Grandmaster Rick Rando
Keynote Empowerment Speaker
Grandmaster Rick Rando is Owner and President of Kick Masters Karate, LLC, head facilitator at RandoSpeaks.com, and co-host of The Victory Couch Podcast. A martial artist for the past 38 years, Rando owns one of the largest, open-space martial arts schools in the country. He’s currently an eighth degree black belt in taekwondo and a first degree black belt in kali-silat under martial arts legend Grandmaster Anthony Hockley. Throughout his martial arts career, Rando has been featured in Black Belt Magazine, MASuccess Magazine, Masters Magazine, and Lifestyles in Annapolis Magazine as a Motivational/Business Expert. In 2018, Grandmaster Rando was inducted into the United States Martial Artist Association Hall of Fame as Inspiration of the Year, and in 2023, was inducted into the World Karate Union International Hall of Fame earning the Lifetime Achievement Award. Just last year, he was awarded the Positive People Award (in the category of Leading By Example) by the Allegany County Commissioners and was inducted in the Australasian Martial Arts Hall of Fame in Adelaide, Australia (only the 3rd American to do so).
As a keynote empowerment speaker, Rando has conducted thousands of demonstrations/presentations in the education system, and in the business community at large. He’s been the keynote/featured speaker working with such distinguished companies such as Hunter Douglas, The Boys Scouts of America, Columbia Gas/NiSource, Flagship Rehab, Cintas, Frostburg State University, the Western Maryland Heath System, Garrett College, The Girl Scouts, The Belt Group, Charm City Cakes (from Food Network’s hit show, “Ace of Cakes”), and Chick-fil-A to name just a few. In fact, Grandmaster Rando is so effective that over 70% of the organizations that hire him, work with him a second time. Most recently, Rando has been featured on several business Podcasts including MATalk, the 10 Minute Teacher, Heroes Rising, Virtual School Assembly, The New Tip, The Coaching Call, Master Motivation, Warrior’s Mindset, and The Real Deal with Jason Silverman.
Rando is a graduate from the Disney Institute: Disney’s Approach to Business Excellence program, and has earned the “Gold/Platinum Level Mark of Excellence Award” by Century Martial Arts for twelve consecutive years. An accomplished author, Grandmaster Rando has penned five cover articles featured in MASuccess and Masters Magazine and has appeared on the cover of both Allegany and MASuccess Magazines. He’s been featured in 5 MAIA Monthly Instructional DVD’s, teaching instructional skills to martial arts school owners around the world, and was named one of Allegany County’s Top 15 Most Fascinating People in 2013, 2019, and 2024. In 2004 and 2006 he was awarded the Dream Catcher Award through the Arc of Frederick for working with persons with disabilities, and in 2007, conducted two taekwondo seminars/demonstrations in Thailand as part of a cultural enrichment program. In 2019, Rando was selected as Frostburg State University’s Distinguished Alumni of the Year (the youngest person to date to ever earn this award), and was awarded the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition Community Leadership Award under President Trump.
Grandmaster Rando is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Frostburg State University where he has achieved a B.S. in Criminal Justice and Political Science, with a minor in Sociology. A member of the Phi Eta Sigma and the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Societies, Rando was a two-time Maryland House of Delegates Scholarship Award winner. As a college senior, he earned the first ever Maryland Sheriff’s Institute Scholarship at FSU, earned the highest award in Criminal Justice at the Convocation Award Ceremony, and worked for Maryland State Senator John J. Hafer. Additionally, Rando is a Board Member of the Vicki Via Dotson Leukemia Foundation, an honorary Fireman with the City of Frostburg, a little league baseball/basketball/soccer coach, a former high school 9th grade basketball coach, an Eagle Scout, a former independent percussionist with a drumstick endorsement from world-renowned stick manufacturer Silverfox Percussion, a marathon runner, and was a “Congressional Award” recipient for community service under President Clinton. Grandmaster Rando is happily married with two children.
Grandmaster Rando can be contacted through all social media sites, through e-mail at rando@randospeaks.com, or, via phone at 443-691-TEAM (8326).