Rory Vaden, (born July 26, 1982 in United States) is a bestselling author, keynote speaker ^[3] and co-founder of Southwestern Consulting.

Vaden was born in Boulder, Colorado.

^[5] He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate from the University of Denver (2006), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Management and an MBA concurrently. ^[6]

While attending the University of Denver, Vaden was recruited by another student to participate in a sales internship at Southwestern Advantage, a division of Southwestern Company. ^[7] After graduating from the university, he was invited to start a speaking and consulting division of the company named Southwestern Consulting. ^{[8] [9]}

As a top producer at Southwestern Advantage, Vaden began speaking after being invited by the program to give a presentation.

Before earning a fee, he took the stage a total of 304 times.

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On August 25, 2007, Vaden placed 2nd at the Toastmasters International Speech Contest, a competition that included 25,000 contestants from more than 100 countries, and earned enough recognition to receive his first paid speaking appearance.

In 2014, Vaden received the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speakers Association; the highest earned international recognition for professional speakers.

Vaden’s speaking client list includes: AFLAC, Bank of America, Mary Kay and Wells Fargo Advisors.

Vaden has authored two books including The New York Times bestseller, Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success. He will release his third book, Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time, which focuses on using procrastination to achieve increased productivity, on January 6, 2015.

Vaden is a regular contributor to Huffington Post and The Tennessean and has been featured in many publications including American Express OPEN, CNN, Fast Company and Inc. ^{[3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3] [3]}