About - Monika Sattler - Keynote Speaker

Monika Sattler has never left her life to chance.

After graduating from high school, Monika wanted to go to the USA to play volleyball.
With no money and no network, she applied to over 100 universities - until she received a full scholarship.

Later followed the dream of the secret service: studying international security with a focus on nuclear policy at Georgetown University.
The James Bond career did not work out. Instead, she worked at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

At the same time, she ran as an adventure racer with an elite team for 24 to 48 hours through the Everglades and the forests of the USA - navigation, exhaustion, decisions under pressure.
Shortly afterwards, she became an elite cyclist and realized that this was not her world.

At 30, she put her professional life to the test:
She quit her job as a management consultant in Australia and moved to Spain with just a backpack and her racing bike.
She knew no one, spoke no Spanish and had no plan B.

It was there that the idea for her first big project was born: cycling the complete route of the Vuelta a España - on the same day as the professional peloton, only hours earlier.
Most people thought it was impossible. She made it happen.

A few years later, she cycled all 124 Swiss mountain passes in 26 days - 56,000 meters of altitude, changing teams, closed roads, extreme weather conditions and the mental challenge of getting up every morning and riding on, and only uphill.

In 2025, she qualified for the HYROX World Championships despite suffering a severe slipped disc.

In 2026, she will run 30 accessible Swiss mountains in 30 days with over 40,000 meters of altitude.

Monika has learned a lot from her life's journey: every success is decided when motivation fades, the path becomes longer, resistance grows and setbacks occur.

From this experience, Monika developed a clear methodology for execution under demanding conditions:
how to continue projects when this phase occurs.

For 10 years she has been working as an international keynote speaker and executive sparring partner with leaders and teams who are not looking for theoretical models - but ways to really execute their plans.
Because success does not come from good intentions, but from consistent following through.

Born in Germany
After graduating from high school to the USA on a volleyball scholarship
Studied security sciences with a focus on nuclear weapons at Georgetown University
Worked for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
Professional cyclist in Germany
Master in Sport in Minnesota, USA
Became a management consultant at IBM in Switzerland and Australia
Midlife crisis at 30 - I moved to Malaga, Spain by bike to find my purpose in life
Set a seemingly impossible cycling record
Moved to Switzerland
Now have my own company with the same mission and help teams and leaders achieve their goals.
Set a second cycling record in 2022

Originally from Germany, I moved to the US after high school to play volleyball for Bryant University. Since I must have watched too much James Bond, my dream job was to become a secret agent, so I studied nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. But I realized during my studies that the reality was a little different than in the movies. So after I graduated, I started my career at the International Monetary Fund and then at the World Bank.

When I was working for the World Bank, a friend gave me a road bike and said I would like it. At first I was quite worried that riding on roads would be fun, but when I was left behind after 5 km on my first group ride, I decided I couldn't leave the sport like that.

So I came to this group ride week after week and after 1.5 years I had the opportunity to race professionally in Germany

My friends and family tried to convince me not to pursue a professional cycling career but a tax-free career at the World Bank as it sounded more viable and financially stable. Nevertheless, my heart told me to go for it.

So, contrary to what the others thought, I moved back to Germany and rode top bike races.

For three months. Then I realized it wasn't for me.

I felt like I had failed when I turned down a career at the World Bank to become a professional cyclist, only to realize that wasn't what I wanted either.

But I knew that sport was my passion, so I decided to study sport.

I moved back to the US and studied kinesiology at the University of Minnesota with the big goal of finding my dream job in sports.

But I just couldn't find that dream job.

With the urge from my family and friends to finally get back on the "right" career track and no other option at hand, I applied everywhere and became a management consultant at IBM in Switzerland and later in Australia.

But that just wasn't my world. I no longer had any passion for my work and lost my energy for life.

Then, at the age of 30, I found myself unemployed in the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, deep in a midlife crisis. What was I going to do with my life? Was this really it now? I felt no fire for what I was doing - neither passion nor purpose. With at least 35 working years ahead of me, I didn't want to keep doing what I was doing. I needed to make a change. So my goal became to find my purpose.

I looked at a map of the world and decided that Spain would be a good place to start to find this destination.

I bought a one-way ticket and took my bike and a small bag and moved to Malaga, Spain. I didn't speak a word of Spanish, didn't know anyone and had never been there before. Only one hotel night and a six-week car rental were planned and the search for my purpose in life.

While I was searching for my own purpose, I met many people who felt the same way. But fear of the unknown kept them from finding their purpose.

My mission was born: To inspire and empower other people, especially women, to step out of their comfort zone to have the courage to realize their full potential.

To put my own words into action, I decided to set a seemingly impossible cycling record to show what it means to set, pursue and achieve a big goal. Also, what it means to take the risk of failure, what it means to go against the opinions of others and break through barriers that previously seemed untouched.

80% of people told me it was impossible. But I did it anyway and wrote a book with the whole story.

In 2022, I challenged myself again by riding all 124 Swiss passes in 26 days. That was 1389 km and over 56,000 meters of altitude. An 80-minute film documentary was also made about it: Freewheeling.

Now I live in Bern and have found my purpose: With my own company, I continue what I started in 2017: Inspiring and empowering others to break their limits and achieve their goals.

Sport at a glance

2007 NCAA Champion - Volleyball Division 2, USA
2010-2011 Elite Adventure Racer
2012 Category 1 Elite Cyclist in the USA
2013 1st Bundesliga bike race
2014 15 x top 3 in gravel races in the USA
2018 First woman to ride the Vuelta a Espana on the same day as the men, just hours earlier
2022 All 124 Swiss passes in 26 days by bike
2025 Hyrox World Championships Qualification

2026 Plan: 30 Swiss Summit Challenge