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FIRE & ICE: Apolo Ohno and Jesse Itzler, keynote speakers at The HFA Show 2026, couldn’t be more different, but their life advice is in harmony.

BY PATRICIA AMEND

What could Olympic icon Apolo Ohno and serial entrepreneur and former rapper Jesse Itzler possibly have in common?

A natural athlete, Ohno earned his first speed skating title at the US Championships at age 14. He went on to win a combined eight medals (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in short-track speed skating at the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Games—the most for any Winter Olympic athlete.

Itzler has immersed himself in a number of passion projects. Once a rapper known as Jesse Jaymes, he managed the hip-hop group Run-DMC before going on to create and sell a number of businesses that have made him a billionaire.

While each took much different paths to success, both Ohno and Itzler live by similar principles, grounded in structure and commitment. In addition, the two share HFA’s mission to promote physical activity as an essential driver of preventive health and lifelong well-being. This makes them ideal keynote presenters at The HFA Show 2026, March 16-18, in San Diego.

In separate episodes of Shorts With Liz Clark, Ohno (January 8) and Itzler (January 22) spoke with Clark, HFA CEO and president, about what keeps them on track and highly successful despite the barriers they’ve encountered.

Jesse Itzler: ‘The Spiritual Billionaire’

March 17 at 8:30 a.m.

Itzler’s presentation (with DJ Dee Wiz) will share stories from his own path, brought to life with humor, music, love, loss, and knowledge. Itzler will distill lessons he's learned: knowing that a lot of soul, creating your own luck, and the power of the spoken word can allow your own journey to get you exactly what you want, without having to give up what you have.

(sponsored by Matrix)

Apolo Ohno: ‘From Podium to Pivot: How Champions Upgrade, Adapt, and Win Again’

March 18 at 8:45 a.m.

Ohno will explain why reinvention is about winning with new tools in an unpredictable world. He’ll instruct on how to adapt faster, lead with clarity, and maximize output—even when the game keeps changing. In 2026, reinvention doesn’t mean starting over—it means upgrading in motion.

(sponsored by ROR)

“I want progress, not perfection. Perfection paralyzes people from taking action.” • Apolo Ohno

Reaching “Flow”

Since retiring from skating in 2010, Ohno has been heavily involved in shaping the Olympic and Paralympic movements. He’s worked as a TV commentator and was a contestant on ABC’s TV show “Dancing With the Stars,” winning the competition in the show’s fourth season. A best-selling author and sought-after speaker, Ohno’s latest book is “Hard Pivot: Embrace Change. Find Purpose. Show Up Fully.”

Ohno acknowledges that embarking on new challenges often requires taking small steps.

“I want progress, not perfection,” Ohno says. “Perfection paralyzes people from taking action.”

In his view, the goal is to reach “flow,” a state of harmony, where nothing is forced. “Getting into flow is all about doing the stuff and showing up 99% of the time when you don't want to.” But the payoff is worth it, he says. Skaters call it “flying.”

He experienced failure before he learned from a mentor how important discipline and structure are. “I was effectively throwing away my raw talent by not doing the work consistently,” he says.

Health and fitness remain a “non-negotiable” part of Ohno’s life, keeping him sane and grounded. “It reminds me to push myself. Fitness is the reset when everything else in your life feels like it’s falling apart.” He completed the 2014 IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in 9 hours, 52 minutes, 27 seconds.

Ohno also relishes his work with groups organizing the Paralympics, the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

“The Olympics remind us of what’s possible through human movement,” says Ohno. “These stories matter because they show what the human spirit can overcome.”

On “Dancing With the Stars,” Ohno competed against gymnasts and figure skaters who were used to choreography and had the bodies to match. He learned to play to the cameras and to move with fluid agility despite his large, muscular skater’s legs.

He sees reinvention as something not manufactured but inevitable.

“Every seven to nine years, we shed an old version of ourselves and enter a new cycle,” he says.

“I believed I was a millionaire. They just hadn’t paid me yet.” • Jesse Itzler

Just Keep Moving

As with Ohno, Itzler credits a mentor, his father, with teaching him the value of hard work and persistence. The latter value was tested when independent record label Delicious Vinyl signed him in 1991 as rapper Jesse Jaymes after he was rejected 15 times.

“A lot of people dropped out because they were sick of rejection,” Itzler says. “I loved the rejection—it was just weeding out the competition.”

Itzler didn’t take his millions and call it a day. He kept his own business momentum at full throttle. “Just move,” he says. “Trust that motion creates momentum.”

Merging music with sports, he convinced the New York Knicks that they needed an anthem. Few teams had one. He wrote and sang “Go New York Go” and theme songs for 50 other professional sports teams through his company, Alphabet City Sports Records. When he sold the company in 1998, he became a millionaire.

He co-founded Marquis Jet, a private jet card company, and sold it to Warren Buffet in 2010. He was a partner in Zico Coconut Water, which was sold to Coca-Cola in 2013. In addition, Itzler sold his endurance hiking company, 29029 Everesting to iFit in 2022—buying it back in 2023. His current business is All Day Running Co., which makes athletic apparel and lifestyle gear.

He founded The Big Ass Calendar Company, which produces large wall calendars and planners that display an entire year. It emerged from the intensive planning he does to balance his life with his wife, entrepreneur Sara Blakely, and their four children. Blakely is a famous success story herself. She founded Spanx, the shapewear company, in 2012 and became a billionaire.

“Every night, I create a blueprint for the next day, so I can run all my businesses, while being a fully involved father,” Itzler states. “Most people wake up and think they can wing it. It doesn’t work like that.”

It also helps him clear his mind. Itzler is committed to visualizing successful outcomes.

“What you believe you can do—believing it into your DNA—is really important,” Itzler states. “I believed I was a millionaire. They just hadn’t paid me yet.”

He challenges himself athletically, as well. In 2006, he competed in the USA National Ultra Marathon Championship in Grapevine, Texas, completing a 100-mile run in under 24 hours. He uses a walk-run method, saying, “The secret to running 100 miles is walking.”

The idea is not so much to win, but to continue to learn through new experiences, even in extreme or unusual environments. Itzler wrote books about what he learned from spending time with a Navy SEAL (“Living with a SEAL”) and while living in a monastery (“Living with Monks”).

With Itzler, the destination isn’t the point—it’s the journey. Says Itzler: “Learn like you’ll live forever. Live like you’ll die tomorrow.”

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