Production Process
The press kit is designed so that a journalist, podcast host, or event organiser can feature the author using only the materials in this kit, without needing to research, request additional information, or write their own introduction.
Author Biography
Tommy Baker is a four-time Guinness World Record holder, keynote speaker, and author of The Identity Protocol. His journey from a near-fatal car crash at fourteen to setting three world records during the NBA All-Star Weekend underpins a practical system for identity, resilience, and high performance under pressure.
Tommy Baker is a four-time Guinness World Record holder and professional speaker on resilience, identity, and high performance. At fourteen, a car crash left him on life support. Twenty-two years later, he stood in Phoenix, Arizona, setting three Guinness World Records during the NBA All-Star Weekend.
The distance between those two points is the proof behind his work. The Identity Protocol reverse-engineers that journey into a system anyone can apply: identity first, evidence second, results last. His clients and audiences include Sony, Nike, Ford, the NBA, Guinness World Records, and Henley Business School.
Tommy lives in the UK with his wife and two children.
Tommy Baker is a four-time Guinness World Record holder, professional speaker, and author of The Identity Protocol. At fourteen, a car crash in Somerset left him on life support with multiple skull fractures. In the months that followed, a basketball and a strip of tarmac became the channel for a recovery that would span decades.
What began as solitary practice in an empty sports hall evolved into professional performance on some of the world's biggest stages. Tommy has performed for organisations including Sony, Nike, Ford, the NBA, and Guinness World Records, and speaks on identity and high performance for corporate and educational audiences including Henley Business School. In 2009, he set three Guinness World Records in a single weekend during the NBA All-Star event in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Identity Protocol is the system underneath that journey. It is built around one sequence: identity first (the internal decision about who you are, claimed before external proof exists), evidence second (the repeatable disciplines that build the case), and results last (the visible outcomes that follow). The book delivers ten named frameworks for leaders and teams navigating pressure when there is no script and no safety net.
Tommy is also a main carer for his autistic son, a reality he describes as the ultimate stress test for every protocol in the book. He writes and works from the UK.
Book Summary
Written for journalists and producers deciding whether to cover the book, not for readers deciding whether to buy it. Leads with the thesis and what makes it newsworthy.
The Identity Protocol argues that sustainable performance starts with an identity decision, not a results target. Author Tommy Baker reverses the conventional sequence: identity first, evidence second, results last. The thesis is grounded in twenty-five years of first-person evidence spanning a near-fatal car crash at fourteen, a decade of professional sport, four Guinness World Records, and a current role as main carer for an autistic child.
The book introduces ten named frameworks designed for immediate deployment in corporate and personal settings. Each of the twelve chapters pairs a defining personal story with a practical tool: The Dark Room (building discipline without external validation), The Second Window (recovering from public failure in real time), and the Collision of Spheres (driving innovation through cross-disciplinary thinking). The end-of-chapter structure (Mirror Check, Protocol in Practice, The Action) makes each chapter directly deployable as workshop material.
Baker's credentials include performances for Sony, Nike, Ford, the NBA, and Guinness World Records, and keynote speaking for corporate and educational audiences including Henley Business School. He is a practitioner still applying these protocols under daily pressure, not a theorist reflecting from comfort.
Speaking & Interview Topics
Seven topics the author can speak about with authority. Each opens a different angle beyond "tell us about your book." The descriptions give a journalist or host enough material to frame the conversation before the interview begins.
-
Identity First: Why Claiming Who You Are Before You Have Proof Changes How You Lead
The book's core thesis challenges the default performance sequence. Most development programmes start with goals and work backwards. Baker's system starts with an identity decision and lets the results follow. Relevant to leadership development, team resilience, and personal transformation.
-
The Dark Room: Building Discipline When No One Is Watching
A decade of solitary practice with no audience, no validation, and no evidence it was leading anywhere. Baker's concept speaks to anyone building something meaningful without visible results yet: founders, creatives, leaders in transition, and teams in the slow middle of a long project.
-
Resilience After Impact: What a Near-Fatal Crash at Fourteen Teaches About Recovery
The car crash, the hospital bed, and the two decades that followed. A first-person account of rebuilding from catastrophic setback with practical lessons for organisational resilience, post-failure recovery, and the difference between fault and responsibility.
-
The Ego Trap: Why Success Is More Dangerous Than Failure for Leaders and Teams
Three warning signals that the Summit Trap has set in: nostalgia, entitlement, and fear. Baker draws on his own experience of nearly destroying a key brand relationship to illustrate how success quietly changes behaviour. Relevant to any conversation about post-success complacency in leadership.
-
Collision of Spheres: Why Your Next Breakthrough Will Come From Outside Your Industry
How a basketball freestyler and a football freestyler created a product that led to four Champions League Finals with Ford. Innovation happens at the intersection of disciplines, not within them. Relevant to cross-functional collaboration, R&D strategy, and breaking silos.
-
The Stamina of Excellence: What Guinness World Records Teach About Sustained Performance
Four world records across a twenty-year career. The difference between peak performance and sustained performance. How the protocols that carry you to the summit are different from the protocols that keep you there. Relevant to long-term leadership, career longevity, and burnout prevention.
-
Street Lessons: What Busking Teaches About Value, Pricing, and Reading a Room
Before the corporate stages, Baker earned a living performing on the streets of Europe. The same skill performed for coins on a Barcelona pavement was later performed for corporate fees at a Nike event. The skill did not change. The context did. Relevant to pricing strategy, negotiation, and the psychology of value.
Sample Interview Questions
Structured in three tiers. Many podcast hosts will use these questions directly. Writing them well means effectively scripting the interview so the author's strongest material surfaces naturally.
Opening Questions
Warm, accessible, establish the author's story. Let the host ease into the conversation.
-
You describe a moment in a school gym in January 1987 as the pivot point for everything that followed. What happened?
-
The book's system is "identity first, evidence second, results last." Most people would put results first. Why is the sequence so important?
-
You are a main carer for your autistic son and you describe that as the ultimate stress test for the protocols. How does that reality shape your credibility when you speak about performance?
Core Questions
Draw out the book's strongest material: the sharpest stories, the most surprising insights, the most practical frameworks.
-
You talk about The Dark Room as a decade of practice with no audience and no validation. How do you keep going when there is no external proof that it is working?
-
There is a chapter about nearly destroying your relationship with Adidas by wearing a Nike tracksuit to their camp. What went wrong, and what did it teach you about ego?
-
In Lisbon, your entire performance fell apart in front of eighteen thousand people and a television crew. Walk us through what happened in the sixty seconds after that failure.
-
The Titanic Protocol is one of the book's most memorable frameworks. Can you explain what it means in a leadership context?
-
You write about earning a living performing on the streets of Europe. How did busking shape your understanding of value and pricing?
Depth Questions
Challenge the author and invite them to go deeper. Signal to the audience that the author can handle pushback.
-
What is the most common objection you hear to the "identity first" thesis, and how do you respond to it?
-
Is there a situation where your approach breaks down? Where identity-first thinking is not the right answer?
-
You have four Guinness World Records and have performed for Nike, the NBA, and Sony. With all of that behind you, what still scares you?
Headshot & Image
Professional headshots are available in two formats. A missing or low-quality headshot is the most common reason a media feature is delayed.
High Resolution (Print)
2000 × 2000 px, 300 DPI, JPEG
Web Resolution (Digital)
800 × 800 px, 72 DPI, JPEG
Setting
Plain background, head and shoulders, natural expression
Availability
Both formats provided in the press kit download folder
Contact & Booking
For interview requests, speaking enquiries, and review copy requests:
Tommy Baker
theidentityprotocol.co.uk | thebookdevelopmentservice.com
Available for podcast interviews, print and digital features, keynote speaking, and corporate workshops.
Quality Standards
Every press kit is tested against two checks before delivery.
The Journalist Test
A busy features editor has ninety seconds to decide whether to pursue a story. Can they answer four questions from this kit alone: who is this person, what is the book about, what angle could they use, and how do they make contact? If any answer requires additional research, the kit is incomplete.
The Host Test
A podcast host is considering this person as a guest. Can they use this kit to introduce the guest, ask ten good questions, and link to the book in the show notes, without any preparation beyond reading the kit? If yes, the kit is doing its job.