Trail Master · Keynote Speaker · Alberta, Canada
Run far.
Lead others.
Climb your mountain.
Real lessons from real mountains. A keynote speaker forged in the wild, delivering practical leadership tools to teams and organizations across Canada.
Keynote Speaking & Leadership
The Mountain Method
The most valuable tools your team will ever carry weigh nothing.
From ultrarunning to remote ridge operations, I have earned my greatest strengths in the wild. The Mountain Method takes those real challenges and turns them into practical leadership tools anyone can use, regardless of what mountain they are facing.
It is a 20 to 60 minute keynote built for corporate events, team retreats, and conferences that want more than a motivational speaker. Story-driven, grounded in lived experience, and designed to leave participants with a framework they can put to work on Monday morning.
- Build strength and resilience through meaningful adversity
- Lead others with confidence and clear purpose
- Finish what you start, even when the trail gets hard
- Adapt the plan without losing sight of the summit
Who is this guy, anyway?
I am Matt Shepard.
Most people just call me Shep.
I am an ultrarunner, Trail Master with Sinister Sports, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur based in the Canadian Rockies. I make a living, and a life, out of dreaming big.
Throughout my youth, I yearned for structure, at 18 years old I enlisted as a U.S. Army Combat Medic, at 22 years old I became a firefighter in Southeast Alaska, and by 28 years I was a health and safety professional in the Alberta oilfields. Those jobs taught me things that no classroom ever could about pressure, decision-making under stress, and what people are actually capable of.
Now I build world-class trail races in Canada, run non-stop through the mountains I love, and help teams and organizations find out what they are made of when the trail gets hard. That is the whole point of The Mountain Method.
Read the Full StoryWhat I Do
Three ways to go
further together
Run
Trail Running & Race Events
As the former Trail Master for Sinister Sports, I directed and managed logistics for some of Alberta's most demanding trail races. I now share what I know through coaching resources and route guides built from years on the high country in Kananaskis and the Canadian Rockies.
Explore Running
Lead
The Mountain Method Keynote
A story-driven keynote for teams, leaders, and conference audiences across Canada. The Mountain Method translates real ultrarunning and wilderness experience into actionable tools for building resilience, clarity, and purpose in your organization.
Book a Speaking Event
Partner
Brand Partnerships
Endurance gear testing and honest feedback from someone who actually runs 200-mile mountain courses. Social and video content for brands that belong in the outdoors. If your product can hold up in the Kananaskis, I want to talk about it.
Partner With ShepRace History
Selected trail record
Book a Keynote
Bring The Mountain Method
to your next event
Drop your details and I will get back to you personally. Whether it is a corporate conference, a leadership retreat, or a community event anywhere in North America, I want to hear about it.
Shep, on why the trails are still the best classroomThe mountain doesn’t care about your excuses. It waits, and shows you exactly what you’re made of. That’s the kind of teacher that matters.
Partnerships & Sponsorships
Work with someone who actually goes out and does it
I am not a professional influencer. I am a guy who tests gear on 200-mile mountain courses, race-directs elite trail events in Alberta, and is honest about what works and what does not. If you are looking for authentic, story-driven content that reaches an engaged endurance community, I would love to hear from you.
- Endurance gear testing and honest field feedback from real race conditions
- Social and video content partnerships for outdoor and active lifestyle brands
- Race event title and aid station sponsorships through Sinister Sports
- Brand ambassador programs with genuine community reach across Alberta and Canada
Ready to Go?
Bring The Mountain Method to your next event.
Corporate conferences. Leadership retreats. Community gatherings. If you want a keynote speaker who has actually earned it on the trail, I would love to hear from you.