First Female Thunderbird Pilot, Former White House Fellow & Founder and CEO of Nicole Malachowski & Associates

Colonel Nicole Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) has defied all stereotypes throughout her remarkable 21-year career in the Air Force, from the first Woman Thunderbird Pilot to combat veteran, she is an indomitable spirit who has fought for both her life and for what she believes in. As a White House Fellow, class of 2008 - 2009, Nicole served on the Presidential Transition Support Team and would work within the White House a second time as the Executive Director of the White House’s national ‘Joining Forces’ programme. Nicole was responsible for advising the then First Lady Mrs. Michelle Obama and First Lady Dr Jill Biden on a wide variety of topics regarding veterans and members of the military. Now, Nicole is a highly sought-after speaker and advocate, raising awareness of patients with tick-borne illnesses and encourages audiences to rethink the everyday challenges they face.

Destined for the skies from a young age, whilst most teenagers are trying to pass their drivers licence, Nicole was building up her flying hours. By the time she was 16 Nicole had already embarked on her first solo flight. In High School she joined the Civil Air Patrol and was a member of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. Following her graduation from the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in Management and a minor in French, she attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus AFB, MS. Her natural ability for flying clear for all to see, she was competitively selected to fly combat aircraft. Nicole has accumulated 188 combat flying hours in both Operation Deliberate Forge and Operation Iraqi Freedom in three F-15E fighter squadrons. Throughout her time serving as an F-15E pilot, Nicole was a Flight Commander, Evaluator, Instructor Pilot and Flight Lead.

With over 2,300 flight hours in over 6 different types of Air Force Aircraft, there a few who match Nicole’s expertise in the skies, and she was selected to be Thunderbird #3 with the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron. When a tick-borne illness led to Nicole being medically discharged from the Air Force, she was determined to raise awareness of tick-borne diseases and is on the Board of Directors at the LivLyme Foundation and a Patient Advisory Board Member of The Dean Centre for Tick-Borne Illness. In recognition of her work within her field, Nicole has been awarded with several honours for her contributions to the community and was announced as one of 2020’s ‘Mighty 25’. She is also the Founder and CEO of Nicole Malachowski & Associates and is currently the Executive Officer for the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Nicole uses her fruitful career in her engaging speeches as stories of determination and educates others on how to face adversity head-on. With a calmness about her which commands respect from her audience, Nicole empowers people with three beliefs: Failure and risk is the price of entry for achieving something great; sometimes you need to yield to overcome; and in her own words: “nobody wants a scripted life”. When looking for an inspirational leader can motivate the room to achieve greatness and educate her audience on how to face any challenges, look no further than Nicole Malachowski to hire at your next event today.

How to hire Nicole Malachowski

Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Nicole Malachowski for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.

Motivation & Inspiration

Enquire Now

** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.

Below are Nicole's official speaking topics:

Harnessing Headwinds: Successfully Navigating Change & Adversity
Pushing the Envelope: Being the Best When it Counts
Breaking Barriers: Conquering Self-Doubt and Cultural Paradigms
Conquering Fog and Friction: Leading Through Times of Crisis
The Mach 2 Mindset: Decision-Making in a High-Speed Environment
The Power of Calm: Stay Positive
Mental Health: Living with the Invisible Illness
Peak Performance: Pushing the Envelope
Teamwork & Trust: Build Trust by Being Trustworthy
Failure is the Price of Entry
A Culture of Excellence: Steel Sharpens Steel
Leadership: People Centred NOT Gender Centered Leadership
Navigating Chaos: Swiftly Reacting to the Unexpected
Overcoming Adversity: Going Beyond Resilient
Alignment: Same Way Same Day
Change is Incremental
Diversity: Succeeding in a Male Dominated Field
Sometimes You Have to Yield to Overcome
Supporting One Another: Ask for Help/Offer Help

Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events

"This is the second time I have used Nicole. She is powerful. She connected so eloquently to the ‘business’ and made all her themes resonate and apply pragmatically. The audience was buzzing – and really enjoyed her. They are requesting another go around on her patient level view as well as her advocacy role. I am incredibly inspired by Nicole – and in awe of her achievements.” - CCFord Healthcare
“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.” - Vistage
“OMG – I could go on and on all day about how AMAZING Nicole is and was during her presentation!!! She is absolutely the best hands down. Each year it’s my personal challenge to raise the bar, and I have no doubt that we did that this year with Nicole onboard. I have received so many emails, text messages, and instant messages about how fantastic Nicole was (still coming in as I’m typing this email).” - Morton Salt
"You are a spectacular speaker and I have never been to a meeting with our entire team mesmerized by anyone like they were with you. Your story is unbelievable and you are able to deliver it in such a natural and powerful way that had me in awe for days after. I haven’t been so motivated or inspired by anyone in a long time.” - Director & Marketing Activation, Best Western Hotels & Resorts
"Nicole was exceptionally well received. She—truly—did a magnificent job. Connected with the audience, inspiring, thought-provoking, funny, real, open. Our colleagues couldn’t stop talking about it. Was the highlight of our event.” - UnitedHealth Group
"We had the true privilege of having Nicole speak at GROW 2022, our annual franchise conference, and she was truly an inspiration to all.
Her message aligned so clearly with our company values and mission.
She was humble, charismatic and engaging, and did a remarkable job connecting with the audience.
A true hero, and very compelling and entertaining keynote speaker.
Would definitely engage again!" - Melissa, Senior Vice President Operations at Scooter's Coffee
"Nicole is truly the most inspirational speakers we have ever had at our company. She has so many messages of resilience, resurgence and hope.
Thank you Nicole for being amazing!" - Jill, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer US Operations at Nexteer Automotive
"For years, I've been a dicerning volunteer member of the East Bay Women's Conference (EBWC) Program Committee. Nicole delivered on our 2020 conference theme- WOW (Wonder of Women)! She had a room of almost 600 women on their feet for a standing ovation. While she may not be flying now, her superhero cape is still flying on her! Even though she was the only fighter pilot in the room, everyone in the audience could relate to her and her inspiring story. She is both ordinary and extraordinary!" - Allison, CPC, Dynamic Speaker
"I had to pause for a moment to give a huge thanks to Nicole Malachowski who honored us with her presence and story for our NCTUE annual conference. She told her story of the many personal and cultural challenges that she has faced in her life and career. She was able to underscore this motivation with the exciting, dramatic, and heroic stories of being an F15 pilot as well as being the first women to fly for the elite Air Force Thunderbird Arial Demonstration squadron. 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!! Thank you so much Nicole for your service, your leadership, and your motivation that you left us all with." - Brian, AT&T Director of Credit Policy and Strategy
"Nicole was the keynote speaker at a recent national event for female technology executives . She is authentic, inspirational, and shares so many words of wisdom to live by - for both women and men. Hire her today!" - Liza, Chief Information Officer at County of Marin
"Nicole was our guest keynote at our 2019 TechED event. The audience was riveted to her life’s Journey. She exemplified determination and empathy in her talk - harnessing headwinds. Well done Nicole!" - Dan, Global Vice President of Product Management and PMO at Rockwell Automation
"A powerful speaker. A storyteller. She moves you to action. May we all be focused on the runway ahead, loostening our grip in turbulence, and always writing our own script. Thank you for focusing on what you can do, as the "can do" may just have lead you to the most important part of your story, the story you are writing a script for now where you are moving so many!" - Andrea, Chief People Officer, Appen
"I’ve seen hundreds of sessions (possibly bordering on thousands). It’s impossible to overstate the impact of her presentation. She literally had a room of 100+ CIOs interacting with her, cheering her wins and empathizing with her challenges.
She could barely get out the door because so many attendees kept telling her how she moved them (some in the room were even moved to tears). All the attendees were focused on how awe-inspiring she is.
Despite her massive accomplishments, she was accessible, amazingly humble and very funny.
She successfully connected the dots to experience in a technology world and the challenges of addressing diversity and truly living an unscripted life." - Michelle, Vice President, Gartner
"Nicole is an incredibly passionate speaker who is extremely easy to work with and is dedicated to learning about who she is speaking to and how she can frame her presentation to match the objectives and needs of the audience. I recommend anyone looking for a keynote speaker who connects with an audience, in a unique and personal way, to book Nicole!" - Colleen, Senior Producer, Opus Agency