A 21-year veteran of the United States Air Force, Colonel Nicole Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) wanted to fly military jets from the moment she saw them at her first air show when she was five years old. She achieved that goal – and then some. A leader, a combat veteran, the first woman pilot on the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron, an instructor, a White House Fellow, and an inductee into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame, Nicole’s Air Force career exceeded her wildest dreams.

Michael J. Durant is the best-selling author of In the Company of Heroes and the inspiration for the movie Black Hawk Down. He was the sole survivor of the helicopter crash caused by a Somali-fired grenade and held as a prisoner of war for 11 days. Prior to his time in Somalia, Durant had participated in combat operations in the Persian Gulf, Panama, and Kuwait. A highly-decorated soldier, his awards include the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Medal. He addresses leadership, teambuilding, growth, and his experience as a soldier and as a hostage.

At first glance Melissa Stockwell may appear to be the quintessential Mid-western All-American girl, but she is far more. She is an American war hero who has triumphed over personal tragedy to achieve greatness, World Champion status, and she has dedicated her life to chasing remarkable accomplishments while giving back to others, particularly those who face challenges similar to her own. In 2002, Melissa graduated from the University of Colorado and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. In March 2004, she deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. Just three weeks later, a blast from a roadside bomb struck Melissa’s Humvee causing the loss of her left leg above the knee. After enduring numerous infections and surgeries, Melissa was medically retired from the Army. She is the first female soldier to ever lose a limb in active combat and has been awarded both The Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. Following her accident, sport become the road to recovery for Melissa. In April of 2008, she became the first Iraqi War Veteran to qualify for the Beijing Paralympics. She competed in three swimming events and was honored by her fellow Team USA athletes to be selected to carry the American flag in the closing ceremony. After Beijing, Melissa turned to the sport of Paratriathlon and is now a three time World Champion. She was named USA Triathlon’s female Paratriathlete Of The Year for two consecutive years and was twice nominated for an ESPY award.

Throughout his action-packed, hair-raising combat career, retired Navy SEAL Commander Rorke Denver successfully led his troops through unforgiving special forces missions in challenging, do-or-die environments in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and other international hot spots. Having overseen every phase of training for the U.S. Navy SEALs, Denver has lived what it takes to succeed in fast-moving environments where chaos is all around you and there’s no guarantee that you’ll live to fight another day. Denver’s own experiences provide the basis for the sough-after lessons he shares with audiences as he helps teams and individuals live and perform at their highest level, even when it seems like everything is working against them. The principles he shares are also featured in his New York Times bestseller Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior and in his second book, Worth Dying For: A Navy SEAL’s Call to a Nation. He is also widely recognized as one of the stars of the Hollywood action film “Act of Valor,” and has also been featured alongside John Cena on FOX’s hit show, “American Grit.”

With an exceptional track record of sparking brilliant leaders and turning soft skills into hard results, Jackie Insinger combines relatability and humor with her data-driven, results-focused approach to teamwork and leadership. Equal parts captivating and motivating, Jackie inspires immediate action that leads to inevitable transformation. By leveraging the latest research in neuroscience and positive psychology, Jackie designs simple, actionable strategies that individuals can use right away to spark their team’s brilliance - taking them beyond “good to great” and transforming them from “great to extraordinary.” As a best-selling author with degrees from Duke and Harvard and a certification in Neuroscience for Business from MIT, Jackie’s ideas have been a game-changer for thousands of people and businesses worldwide.

Jenny Wood is the author of the upcoming book, WILD COURAGE: Go After What You Want and Get It. She is also a former executive at Google who ran a large operations team that helped drive tens of billions of revenue per year. She is the founder of Own Your Career, one of the largest career development programs in Google’s history with tens of thousands of people benefitting worldwide. Jenny’s writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Forbes. Wood climbed from entry-level to executive in her 18 years at Google and founded the company’s largest career development program in its 25-year history, Own Your Career, which is loved by tens of thousands of employees globally. Penguin Random House has WILD COURAGE slated to be one of their biggest professional development releases of 2025, and it’s already being translated to Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Portuguese, and Polish. When WILD COURAGE was announced for preorders, it instantly became the #1 new release in the Careers category and the Leadership and Motivation category on Amazon.

Lisa Gable is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning book, Turnaround: How to Change Course When Things are Going South, and is recognized worldwide as a turnaround mastermind. As CEO of several organizations, and as a former Presidential appointee, US Ambassador, UN Delegate, and advisor to Fortune 500 companies, Lisa has orchestrated and executed the successful turnarounds of well-known private and public organizations in all industries and sectors. Lisa most recently served as the CEO of FARE, the world’s largest funder of food allergy research. In 2004, she was appointed by President George W. Bush as the first woman in World’s Fair’s 150-year history to direct the U.S. Pavilion, a 100 percent non-federally funded $33.7 million operation with more than 70 employees. She held personal rank of Ambassador.