Todd Carmichael

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title: "Todd Carmichael" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["21st-century-american-explorers", "21st-century-american-businesspeople", "living-people", "1963-births", "businesspeople-from-spokane,-washington", "american-expatriates-in-haiti"] description: "American entrepreneur and television personality (born 1963)" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Carmichael" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American entrepreneur and television personality (born 1963) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Todd Carmichael
image	Todd Main Headshot.jpg
caption	Todd Carmichael, co-founder and CEO of La Colombe Torrefaction
birth_date
birth_place	Spokane, Washington, U.S.
alma_mater	University of Washington
known_for	CEO and Co-Founder of La Colombe, Host of Travel Channel's Dangerous Grounds, Antarctic Solo Exploration/World Speed Record, Philanthropist
website
spouse	Lauren Hart
::

| name = Todd Carmichael | image = Todd Main Headshot.jpg | alt = | caption = Todd Carmichael, co-founder and CEO of La Colombe Torrefaction | birth_date = | birth_place = Spokane, Washington, U.S. | alma_mater = University of Washington | known_for = CEO and Co-Founder of La Colombe, Host of Travel Channel's Dangerous Grounds, Antarctic Solo Exploration/World Speed Record, Philanthropist | website =
|spouse = Lauren Hart Todd Carmichael (born August 30, 1963) is an American entrepreneur, adventure traveler, philanthropist, television personality, author, and inventor. Carmichael is the CEO and co-founder of Philadelphia-based La Colombe.

He is the first American to complete a solo trek across Antarctica to the South Pole on foot with no assistance, claiming the world speed record with a total travel time of 39 days, 7 hours and 49 minutes. Recorded footage of his trek later became an award-winning documentary entitled Race to the Bottom of the Earth (2010) that was aired on the National Geographic Channel. He then went on to raise thousands of dollars for Orangutan Foundation International, one of his numerous philanthropic projects.

Carmichael was ranked #1 by Food Republic for the most influential figure in its Coffee Power Ranking. He is currently the host of Travel Channel's 'Dangerous Grounds and Uncommon Grounds'.

Early life and education

Todd Carmichael was born on August 30, 1963, outside Spokane, Washington. He has three sisters. Carmichael completed his first marathon at age 15. His mother eventually moved the family to Spokane's South Hill so that he could attend Joel E. Ferris High School.

From 1981 to 1982, he was part of Ferris' state championship squad. He graduated from high school in 1982, and received a distance running scholarship to the University of Washington, where he studied business and went on to work in accounting for Ernst & Young. He also ran his first ultramarathon at the age of 20.

Career

While hunting for beans, he came upon a farm that inspired him to want to help Haiti improve its coffee farming methods. He was later approached by the Clinton Foundation to collaborate on a coffee project.

Carmichael was a prolific contributor to Esquire "Eat Like a Man" blog, where he covered subjects mainly related to coffee, its industry, and his travels in Haiti and the country's issues. He has also written for Huffington Post regarding topics about the environment and animal rights. He is currently the host of Travel Channel's Dangerous Grounds.

Philanthropy

Carmichael has collaborated with the actor Leonardo DiCaprio to create La Colombe's Lyon blend, with proceeds going to fund the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Working with ECHOES Around the World in Uganda and Wide Horizons For Children in Ethiopia, Project Afrique was also made possible through the sales of La Colombe and additional funding from the coffee-roasting company and his partner, J.P. Iberti. Carmichael also collaborated with the organization Coffee For Water to bring safe drinking water into coffee-growing regions.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Todd_carmichael_la_colombe.jpg" caption="Todd Carmichael, La Colombe founder, with the Philadelphia skyline, 2002"] ::

References

References

1. "Fastest journey to the South Pole: world record set by Todd Carmichael".
2. Martin, Peter. (2012-01-12). "Two Years After Earthquake, Can Coffee Help Save Haiti?".
3. {URL. toddcarmichael.com
4. Fries, Jacob H.. "Wasteland".
5. (17 March 2014). "Bill Clinton Visits TechnoServe Coffee Work in Haiti {{!}} TechnoServe - Business Solutions to Poverty".
6. http://www.esquire.com/archives/blogs/food-for-men/by_tag/the%20coffee%20man/15;1 {{dead link. (January 2022)
7. "Todd Carmichael {{!}} HuffPost".
8. "Travel Channel TV Show: Dangerous Grounds {{!}} Todd Carmichael's Expedition Earth".
9. Junod, Tom. (2014-01-12). "The Moment Leonardo DiCaprio Became a Man".
10. "Goodwill".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::