500 million earned media impressions
The media campaign Jenna O'Brady built around Colin's Explorers Grand Slam world record generated 500 million earned media impressions.
Snapshot · The School of Greatness
54 Days Alone in Antarctica, Pulling 375 Pounds | Colin O’Brady
Explore episode
Jul 3, 2026
Where this was said
Building a World Record from a Whiteboard
At 12:40 · chapter starts 11:52
After the climbing stories, Colin steps back to reveal the entrepreneurial genesis of the entire project. He and Jenna, newly engaged, wrote on a whiteboard: what if we set this world record and built a media campaign around it? On day one they were Googling the difference between marketing and PR. [1] — Colin O'Brady "500 million earned media impressions: The media campaign Jenna O'Brady built around Colin's Explorers Grand Slam world record generated 500…" 12:40 They had no money, no connections, no track record — just a belief in the idea and a relentless daily work ethic. A year of 'no' followed, but day by day things were built. The Explorers Grand Slam ultimately generated 500 million earned media impressions, spawned a nonprofit engaging hundreds of thousands of public school children, and established Colin and Jenna as a creative force. The Antarctica project is described as the latest iteration of this same creative partnership.
50 High Points record: 21 days
Colin set the speed record for climbing the highest point in all 50 US states in just 21 days, halving the previous record of 42 days.
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