2027 Annual Meeting - Council Bluffs Chamber

Keynote Speaker: Aaron Davis

Aaron Davis learned the difference between talent and attitude on the biggest stage in college sports. In 1994, he was part of the Nebraska Cornhuskers team that won a national championship under legendary head coach Tom Osborne — and discovered that talent only gets a team onto the field. What actually wins is attitude, discipline, and a team-first, ego-last commitment to something bigger than yourself.

Years later, that lesson was tested in a way no locker room could prepare him for. A cancer diagnosis brought Aaron face to face with fear and uncertainty, and he came through it with a conviction he now shares on stages everywhere: in any season of life, the one thing you always control is the attitude you choose.

That conviction became Aaron's life's work. For more than two decades, he has delivered keynotes to corporate teams, associations, schools, and college campuses, reaching well over a million people in person and virtually. His signature programs — including The Power of Your Choices, No Benchwarmers, Championship Customer Service, and Leadership With Passion — share the same throughline and are customized to each audience before he steps on stage. Whether the room is full of executives, frontline staff, students, or athletes, attendees leave able to reset their attitude in real time and bring championship energy to ordinary days.

A three-time published author, Aaron pairs hard-won perspective with genuine humor and heart. Audiences laugh, a few are moved to tears, and on Monday morning they show up different. Leaders book him not for a motivational act, but for a message their people are still repeating months later.

Aaron's work has earned the trust of organizations including John Deere and Medical Solutions, and the endorsement of figures from his coach Tom Osborne to broadcaster Boomer Esiason. His mission is simple and unwavering, captured in the philosophy at the heart of every talk: Attitude Over Everything. Your attitude. Your choice.