Mandy Hickson

Mandy Hickson was the only female pilot on her Front Line Tornado Squadron for the Royal Air Force.

She has operated from some of the world’s most hostile environments, including patrolling the ‘No Fly’ zone over Iraq. In charge of the latest weaponry, she and her unit were ready to drop ordnance on any target in support of operations.

Mandy was awarded an RAF flying scholarship at 17, but initially failed the computer-based tests taken by all potential RAF pilots. Undeterred, her self-belief and determination persuaded the RAF to take her on as a test case, thereby overcoming seemingly insurmountable hurdles.

Mandy now shares her experiences of working within an elite team of fast jet operators, to audiences with great clarity and humour, outlining how the same values apply within any environment.

Contact speaking agent Great British Speakers today to book former female RAF fighter pilot and motivational speaker Mandy Hickson for your next live or virtual event talk, or call +44 1753 439289.

Type Of Speaker

Exploration & Military Business & Finance Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Female Speakers Keynote Leadership & Teamwork Motivational Remote Speakers Resilience Speaker

More About Mandy Hickson

She demonstrates only too well the importance of remaining calm under pressure and leading, quite literally, from the front, in order to get the best from herself and her team.Since leaving the RAF, Mandy has served as a school governor on the board of trustees at the Victory Services Club, London and is an ambassador for sport for Hampshire County Council.You can check out some of Mandy’s incredible work in the video at the bottom of this page – and if you would like to book Mandy for your event as a keynote or motivational speaker, then contact Jane or Steve on 01753 439 289

Business Speaker:

Challenging times require an exceptional corporate response. So how do you motivate and inspire your staff to demonstrate outstanding leadership and teamwork under pressure; to stride confidently towards purposeful goals and maintain focus despite great risks? These critical success factors are clearly demonstrated by Mandy Hickson’s unique experiences of flying in a Front Line Tornado Squadron within hostile environments. Mandy is supporting an increasing number of organisations as a keynote or motivational speaker.

Tailored to be relevant to your organisation, her main themes are;

• The building and empowerment of effective teams

• Inspired goal setting and ultimate focus

• Decision-making under extreme pressure

• Maintaining momentum despite losing top talent

• Nurturing a culture of self-confidence and aspiration

Women In Business:

Without a doubt most women face some tough challenges in their working lives:

• Maintaining that essential work/life balance in a demanding environment

• Overcoming innate risk avoidance tendencies

• A wavering of confidence and self-belief

• Amazingly, still having to break through the glass ceiling.

If you would like to inspire women in your organisation or membership, Mandy will work with you to create a unique and memorable event that may just help them write their own success stories.

For Schools:

Mandy recognises the challenges that face Head Teachers and their staff. Increasing administrative pressure and the speed of change are just two of the factors that impact on schools ability to achieve their main aims; nurturing pupil’s hopes and aspirations, and inspiring them to the realisation of their dreams and ambitions. As a School Governor and mother of two young boys, Mandy understands the nature of these challenges and Hickson delivers a number of services to suit the needs of schools.

CLIENTS:

RBS / STANDARD CHARTERED / ARQIVA / BAE SYSTEMS / BALFOUR BEATTY / SCOTIABANK / STANDARD LIFE THE TIMES / INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY / TAYLOR WIMPEY / BG GROUP PLC / WOMEN’S INSTITUTE SKODA / CHEAM SCHOOL / JP MORGAN / PFIZER / ROYAL LONDON / OLD MUTUAL ST SWITHUN’S / METLIFE / MOTT MACDONALD / RGS FOUNDATION / SURBITON HIGH SCHOOL

Call +44 1753 439 289 or email Great British Speakers now to hire ex RAF female fighter pilot and motivational speaker Mandy Hickson for your next live or virtual event talk. Contact us.

Testimonials

Mandy is a fantastic public speaker. She is both inspirational and extremely well prepared. Her ability to relate her own experience working under extreme pressure and in highly performing teams to everyday situations is most impressive. She tops it all with a wonderful sense of humour and great modesty. Listening to her talking about the many challenges that she has successfully overcome should be compulsory for all girls!

– Miriam Gonzalez, Partner Dechert LLP, International Law Firm

Mandy, great to meet you. Your session was particularly well received. I am delighted I was able to stay to hear you talk. Your story is very inspirational and I recognised many of the challenges you have faced as a woman in a predominantly male world as these issues are industry agnostic. I am sure we could spend hours sharing our war stories (literal and metaphorical !). I do all I can to help the next generation navigate these challenges and not experience the same difficulties as those who have gone before. You are clearly doing the same!.

– Sue Fox, CEO I M&S Bank

Mandy’s true ability was to capture the essence of team working, resilience and the importance of leadership within a context of energy, enthusiasm, commitment and humour. This was not only by using her own experiences, which in themselves were exceptional but she had also researched our organisation and weaved our own Trust values and mission statement into her presentation. Mandy’s messages cross any and all boundaries and I would suggest apply in any setting. It was a real pleasure for us to spend time with her.’

– Alison Moon, Chief Nurse, Bristol NHS Foundation Trust.

I just wanted to let you know that we have had many speakers in the past, some really well known like Ranulph Fiennes who have all been quite excellent. But the feedback we had from our sales team about your talk was without exception the best ever. Really well done, thank you. Your story is a great one but the way you link it to our company goals was ‘spot-on’ and made it more useful. I would have no hesitation in recommending you as the best speaker we have employed and we’ve been doing this for 15 years!