A coach who has been in the swarm himself
Andy Rolston is a keynote speaker and leadership coach. For over 15 years he has worked with managers, teams, and executives who are ready to stop reacting and start leading with purpose.
His background is not the classroom. It is the training paddock, the shop floor, and the moments when a team is falling apart and someone has to step up.
It started with 10 suitcases and a one-way ticket
In 2002, Andy landed in Toronto with his family, 10 suitcases, and a job offer. The job, the car, and the housing the club had promised were not there when he arrived. No plan B. No safety net. Just a family looking to him to figure it out.
Andy rebuilt from scratch. He earned the trust of a rugby club in a country where the game was growing, coached a semi-professional team, and eventually brought his family home having learned more about real leadership in three years than in the decade before it.
That experience sits at the heart of everything he speaks and teaches about today. Not borrowed from a book. Earned.
Not just a speaker. Someone who has run the race himself.
Andy’s personal growth journey started in his teens, long before he ever stood on a stage. He was the kind of person who read books on leadership, sought out mentors, and genuinely wanted to understand what made some people step up while others stayed stuck.
Alongside that, Andy spent over 20 years running his own businesses. A painting business. Then a carpet cleaning business he built and eventually sold in 2021. He knows what it is like to hire people, manage people, lose sleep over people, and figure out how to get a team moving in the same direction when everything is pulling them apart.
For five years Andy also worked inside the seminar industry, promoting speakers and helping deliver and train their programmes. He knows what it looks like when a speaker genuinely changes how someone thinks, and what it looks like when they don’t. That experience shapes how he approaches every talk he gives.
He also coached rugby across New Zealand, Canada, and England at youth, community, and semi-professional levels. The cultures were different. The personalities were different. But the things that made teams work were always the same.
Clarity on what we are doing and why. Consistency from the person at the front. Connection between the people doing the work. Those three things show up in every great team Andy has been part of, on the field and in business.
After years of doing the work, Andy found John C. Maxwell’s certification programme. It gave language to what he had already lived, and confirmed what he had known for a long time: leadership is a skill, and every person can get better at it.
Certified coach, trainer, and speaker through one of the world’s leading leadership development organisations.
Built and sold his own businesses. Knows what it actually takes to lead people when the stakes are real.
Coached across New Zealand, Canada, and England at youth, community, and semi-professional levels.
Results that show up on Monday morning
The best measure of a good speaker or coach is not what people say in the room. It is what they do when they get back to work.
“Before working with Andy I was struggling to get buy-in from staff, particularly when it came to working with people who were all wired differently. The programme gave me real tools I could use straight away in different situations, and the biggest shift was seeing my team actually get on board and work toward the same goal. I’d tell anyone thinking about it to just give it a go. You will be surprised what you find in yourself.”Tim Gould, Pump Hire
“On Sunday I had practised and spoke to seven people using what I learned. I pay attention more, looking people in the eyes, and I already have a new contact for a project I am working on. I improved immeasurably from coming along to your seminar.”Judy Reinen
If this resonates, let’s have a conversation.
Andy speaks at conferences, leadership days, and corporate events globally. Every talk is tailored to the audience, grounded in real experience, and built to leave people with something they actually use.
If you are looking for a speaker who connects with a room and gives your people tools they pick up on Monday morning, get in touch. The first conversation is straightforward and there is no obligation.
Book Andy to speak