
Malachowski was a highly decorated “full bird” colonel when she was forced to leave military service due to health issues. But it wasn’t a combat injury that cut short her career: It was a tick.
Today, President Biden appointed 22 members to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. The Commission is composed of outstanding citizens who reflect the diversity and strength of America while representing a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and professions. Commissioners are responsible for recommending a group of candidates to the President for selection as White House Fellows, a prestigious program for leadership and public service that provides young Americans experience working at the highest levels of the federal government. “These leaders represent the best of America – our collective character, creativity, and diversity. I am grateful these dedicated and accomplished…
Stricken With A Debilitating Tick-Borne Illness, The First Female Thunderbird Pilot Shares Her Resilience Secret
The Mighty 25 is a recognition We Are The Mighty bestows each year on individuals in the military community that have gone above and beyond. In partnership with the Military Influencer Conference, We Are The Mighty recognizes the change makers in the veteran, active duty and military family space. Selectees are advocates utilizing their influence and voices to impact policies; entrepreneurs with a passion for service; disrupters forcing accountability and meaningful change; volunteers giving so much of themselves to better our world; and leaders whose vision and actions inspire us all.
If you’re a leader looking for someone to inspire your team, or motivate your company during tough times, these highly-focused, professional women will help take things to the next level.
Nicole’s Acceptance Speech – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qy6z-BdNWM U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, actress Jane Fonda and attorney Gloria Allred were among the inductees at the National Women’s Hall of Fame on Saturday. The Class of 2019 inducted into the hall in upstate New York also included activist Angela Davis, attorney Sarah Deer, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, retired Air Force fighter pilot Nicole Malachowski, the late artist and suffragist Rose O’Neill and the late U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York. Composer Laurie Spiegel was honored for her electronic music compositions, and molecular biologist Flossie Wong-Staal for work that helped…
First Lady Michelle Obama participates in a promotion ceremony for Col. Nicole Malachowski in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Sept. 16, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy) This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House. Air…
Nicole Malachowski was the U.S. Air Force’s first female Thunderbird pilot. During a 21-year military career she was among the first women to fly modern fighter aircraft. She served two operational tours in England, including a four-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and flew 26 combat missions. She also served as a liaison in South Korea and commanded her own squadron, rising to the rank of colonel. Here, she talks about breaking barriers, leadership, family and the unexpected illness that ended her military career and gave her new perspective.Q. You started working toward your…
Col. Malachowski has one of the most incredible and inspiring stories I’ve ever come across. Not only is she an incredible #leader, she’s also the first woman #Thunderbird pilot, retired Fighter Squadron Commander, Combat #Veteran, White House Fellow and Advisor, and patient advocate! Needless to say, Col. Malachowski knows a thing or two about #resilience and #adversity. Here is a link from our conversation on 5 May 2020, and how we talk about resilience during #crisis and how to #leadwithgratitude.
We are (in)visible international physicians, scientists, organizers, and dreamers united by a common mission: to eliminate suffering from invisible illnesses and marginalization through innovation & education
leaders say about Nicole
“Working with Nicole was a joy – she was genuinely curious to learn more about our business culture & values so she could tailor her message to be even more relatable to the team. I would recommend her to anyone who wants to engage and inspire their team!”
“Nicole is an engaging, inspiring and highly relevant keynote speaker. She recently received a standing ovation! I highly recommend her for your next event.”
“Nicole was hands down the best keynote speaker I have ever heard. Her message was relevant, poignant and spoke to every person in the room. Many of her themes are now a part of our culture here at Imperva!”
“I have never seen a speaker connect with the audience the way you did. On top of that, the way you integrated our theme and pillars to your message in a thoughtful way was incredible!”
“Nicole has great talent for connecting with an audience with her relatable and genuine personality. I highly recommend Nicole to anyone who is looking for a speaker that will engage their audience and influence them to think differently about their challenges.”
“Nicole’s insights and expertise on leadership, change, and transformation were awe-inspiring and left a lasting impact on everyone. Her authenticity and relatability made her speech even more impactful and memorable.”
“Nicole was relatable, funny, inspirational, and challenging. She is an outstanding presenter and quite simply an incredible human being. We look forward to inviting her back!”
“She captivated the audience with her story telling. Her authentic style provoked laughter, awe, and motivation.”
“Her virtual session left us breathless and excited. The stories were well selected and amazingly delivered!”
“Nicole was over the top perfection last night! Her remarks were thoughtful, intellectually substantive, and her personal story simply amazing.”
“She engaged our audience with her stories of courage, trust and vulnerability, leaving our field sales organization energized and inspired. Our attendees cannot stop talking about the lessons learned, and many are saying that she was the best speaker they have ever heard.”
“An absolute Super Star who captivated our audience! Nicole truly has a gift for leaving lasting impressions. Long after she departed, all the attendees could talk about was how inspired they felt after hearing Nicole’s story!”
“Simply the best speaker we have ever had in 32 years! Period!”
“Her messages are powerful. It is also who she is – trustworthy and highly likable – that makes people keep listening.”
“The accolades and amazing reviews from our audience continue to materialize along with messages of how they will utilize Colonel Malachowski’s message with their own teams.”
“It was beyond anything we could’ve asked for. It’s like she had been on our planning committee for the past 6+ months.”
“Significantly impactful. She provided an engaging presentation that smoothly wove together with our meeting objectives. Her talk set an inspirational tone for our meeting participants.”
“We were mesmerized and deeply moved as you shared your inspiring personal experiences to lift all of us. Thank you for being a ‘real person’ and for creating a moment that our team and customers will never forget.”
“Impactful. Authentic. Inspiring. She is real and delivers a message every leader will walk away with the opportunity to improve themselves and their team.”
“To say she was amazing is a complete understatement! Nicole was genuine, heartfelt, and so absolutely engaging on stage. She smiled and laughed, enjoying her time with the audience. Nicole completely and naturally tailored her comments and stories relating her work to the engineers in the audience. It was really incredible how natural she was. Nicole is one of the best speakers we work with. I can’t say enough great things about her.”
“In 30 years of events, I have never had so many supplier appreciation attendees rave about any of our other VIP speakers than I had about you. The best we’ve ever had!”
“Not only did the client swoon over her, but the entire production team fell in love with her as well – she was totally magnetic. Her attitude, messaging & overall energy were a complete slam dunk!”
“Nicole received the very first standing ovation for a virtual presenter I’ve ever witnessed. I have literally never seen that before!”
“She was amazing from arrival, unbelievable on the main stage plus incredibly gracious in the VIP Photo. In my 24 years of being a meeting planner, Nicole is in my Top 5 as a speaker with her empowering content and we’re lucky to have someone like her sharing her message. Super human in my book! WOW!”
“Her style, message, passion, and the way she made it relevant to our team all made for a fantastic experience and made her a “rock star” in the discussions that evening.”
“The best leadership and motivational speaker I have ever had the privilege to listen to. Engaging from the moment she took the stage until the second she exited. I wish my daughters had been with me to hear her speak.”
“Our audience of over 700 guests were totally captivated by her stories of grit, determination and vulnerability. The term “goosebumps” popped up in the chat a lot, and it was the prefect word to describe her message and our experience!”
“Nicole is the best professional speaker I’ve worked with to date. I know this because several weeks later, I’m still thinking about the stories she told and how they align with not only my values, but my aspirations. Nicole will come prepared to meet your event’s objective, she will inspire your audience with poignant personal stories and is incredibly down-to-earth for someone who’s pushed the limits at the greatest heights.”
“A welcome relief to our Zoom fatigue, Nicole’s presentation was a perfect transition to shift our mindset forward into 2021. Her takeaways were derived from battlefield experience that landed a heartfelt and personally impactful message to our global staff. Nicole’s delivery was equal parts compelling and motivating. If you’re looking to energize your team and boost momentum, Nicole should be your first call. She will expand on strategies to help in your personal and work life in the now and in the future.”
Nicole was an incredibly engaging speaker with a powerful message about resiliency, adaptability, and vulnerability. She brought motivation & inspiration to our organization through the power of storytelling. Nicole shared her experiences & thoughtfully connected the dots to our context. We greatly appreciated Nicole’s willingness to pivot to a virtual format and could not have been more pleased. She immediately captured the audience and kept them engaged for over an hour. Nicole was a great partner leading up to and throughout our event. We will certainly be recommending her to all of our colleagues and friends!
“Nicole has a multi-faceted story of overcoming adversity to achieve peak performance and she has adapted to tell that story in a compelling way during this time of virtual leadership meetings. Her messages about overcoming unexpected turbulence and harnessing headwinds were especially powerful for our leaders as we’ve shifted to serve customers and support our teams differently during a time of crisis. Nicole is a high flyer, brings great energy and would be a smart addition to any program.”
In this age of virtual events, Nicole’s energy and focus kept our participants engaged and prompted an enthusiastic chat conversation among our participants who were effusive in their praise of her. Her message is up-building, life giving and brings value for anyone who is struggling to keep their head up in challenging times, looking for inspiration in the journey.
“Nicole knocked it out of the park with her virtual keynote and exceeded our expectations! We received so much positive feedback, that I could not keep up with my text messages and emails praising her. She is a powerful speaker and a genuine storyteller. I highly recommend Nicole for your next virtual, or live, event.”
An indomitable spirit whose life journey adds such warmth and depth to her powerful message. She is relatable to women and men with a fascinating narrative of overcoming trials and tribulations all while being an unwitting trailblazer in aviation, in leadership, in social awareness and in medical care.
You touched my team with your brilliant and meaningful storytelling and have inspired them with your leadership and very practical tips on how to manage headwinds. You captivated their hearts and minds—and it was exactly the kind of closing I wanted to end our week of planning sessions.
“Everyone…I mean everyone…left raving about your message. As you can imagine being in healthcare as executive I hear a lot of people speak. You are an exceptional speaker and have an incredible message to share with anyone that’s looking at ways to be motivated to improve themselves. So yes, count me in as a card holding member of your fan club”
“Nicole did a stellar job, tailoring her content to our specific needs and delivering it with confidence, energy, and enthusiasm. We feel privileged to have someone of her caliber spend time with our team to share stories and words of encouragement. She truly was the highlight of our event!”
“You are one of the most engaging and effective speakers I have come across—a humble force that touches people emotionally. Without question, you presented exactly the message we wanted to share with our elite performers.”
“Rarely have I found an entire room of business colleagues all so incredibly inspired and engaged by one speaker! Nicole’s story has the power of relating to all businesses as well as the individual journeys we are all on. Nicole’s compassion, determination and kind spirit shine through in every aspect of her presentation. The outpouring of support, after two standing ovations and many tears, made it clear her message resonated with everyone in attendance.”
“Colonel Nicole Malachowski recently spoke to the senior leaders in my company and did an outstanding job. In fact, I cannot recall another speaker where there was such high universal praise. She is inspiring, authentic, energizing, and a true American hero. More than a week later, there is still abuzz in the organization and I have zero doubt her remarks will leave a lasting impression on our team to embrace headwinds and navigate change more successfully.”
“We engaged Nicole to speak at our conference on Advancing Women in Law Firm Leadership. Nicole is a captivating speaker with a truly motivational story. She is energetic, personable, and authentic – and the audience was riveted throughout her entire presentation. I wholeheartedly recommend Nicole as a speaker!”
“You are easily in my ‘top-5 of all-time’! In addition to be an excellent public speaker in manner, tone and approach, your presentation was stunningly inspiring, moving and motivational. And it wasn’t just a feel-good session. Every person in the room left with business and life-tools to use and share. But most of all, each and every one of us left the room with a more grateful heart. For me, this is the home run of home runs as we attempt to bring some light to the lives of our employees and clients.”
“Such an amazing presentation today by Nicole. I just don’t even have words to describe how she hit it out of the park – pure awesomeness!”
“…she was the absolute ‘best’ speaker we have ever hired. With that, the leadership from Major Account Summit have asked, how do we give her a bonus? She was that good.”
“She was outstanding and delivered an authentic, actionable message that hit home for every executive — male or female — who is trying to set clear goals, break barriers and improve their career path. Her thought-provoking message was delivered with passion and authority. She left our audience of leading women with a clear path to achieve greatness, create change and make better, brave decisions.”
“She has a compelling personal as well as professional story to tell. And she does it with a passion and vulnerability that create a strong connection with her audience. Five minutes into her presentation, you could tell that she had our group hooked. Her presentation resonated so deeply with our audience that people are still talking about her presentation a week later and employees who could not attend are asking to see the video of her presentation. Nicole is professional, organized, timely, and an all-around pleasure to work with. She was thoughtful in researching our organization and event so she could craft her discussion to fit our audience.”
“Col. Nicole Malachowski took our financial professionals by storm – three weeks later, people are still talking about her. She has a unique gift of being able to relate her very interesting and exciting professional and personal life experiences to a diverse audience in a completely different profession. Her genuine conversational style made each attendee feel she was talking directly to them.”
The American Forest & Paper Association highly recommends Nicole as a speaker. Her passionate storytelling and ability to connect with the audience will no doubt make her a public speaking star!
Working with Nicole Malachowski has been one of the highlights of my career. Not only was she very personable and spoke to everyone that wanted her attention, but as a keynote, she absolutely nailed it! She took the time to call me beforehand and tailored her speech EXACTLY to our audience.
In my 14 years of working with our Conference speakers, I have never had such an immediate flood of positive feedback from our members regarding Nicole’s session. Nicole spoke on the first day of our event and I still had people talking about the session four days later at the end of the event.
Nicole Malachowski shares a powerful message of perseverance and resilience. She is able to connect with her audience by being deeply authentic and vulnerable in her story telling. We related to her on a personal level even though our individual stories and experiences differ greatly from her own. We all have challenges in our lives and how we choose to face those headwinds of change will be a little less daunting by taking Nicole’s lessons and putting them into practice.
Nicole left our entire audience in AWE and for the remainder of the conference she was a reference point for conversations and motivation in how we could develop plans to overcome challenges of our own. If you ever have the opportunity to see or hear Nicole speak it is a must see event that will not disappoint!
“Book her now! I have worked with many speakers throughout my career and by far Nicole is the best. Easy to work with, engaged and humble. She did her homework and tied in our mission to her remarks and hit the nail on the head on how our audience of over 800 people can work together as a team. She was funny, passionate and drove home her points. We had attendees lined up for 45 minutes afterward to speak to her personally and she was gracious in speaking to every one of them.”
“A true honor and blessing to have Nicole Malachowski, (USAF, RET.) ignite our leadership team with her amazing story and real-life examples helping us all break through barriers. Nicole was able to read her audience and connect her points to our role as leaders in healthcare and truly engaged the entire team. Rarely do you have someone like her tell their story and authentically connect with the audience in such a way that people walk away inspired and motivated with tools and tips fueling us to reach even higher and beyond the boundaries to make a difference each and every day.”
“Nicole’s story is inspiring and touching as she shares the motivations, breakthroughs and lessons learned through a career of firsts and leadership lessons. She shares her story in a humble and humorous way – you’ll laugh, gasp and shed a tear as she inspires your team to ‘Push the Envelope’. We’ve been hosting leadership sessions every quarter for several years, and Nicole delivered our highest rated session yet.”
“Our event theme was “WOW” (Wonder of Women). Nicole lived up to that acronym and more. Her story, presence on the stage, and great personality left 550 women speechless. There wasn’t a person in the audience that wasn’t impressed, and inspirited that they too could reach for the stars and make their dreams come true. What a remarkable woman!”