Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour

America’s First Black Female Combat Pilot; Former Marine & Cop; Author, Zero to Breakthrough; and Consultant to Business

Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour is a top inspirational speaker, America’s first African-American female combat pilot, and the author of Zero to Breakthrough. FlyGirl’s fresh, edgy style, high, contagious energy and unique, gutsy essence jump off the stage, page, and screen and moves people to action.

  • Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    $40,001 - $50,000

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    Georgia, USA

  • Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    $40,001 - $50,000

  • Languages Spoken

    English

  • Travels From

    Georgia, USA

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

A NEW CONVERSATION: ACTIVELY TRANSFORMING A COMPANY, CULTURE AND COUNTRY

It’s time! This is about coming together – working to create an equitable culture for employees, stakeholders, and customers. A place where ALL can feel like they belong and are part of the team. It starts by establishing rules of engagement for ...

It’s time! This is about coming together – working to create an equitable culture for employees, stakeholders, and customers. A place where ALL can feel like they belong and are part of the team. It starts by 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; its liaison to the Pentagon. As a gay Black woman she brought valuable personal experience to her work. She learned: When you bring people together, their differences can result in tension…THIS IS NORMAL! How you MANAGE that diversity is the key!

 

SAMPLE TAKEAWAYS

  • Create a culture that values and respects all team members
  • 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

 

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

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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 ...

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

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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. ...

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

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WHO NEEDS A RUNWAY? TAKE OFF FROM WHERE YOU ARE

Helicopter pilots spring into action from where they are. They don’t need a runway. It’s their edge in battle. Marine chopper pilot Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour believes this metaphor is perfect for uncertain times where speed and agility are ...

Helicopter pilots spring into action from where they are. They don’t need a runway. It’s their edge in battle. Marine chopper pilot Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour believes this metaphor is perfect for uncertain times where speed and agility are survival skills. FlyGirl fires up audiences with her energy and storytelling – relating hard-learned lessons with tactics for quickly adapting to the forces of change. This presentation is perfect for audiences navigating uncertainty or looking to accomplish audacious goals. FlyGirl will spark their courage and enthusiasm.

 

SAMPLE TAKEAWAYS

  • Recognize and take decisive action to capitalize on defining moments
  • No situation is ever perfect – gain momentum from where you are
  • The three-step plan: Decide, Commit, and Execute…at speed
  • Recognize and harness the talents of everyone around you
  • How to create a “Zero to Breakthrough” culture

 

TAILORED TO THESE THEMES: Change, Inspiration, Overcoming Adversity, Innovation, Making Faster Decisions, Creating a High Performing Culture

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About Keynote Speaker Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour

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 female 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.

In 2007, FlyGirl launched VAI Consulting & Training, LLC. Through that work, she helps individuals and organizations make gutsy moves and create breakthrough results by applying her “Zero to Breakthrough TM ” Success Model – a mindset that helped to propel her career and kept her safe in air combat. FlyGirl regularly takes her message to premier meetings and conferences worldwide and is a Gutsy Confidence Mentor for elite senior executive Women in Tech.

As a Black gay woman and single mom, FlyGirl brings vital experience to her role as a member of the Forbes School of Business & Technology Board of Advisors and COMCAST/NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Council. FlyGirl has two honorary doctorates and has received numerous awards as a pioneering pilot, including honors for her commanding role in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour’s story has been featured in the media including on CNN, MSNBC, The View, FOX News, Oprah Winfrey and many more, along with being a running back for the San Diego Sunfire professional women’s football team and two-time title holder of Camp Pendleton’s Strongest Warrior Competition. She is currently working on her next book, The Gutsy Move.

VERNICE “FLYGIRL” ARMOUR – HISTORICAL FLIGHT PATH

How did it all start? Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour was born in Chicago, IL in 1973, and moved to Memphis, TN after her parents divorced when she was three. By the age of four, she knew she wanted to be a police officer that rode a horse downtown. She received her first pony as a gift on the Christmas day following her fourth birthday and her dream quickly started to have a foundation in reality. In 1991, she graduated from John Overton High School for Creative and Performing Arts where she was very active in the music program, class vice president, a member of Mu Alpha Theta (mathematics honor society), and The National Honor Society.

In 1993, the future combat pilot enlisted in the Army Reserves and joined the Army ROTC program while at Middle Tennessee State University. During an Army ROTC career day, the seed of becoming a pilot was planted when Vernice saw the image of a young Black female in an Army flight suit. “Now why didn’t I think of that!” was her first thought!

In June of 1996, after a brief stint as a Nashville Sheriff’s Department correctional officer, Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour took a break from college to accept an invitation to the Nashville Police Academy. She graduated in December 1996 – and later became the first woman of color on the Nashville Police Department’s motorcycle squad. She graduated from MTSU in December of 1997 with her B.S. in Physical Education: Emphasis in Exercise Science.

With the aviation seed in full bloom, Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps on December 12, 1998 and on her way to flight school. When Vernice finally earned her wings in July 2001, the ambitious pilot ranked No. 1 out of both her class of 12 and of the last 200 to graduate. She made the Naval Air Station’s prestigious Commodore’s List, received the Academic Achievement Award, was the top graduate in her class, and went on to make history as the Marine Corps’ first African American female pilot.

After flight school, Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton near San Diego, CA, piloting the AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter. While there she was Camp Pendleton’s “Female Athlete of the Year” and two-time titleholder in their “Strongest Warrior” Competition.

Deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, Vernice was recognized by the Department of Defense as America’s first African American female combat pilot. Vernice flew above the deserts of Iraq in her missile-equipped attack helicopter, engaging the enemy and scouting the roads from her cockpit, making sure they were safe for her fellow Marines and soldiers on the ground.

Upon leaving the military after the completion of two tours in Iraq, Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour launched VAI Consulting and Training, LLC. She now resides in Atlanta, GA with her daughter Noah…her gutsiest move yet.

Testimonials

WOW is the short version. Here’s the longer/truncated version: Read More

Ken Sterling

EVP & Chief Learning Officer at BigSpeak!

I wanted to reach out and tell each of you how much I appreciate you!! Mark and his team were just absolutely thrilled with Vernice and everything she shared yesterday. In fact, when they got into their Listening Circle yesterday afternoon, they did 3 things: Read More

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Priscilla Morrison

Sr. Comms Specialist at FedEx Services

Thank you so much for all your help in coordinating FlyGirl’s participation in our 2017 NC Chamber Women > A Force in Business! The event was a huge success, and we have received wonderful feedback on FlyGirl’s… Read More

Talisa Hite

Events Manager at NC Chamber

Media

Article

Feb 1, 2021

The Year's Top African-American Keynote Speakers

Honoring 2021’s Top African American Keynote Speakers for Black History Month After the Civil Rights movement focused Americans on the...

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Article

Apr 5, 2018

Vernice “Flygirl” Armour Inspires Audiences to Engage With Their Fears

Before Vernice “Flygirl” Armour became the first African-American woman combat pilot in the Marines and an inspirational keynote speaker, she...

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Podcast

Oct 1, 2017

Vernice 'FlyGirl' Armour

In this episode, BigSpeak host Mark Sylvester speaks with Vernice ‘FlyGirl’ Armour, the first black woman to pilot for the U.S....

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