend working with her.” – Ole Wolter, Organiser of ISPO
"Lena's story, her personality, and her passion as a big wave surfer to ride the biggest waves of our time made a lasting impression on the participants of our leadership program. Her simultaneous connection to the worlds of extreme sports and business makes her an impressive storyteller who vividly illustrates to her audience the parallels between preparation, asserting oneself in the lineup, and today's challenges in leading and developing teams and organisations." – Prof. Dr. Sven Hermann, Geschäftsführer von ProLog Innovation
"Lena Kemna presented her film L E N A as part of the Surf Film Night in the summer of 2025 on the large stages of open-air cinemas in Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg to sold-out audiences. During the Q&A with the viewers, she captivated them with her modest yet confident manner and gave exclusive insights into the life of a big-wave surfer — often the only woman in the monster waves of Nazaré. Thank you for the fantastic performance!" – Jens Steffenhagen, Nouvague Events
“Lena delivered an absolutely exceptional wedding speech for us. She was incredibly well-prepared and impressed everyone with her ability to speak seamlessly in Portuguese, German, and English. Her creative touches — including the integration of voice messages our friends and family — made the ceremony deeply personal, emotional, and truly unforgettable. Many of our guests told us afterward how much her words moved them. Lena has a wonderfully unconventional style: Original, confident, heartfelt, and completely authentic. She was also extremely reliable, responsible, and perfectly attuned to the tone of the occasion. I would recommend her without hesitation for any similar role or any setting that calls for talent, creativity, and emotional intelligence.” – Vanessa, Bride
- 2025 - First female German Big Wave Surfer
- 2025 - Film L E N A released and selected for global TV platforms
- 2025 - Third place, German National Freediving Championships (Newcomer Category)
How to hire Lena Kemna
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Lena Kemna for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
