Martha McSally
Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.) on Finding Your Wingman
Martha McSally
Keynote Speaker
America’s 1st Female Combat Fighter Pilot; U.S. Senator and Representative (2015-2020); Author
“The one thing that has made my life turn out differently from what I expected is that I stopped waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect set of conditions, and the perfect answer.” – Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.)
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Martha McSally'S SPEAKING FEE $25K - $40K
Colonel (ret) Martha E. McSally is a pioneering combat-proven leader, inspiring speaker, and celebrated author. McSally is a compelling example of overcoming adversity and fear to achieve extraordinary feats. Losing her dad at the age of 12 and surviving sexual abuse and assault, she persevered to become the 1st woman in U.S. history to fly a fighter jet in combat and command a fighter squadron in combat. Along her journey, McSally had to overcome significant obstacles including U.S. law prohibiting women from flying combat jets. She persevered, held onto her dreams, continued to excel, and shattered glass ceilings.
During her 26-year military career, McSally deployed six times to the Middle East and Afghanistan, flying 325 combat hours and earning the Bronze Star and six Air Medals. As a commander of her A-10 squadron, she oversaw $500M in assets and $40M in annual resources and was responsible to deploy her unit worldwide with just 24-hours’ notice. McSally was deployed to Saudi Arabia on 9/11 and became a key leader in planning and executing initial air operations in Afghanistan. As a Colonel, she was hand-picked as initial cadre to stand up U.S. Africa Command from scratch, building a complex organization with limited time and resources. She then led oversight of all African continent operations, including counterterrorism and disaster relief. This experience built on her expertise in strategic planning, process creation/improvement, knowledge management, logistics, and operations.
Colonel McSally is a values-driven trailblazer who demonstrates courage and integrity in her leadership, even when coming at a personal cost. She bravely took on the Pentagon in an 8-year battle to overturn discriminatory policies towards servicewomen deployed to Saudi Arabia—and won.
McSally knows how to build excellent teams founded in camaraderie, trust, and the ability to perform under pressure when the stakes are extremely high. She now takes these lessons from the cockpit and the skies of Afghanistan to equip your team to reach maximum potential as high performing individuals and significantly contributing teams within your organization.
McSally holds a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s JFK School of Government, a Masters in Strategic Studies from the Air War College where she graduated #1 in her class out of 261 senior military officers, and is a distinguished graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy. As a continuation of her service to our country and others and commitment to not walk by a problem, she served four years in the U.S. House of Representatives and two years as a U.S. Senator, which is not the focus of her writing. (She often quips it was the least interesting thing she has done in her life!) She is the author of Dare to Fly—Simple Lessons in Never Giving Up, which motivates readers to overcome fear and adversity to achieve their full potential. McSally lives in Tucson, AZ where she enjoys hiking with her rescue Golden Retriever Boomer, running, and paragliding.
Through determination, discipline and grit, McSally has run over a dozen marathons, won three national military triathlon championships, and competed in two Ironman triathlons including the grueling Hawaii Ironman world championship where she won the women’s military division and placed 12th in the world in her age group. She also summited many peaks including Mt Kilimanjaro (highest mountain in Africa at 19,340 ft) and Mt Blanc (highest in Western Europe). She is a force of nature who inspires you to find your courage and fly!
Featured Videos
Martha McSally
Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.) Speaking Reel
Martha McSally
Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.) – Make Me Proud
Martha McSally
Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.) on Tapping Into Your Misery Database
Martha McSally
Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.) on Courage
Martha McSally
Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.) on Breaking Barriers
Martha McSally
Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.) on Trusting Your Abilities
Martha McSally
Col. Martha McSally, USAF (Ret.) on Finding Your Wingman
Martha McSally’s Speech Topics
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Soar Like a Top-Gun Pilot: Leadership Lessons
Does your audience need inspiration, motivation, and actionable takeaways to push through adversity, overcome fear, and kick productivity into afterburner? Colonel McSally has proven she has the right stuff to survive and excel in high-pressure, high-risk, high-stakes environments.
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I AM… How to Soar as Your Best Self
In this powerful and deep moving keynote speech, Martha McSally leads the audience through a transformative personal journey to discover who they really are so the can operate with authenticity, connection, and freedom in their lives and work. This speech will have your teams ready to take off and take on the world.
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How to Overcome Adversity and Adapt to Reach the Next Level
In a highly competitive world, you need to learn how to overcome adversity to win. Greatness comes from learning that nothing can stop you and when you can move through anything in your path, then success is inevitable. This confidence that comes from those wins allows you to reach levels of success you never dreamed possible, and it is leadership’s role to teach and push their teams to feel this way.
Works by Martha McSally
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Martha McSally
Dare to Fly: Simple Lessons in Never Giving Up
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