Combat tests you. Being a beat cop tests you. Life tests you. Three brothers and being the only girl...tests you. Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour has been tested her whole life. A gutsy trailblazer, her resume is an impressive collection of “firsts” including America’s first Black woman combat pilot. She served two tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine. She was also a diversity liaison officer to the Pentagon for Headquarters Marine Corps. After her military service, FlyGirl revved up her career in the private sector as an entrepreneur, consultant to business, and author of Zero to Breakthrough, The 7-Step, Battle-Tested Method for Accomplishing Goals that Matter. As a speaker, FlyGirl unleashes hard-hitting advice and amazing anecdotes from her adventures on the battlefield and in business. She helps individuals and organizations Get Gutsy and build a sustainable inner force and conviction, that results in accomplishing significant goals.

A heavy-hitter in the dugout and on the baseball diamond during his playing career, Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has been a cornerstone presence of Major League Baseball across seven decades and is among the league’s most storied leaders as both a manager and a player. In 2022, Baker led the Astros on a historic run all the way to winning the World Series — becoming part of an elite club of people who have won the World Series as both a player and a manager, and cementing his legacy as a serial winner and team builder who excels when the game is on the line.

Early on in my career, when my company was in the aftermath of a $5B acquisition, I almost quit. Fueled by frustration and stress, I found myself on the precipice of walking out of the office and never coming back. Had I done so, I would have become another statistic. Yet another African-American female departed from a STEM-driven industry. Top talent voluntarily resigning during a time of significant organizational shift. Another change victim. But I didn’t. Instead, I woke up one day and decided to view those feelings as a signal that I was sitting in a moment of opportunity. An opportunity to transform that chemistry, that feeling into something better. To choose every day to do something, say something, behave in some way that would move the needle of my work experience towards a better feeling. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was cultivating a teachable strategy to inspire anyone to become enthusiastic about change, to find their unique power of resilience during turbulent times. Today, I help organizations disrupt ‘change as usual’. Through a practical and repeatable framework, I show them how they can transform their culture from surviving change to growing through change.

Sarita Maybin is an international speaker and communication expert with over two decades of experience and has shared her insights in all 50 states, 10 countries, and on the prestigious TEDx stage. Her universal message has resonated with a diverse range of clients, including the American Dental Association, Million Dollar Round Table, Department of the Navy and the University of California. Sarita is a former university dean of students and has literally written the book on how to respond to the question: “If You Can’t Say Something Nice, What DO You Say?” She continues the conversation in her latest book "Say What You Mean in a Nice Way."