Keynote Speaker | USAF Commander | Life Safety Expert
Edwin Frieden delivers keynotes and workshops, fire and life safety services, and strategic consulting, built on two careers where the cost of getting it wrong was real.
Story-driven talks on stress, trust, alignment, and leadership tailored for sales kickoff events and other organizational conferences. This includes hands-on, interactive workshops designed to shift mindset and produce results your team can act on before they leave the room.
Fire drill training for fraternity and sorority houses, and facility fire and life safety consulting for healthcare and higher education.
Strategic advisory for growing organizations: scaling systems, building aligned teams, and solving the leadership gaps that high growth always reveals. Includes executive coaching for senior leaders and leadership development from the frontline to the C-suite.
Edwin's career has been built on leading through complexity; from military service and executive sales leadership to strategic decision-making and organizational problem-solving. The lessons he's learned weren't developed in a classroom; they were earned through real, and sometimes life threatening challenges. Now he helps organizations turn those experiences into actionable strategies that inspire better leaders and stronger teams.
Every engagement is tailored to your audience. Select a talk to see what it covers and what your audience will take away. Each talk is available in a 30- or 60-minute version.
Keynote · 30 or 60 minutes
Staying effective when the pressure is real.
Drawing from a combat deployment in Iraq, Edwin shares a framework for staying steady when the stakes are highest. Built around three things every person can control: Effort, Energy, and Attitude.
Tailored for: sales teams, executive leadership, healthcare professionals, military associations, and general conference audiences.
Book This Talk Download Speaker Sheet (PDF)Keynote · 30 or 60 minutes
The trust that has your back.
When a fighter pilot straps into the cockpit, the one person they trust with their life isn't in the plane with them: their wingman. Trust isn't a feeling. It's a record, built through small, repeatable, observable actions long before the mission begins. This talk shows how to build it.
Tailored for: sales organizations, customer-facing teams, and leadership teams focused on culture and retention.
Book This Talk Download Speaker Sheet (PDF)Keynote · 30 or 60 minutes · Best for VP and C-suite audiences
Why good teams still miss the launch window.
Every shop performing well. Every individual hitting their number. And the mission still getting missed. Drawing on F-16 sortie lines and high-performing sales teams, this talk shows why individual excellence isn't organizational alignment, and how disciplined process closes the gap.
Tailored for: C-suite, VPs, operations and sales leadership, cross-functional teams, and strategic planning audiences.
Book This Talk Download Speaker Sheet (PDF)Keynote · 30 or 60 minutes · Strong for general conference audiences
What sixteen years in two worlds taught Edwin about leadership.
From intern to Vice President in the fire and life safety industry, and from enlisted airman to Deputy Group Commander of a Maintenance Group. Two very different worlds, and the same leadership principles underneath both.
Tailored for: general business conferences, association keynotes, leadership summits, and cross-industry audiences.
Book This Talk Download Speaker Sheet (PDF)
Edwin brings nearly 20 years of fire protection experience to two kinds of work: fire drill training for fraternity and sorority houses, and fire and life safety consulting for healthcare and higher education facilities through his partnership with Evident Works.
Fraternity and sorority houses face the same life-safety expectations as any occupied building, and most house teams have never run a drill the way an insurer or fire marshal would review it. Edwin plans and proctors the drill, documents it, and trains residents so the house can stand behind it.
Recent work: Phi Delta Theta, where Edwin proctored the fire drill, documented it, and trained residents to meet their insurer's loss-control requirements.
Evident Works
Forward Vector Group works alongside Evident Works, a firm that turns evidence into healthier environments, on fire and life safety for healthcare and higher education facilities.
The same principles that drive high-impact keynotes also drive high-impact organizations. Forward Vector Group offers strategic consulting engagements for growing companies that need more than a speech — they need a trusted advisor who has actually built teams, scaled revenue, and led through complexity at the executive level.
With firsthand experience growing a company from $20M to over $250M in revenue as a Vice President, and leading complex organizations under pressure as a military officer, Edwin brings an operational credibility to consulting that most advisory firms can't offer.
Engagements are customized to your organization's specific stage, challenges, and goals. Every engagement starts with a frank conversation about where you are, where you want to be, and what's actually standing in the way.
Start a ConversationDiagnosing and closing the gaps between individual performance and company-wide outcomes. Built for organizations where good people are working hard but the mission keeps getting missed.
Designing the leadership infrastructure that scaling companies consistently outgrow — identifying gaps, building bench strength, and creating the systems that make leadership repeatable.
Translating individual sales talent into consistent, scalable team performance. Includes process discipline, pipeline health, and the alignment between sales, operations, and delivery.
A direct, ongoing advisory relationship for senior leaders and founders navigating high-stakes decisions, growth inflections, and the transitions that don't come with a roadmap.
Evident Works
Fire and life safety consulting partner for healthcare and higher education facilities.
Visit Evident Works →
Blind Zebra
Edwin's career has been defined by one simple belief: great organizations are built by people who are willing to continuously learn, adapt, and lead through change.
Professionally, Edwin began as an intern with a company that specialized in the fire and life safety industry. Like many young professionals, he started by learning the fundamentals and taking on whatever challenges came his way. Over the next sixteen years, he had the opportunity to grow alongside the organization, advancing through leadership roles until ultimately serving as Vice President. During that time, he helped lead the company through an extraordinary period of growth, expanding from approximately $20 million in annual revenue to more than $250 million. That experience provided firsthand lessons in scaling organizations, developing leaders, managing change, and making strategic decisions in rapidly evolving environments.
At the same time, Edwin was building a military career that reinforced many of those same principles. Beginning his career enlisted as an F-16 Fuel system mechanic, he learned the value of discipline, accountability, and service before progressively assuming greater leadership responsibilities. Through years of commitment and professional development, he advanced to become the Deputy Group Commander at the Maintenance Group; responsible for helping lead a complex organization and supporting a mission where teamwork, communication, and sound decision-making are critical to success.
These two careers — one in the private sector and one in military service — have given Edwin a unique perspective on leadership. He has experienced what it means to build teams from the ground up, navigate uncertainty, balance competing priorities, and make decisions when the stakes are high. He has also learned that the best leaders are not simply those with authority, but those who can inspire trust, create clarity, and empower others to succeed.
Today, Edwin brings those lessons to audiences across all industries, where he combines practical experience with actionable strategies. Rather than focusing on theory alone, he shares real stories, hard-earned insights, and proven principles that help individuals and organizations improve leadership, embrace innovation, and create lasting momentum.
Whether speaking to executives, emerging leaders, technical professionals, or industry associations, Edwin's goal is the same: to challenge people to think differently, lead intentionally, and move their organizations forward with purpose.
Book Edwin to SpeakAvailable for conferences, retreats, corporate events, consulting, fire drill training, and private engagements.
Use the form to request a quote, check availability, or discuss a custom engagement. All messages are reviewed personally, and you can expect a response within 48 hours.
