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Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour

America’s First Black Female Combat Pilot, Former Marine & Cop; Author, Zero To Breakthrough The 7-Step, Battle-Tested Method for Accomplishing Goals that Matter

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Life is full of tests and Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour wants to give people tools to pass the tests and do it well.

Venice is a trailblazer, achieving a number of firsts including America’s first black female combat pilot. She is a Marine with two tours of duty in Iraq and was a diversity liaison officer to the Pentagon for Headquarters Marine Corps.

She flew into another career as an entrepreneur and business consulter after completing her military service. She is also the author of Zero to Breakthrough, the 7-Step, Battle-Testing Method for Accomplishing Goals that Matter.

Venice, who was born in Chicago and grew up in Memphis, is a hard-hitting speaker offering both incredible stories and advice that covers both the battlefield and business. Her keynote speeches leave people empowered to achieve past their comfort zones. She delivers her inspirational message to conferences and premier meetings globally and is a Gutsy Confidence Mentor for elite senior executive Women in Tech.

Venice launched VAI Consultant & Training LLC in 2007 where she helps both organizations and individuals master breakthroughs applying her success model. It’s a mindset that kept her safe in combat and propelled her career.

She has two honorary doctorates and numerous awards as a pilot. This includes honors for her roles in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). She is also on the Forbes School of Business & Technology Board of Advisors and Comcast/NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Council.

She was also a running back for the San Diego Sunfire professional women’s football team and a two-time title holder of Camp Pendleton’s Strongest Warrior Competition.

Venus has been featured on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, The View and Oprah Winfrey. Her story is one of always wanting to serve in law enforcement and joining the Army ROTC program at Middle Tennessee State University, where she decided she wanted to be a pilot. She worked for a brief time in college as a Nashville Sheriff’s Department correctional officer and took time off from college to join the Nashville Police Academy, where she became the first woman of color on the department’s motorcycle squad.

She graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in physical education with an emphasis on exercise science. The next year, she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.

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ONE MISSION – ONE GOAL – ONE TEAM

Gutsy Leaders create Gutsy Teams that make Gutsy Moves. Be proactive – not reactive; that’s how the best organizations create the future. It begins by summoning the courage to change tactics and align. Drawing on a distinguished career as a U.S. Marine combat helicopter pilot, Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour unloads valuable lessons learned under the most stressful of circumstances – about leadership, teamwork, resilience, communication, execution, and building a culture of unshakable trust. A compelling storyteller who commands attention – in-person or virtually, FlyGirl inspires audiences and shows them the key steps to achieving more than they ever thought possible.

SAMPLE TAKEAWAYS
• Create a culture of trust where everyone steps up, engages, and collaborates
• How really knowing your people can harness skills, talents & hidden passions
• Unleash the full potential of diversity to impact the bottom line
• Disrupt traditional metrics of success (measure more than money)
• How to decide when to plant and when to pivot

TAILORED TO THESE THEMES: Leadership, Teamwork, Execution, Inspiration, Creating High Performing Culture, Improving Trust, Diversity, Accountability

GET GUTSY – HARNESS A BREAKTHROUGH MINDSET
How you respond to personal and professional obstacles, adversity, and disappointment is a choice. It also determines your future. Black, gay, and a child of divorce, Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour learned this early. Her incredible journey – from police department to the Marines and becoming America’s first Black female combat pilot – was filled with challenges, adventures, successes, and ultimate triumph. She translates those lessons for audiences, drawing from her book Zero to Breakthrough – The 7-Step, Battle-Tested Method for Accomplishing Goals that Matter. FlyGirl is a force who will rock the house! Her energy, enthusiasm, and positivity inspire people to Get Gutsy and reimagine what’s possible.

SAMPLE TAKEAWAYS
• 7 steps shatter limiting beliefs, unleashing personal and professional breakthroughs
• Swap a defeating “Zero Mentality” with a winning “Breakthrough Mentality”
• Delay is not Denial, and to Retreat does not mean Defeat
• Tactics to ignite your passion and design the path to your dreams

TAILORED TO THESE THEMES: Inspiration, Positivity, Resilience, Motivation, Achieving Big Goals, Overcoming Obstacles

WHO NEEDS A RUNWAY? TAKE OFF FROM WHERE YOU ARE
Helicopter pilots can spring into action from where they are. They don’t need a runway. Being nimble gives them an incredible edge in battle. Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour thinks this metaphor is perfect for uncertain times where speed and agility are survival skills. FlyGirl not only fires up an audience – in-person and virtually – with her energy and memorable stories, she punctuates hard-learned lessons with tactics that can be used to quickly adapt to the forces of change impacting your organization. This presentation is perfect for audiences navigating uncertainty, new regulations, unparalleled market forces, or looking to accomplish audacious goals. Give your group the necessary boost to come together as a team and innovate quickly and confidently.

SAMPLE TAKEAWAYS
• Recognize and take decisive action to capitalize on a defining digital moment
• The situation is never perfect – gain momentum from where you are
• Decide, Commit, Execute
• Recognize and harness the skills and talents of everyone around you
• Create a “Zero to Breakthrough” culture

TAILORED TO THESE THEMES: Change, Inspiration, Overcoming Adversity, Innovation

A NEW CONVERSATION: ACTIVELY TRANSFORMING A COMPANY, CULTURE AND COUNTRY
This isn’t about politics; this is about being proactive. This is about coming together and deciding what we can do as an organization to create an equitable culture for employees, stakeholders, and customers that serves all involved. Where ALL can feel like they belong. Where all feel like they are part of the team. This is about establishing rules of engagement for civil, productive conversations that find solutions, not fault. Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour was a diversity officer for U.S. Marine Corps HQ and liaison to the Pentagon. As a gay, Black woman she brought valuable personal experience to her work, driving diversity policy for a 200,000 personnel organization. When you bring people together, you will have differences and similarities that result in tension and complexities…THIS IS NORMAL! How you MANAGE diversity is the key!

SAMPLE TAKEAWAYS
• Why it’s time to turn THE Conversation into a NEW Conversation
• Ways to face uncomfortable issues without playing ostrich
• How to prevent a counter-productive herd mentality
• Set an example of civility and motivate people to respond in kind
• Create a culture that values and respects all team members

TAILORED TO THESE THEMES: Belonging, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Organizational Culture, Teamwork

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