Conn helps people and business better prepare themselves with creative resilience for a changing world.

Considered one of South Africa’s top creative thinkers, Conn Bertish is a multiple internationally awarded creative strategist, keynote speaker and architect of resilience programs, cancer survival and big wave surfing -nwho resigned from his high-powered job after beating brain cancer in 2015 to launch 'Resiliency Dojo' and 'Cancer Dojo' - two enterprises that empower business, employees and patients with his medically approved 'Happy People are Harder to Kill' products, talks and training programs. Conn’s talks and systems of resilience ignite staff, leaders and organisation with simple tools to enable personal and group agency to to attain true creative resilience during challenging and changing times.

CONN GAMIFIED HIS CANCER, SURVIVED AND THEN DESIGNED THE TOOLS TO HELP OTHERS DO THE SAME>

- Media 24

After beating a rare form of brain cancer by infusing his treatments with purpose, creativity and gamification, Conn was urged to share his thinking with some of the world’s top Oncologists, Psychologists and Mental Health Specialists at the Society of Paediatric Oncology's largest conference ever held in Africa in 2015. His opening keynote talk at the global event raised a standing ovation from the 1400 oncologists and confirmed his commitment and endeavors in this unique feild of creativity, medicine and resilience.

• Go to Resiliency Dojo

'Happy People Are Harder To KIll' Series

SERIES

Utilising Conn’s iconic history of creative problem solving under pressure - whether it be big wave surfing, brain cancer survival, winning the first South African fear factor, Extreme Street Art, Bouncing back from being clinically dead for 4 and half minutes, to travelling, speaking and training over 200 000 people in 20 different countries. His talks have receive over 48 standing ovations, and enabled delegates to harness their own form of creative resilience and ultimately enable the agency they needed to reduce their stress, deal better with their anxiety and any negative mental states. Each of the talks and their tools provide simple engaging ways to positively repurpose a challenge using creative problem solving and cognitive reframing techniques to ultimately empower people and business with medically supported skills of resilience; for a more positive mental state and an increase in personal happiness, productivity and wellbeing.

*This series is backed by The Mindful Revolution, The One Club of Creativity in New York, and Cansa.org,.

'Never Fight the Ocean' Series

SERIES

Utilising Conn’s history of big wave surfing and creative problem solving, his Keynote talks, programs and series delivers multiple ways in which delegates can harness their creativity as a way to achieve a reduction in their own stress, anxiety and potential negative mental states. Each tool provides a way to positively repurpose a challenge using creative problem solving to ultimately develop unique medically supporter skills of resilience; a more positive mental state and an increase in personal happiness, productivity and wellbeing.

*This series is backed by Cansa.org, The Mindful Revolution and The One Club of Creativity in New York.

Live, Heal and Thrive in a Digitally Enabled Age Under Pressure.

TALKS

Conn speaks and trains on the subjects (and intersection) of Creativity, Technology, Purpose and Resilience. His Harder To Kill modules range from 20 — 60 minute talks, 3hr Master Classes, 2 day sessions and multiple monthly series programs (including his ‘Never Fight the Ocean’ series of short talks and tools). Each iteration of training provides fresh purposeful ways for an interactive audience to learn how to better overcome challenging obstacles during stressful chaotic times. The talks, workshops and masterclasses are built to inspire, engage and empower the audience with simple user-friendly tools and techniques shown to build a more Resilient and Positive Mindset. Both the Harder to Kill qualities of Resiliency and Positivity are shown to enable humans and brands to become happier, healthier, more productive — and ultimately, Harder to Kill.

Resilience
for cancer warriors!

Our first Patient Resiliency Workbook is lauching in June 2026.

Eight years in the making, the Cancer Dojo Workbook is an interactive resilience-building manuscript that transforms cancer patients from passive recipients of treatments into active participants in their own healing together with the medicine. This engagement is shown to grow patient resiliency and enable a more positive cancer outcome. The hands-on-guide (and online support content) uses the power of psychoneuroimmunology, creative thinking, and positive psychology to empower patients to engage positively in their own healing journey. The book follows 16 chapters of Conn's awarded and medically approved harder to kill journey and will be launching in June 2026 during world cancer survivor month.

• Go to Cancer Dojo