Nick Tokman, also known as “Sunshine” from the Emmy-winning show “Deadliest Catch” (Discovery Channel), is someone known for going after what he wants in life. For the past four years, Nicholas has been on the show battling some of the harshest conditions on the Bering Sea as a commercial crab fisherman.

From working 20 plus hour days, wrestling 800-pound steel crab pots, rogue waves, extreme cold, freezing spray and repetitive manual labor; Nicholas has proved to himself that he has what it takes physically, mentally and emotionally to overcome even the hardest obstacles in life. Although Nick’s feats can be seen on the show, what is not known is his story.

Nick speaks to students from beginning in the 4th grade all the way to graduate students in college. His main objective is to help people answer two fundamental questions that they should ask themselves; where am I going and how am I going to get there? Through Nick’s presentation, he gives people the tools to help pursue their passion; including overcoming obstacles such as societal pressures from peers and family, standing up for one’s self and beliefs, sacrificing who you are for what you can become and lastly, the importance of not giving up. Through sharing his story, he conveys to his audience that by hearing no a person is one step closer to yes, that every failure leads to success and making mistakes allows us to get it right. By owning up to our mistakes, persevering and staying the course, this eventually leads to becoming real leaders and building true character.

Nick’s benefits to an audience include a clearer sense of purpose, more active involvement in the classroom and encourages students to not figure out where they are going to go after high school, but now. Ignoring one’s passion is detrimental to one’s happiness and he believes living life to your maximum potential with no regrets is the utmost importance. Audiences will leave remembering three main steps; finding one’s purpose, making a plan to go after it and to not give up in pursuit of one’s passion.

There is something intrinsically inside all of us that compels us to do what we want to do. In “The Alchemist” by Paulho Coelho, the author defines an alchemist as someone with the desire to finding the secrets to life through studying metals. A true alchemist was said to have the ability to turn lead into gold; however, few alchemists possessed this skill. The ones that were able to, did so because they were passionate in searching for the meaning of life. The rest were not able to because they were merely obsessed with turning lead into gold. To put it in today’s perspective, the people who are successful are those pursuing their real passions whereas others do not find the same fortune simply because they are so concentrated on making the big bucks. Nick wants to tap that part inside of people and encourage others to live their life with passion and purpose. When people do this, they are happy and their gift is able to be brought out into the world. He believes in his message so much and has such a strong desire to share it that he decided to leave the hit show that he’s been on for four years in order to deliver it. Nick would be honored to speak at your next assembly.

Nick has been asked numerous times to appear at “Meet and Greets,” where he interacts with fans, takes pictures, signs autographs and delivers an amazing story that will leave people not only entertained, but inspired. To learn more about Nick’s “Meet and Greets”, we welcome you to contact Nick’s team.