Featured Speakers

Col. Nicole Malachowski defies stereotypes. A combat veteran, the first woman pilot on the USAF Thunderbirds, a White House Fellow, and an inductee into both the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame, she built a 21-year Air Force career that exceeded her wildest dreams. That career ended when a devastating tick-borne illness left her struggling to speak or walk for nearly nine months. Nicole fought back against overwhelming odds and prevailed.

Drawing on stories from her career and personal life, Nicole inspires audiences to rethink the challenges they face and to go beyond resilience to become resurgent. She shares three core beliefs: failure and risk are the price of entry for achieving something great; sometimes you need to yield to overcome; and her personal mantra, “Nobody wants to lead a scripted life.” Audiences are drawn in by her easygoing authenticity and hard-won perspective.

Nicole soloed an airplane at 16, before most of her peers had a driver’s license. After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1996, she was among the first women to fly modern fighter aircraft. As an F-15E pilot, she logged more than 2,300 flight hours in six aircraft, including over 188 combat hours. Her proudest moment was leading the first fighter formation to provide security for Iraq’s historic 2005 democratic elections. She flew as Thunderbird #3, becoming the first woman on any Department of Defense jet demonstration team. She later commanded the 333rd Fighter Squadron, training the next generation of combat aviators and overseeing more than $1.1 billion in resources.

Beyond the cockpit, Nicole served in two senior Pentagon staff roles. As a 2008–2009 White House Fellow, she supported the Presidential Transition. She later served as Executive Director of the White House’s Joining Forces initiative, advising First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden on issues affecting service members, veterans, and military families. She holds two master’s degrees in national security. At the U.S. Naval War College she earned the Admiral Stephen B. Luce Award as class honor graduate, the first Air Force officer ever to do so.

Today, Nicole is a passionate advocate for tick-borne illness awareness and veterans’ health. She serves on the Board of Directors of the LivLyme Foundation and on the Patient Advisory Board of The Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness, and she was named one of We Are The Mighty’s “Mighty 25” in 2020. She lives with her husband Paul, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and former F-15E Weapons Systems Officer, and their twins, Garrick and Norah.

Mercilessly bullied as a child, Justin responded by transforming himself into a champion MMA fighter. Yet despite his success, he quietly questioned the significance of his own athletic accomplishments. Each time his hand was raised in victory he thought, “Is this it? Is this as good as it gets?” As he fought his way to the top and battled never-ending injuries that accompany the profession, he slid into pain-killer addiction, battled depression and attempted suicide. He was a champion on the outside, but broken within.

It wasn’t until a chance collection of circumstances led Justin to one of the most remote places on earth, to live in the rainforest among the Pygmy people, some of the most impoverished and marginalized people on the planet, that he found his true purpose – helping others.

‘When I stopped fighting for myself and started fighting for others I felt passion, I felt purpose, and that is what led to my greatest impact.’

From that experience, ‘The Big Pygmy’ returned to the ring with purpose, founding the non-profit Fight For The Forgotten (FFTF) along the way. Since 2013, FFTF has provided more than 52,000 indigenous people with access to clean drinking water, replanted thousands of trees, acquired more than 3,000 acres of land in the name of the tribe and helped 1,800 people out of slavery and into freedom. Current projects include housing, education, healthcare and sustainable livelihoods through community empowerment.

Today, Justin shares his remarkable story on stages across the country and around the world teaching others the tools, tactics and techniques to navigate any adversity, find purpose, and achieve meaningful impact in business and in life.

Dr. Sarah Buchner is the Founder & CEO of Trunk Tools, the AI platform for construction. She began her career as a carpenter in Austria at 12, working her way up to superintendent and project manager before earning a Ph.D. in data science and an MBA from Stanford. A Forbes 30 Under 30 & 2026 Top 100 Women in AI honoree, Sarah is building the brain behind the $13 trillion construction industry. Based in New York City.