Women leaders help organizations build stronger cultures, innovation, and performance
McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org’s Women in the Workplace 2024 report notes that companies with more women in leadership benefit from greater innovation, healthier cultures, and stronger performance. Female motivational speakers help bring those lessons to life for audiences by sharing stories, strategies, and frameworks around confidence, resilience, leadership, inclusion, personal growth, and achievement.
The Mollie Plotkin Group is also a certified women-owned business with more than 20 years of experience in the speaking industry, giving event planners a knowledgeable partner for finding female motivational speakers who align with their audience, event goals, and budget.
Female motivational speakers cover leadership, resilience, confidence, wellness, inclusion, entrepreneurship, and personal growth
Female motivational speakers speak on topics that help audiences overcome challenges, build confidence, and take action in their personal and professional lives. Common keynote topics include women’s leadership, workplace empowerment, resilience, peak performance, mental health, confidence, career growth, entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusion, overcoming adversity, communication, team motivation, and work-life balance.
Checklist: how to choose an effective female motivational speaker
When choosing a female motivational speaker, evaluate them on these criteria:
· Does their story connect clearly to the goals of your event and audience?
· Do they offer practical takeaways around motivation, leadership, resilience, or personal growth?
· Have they spoken to audiences similar to yours in size, industry, or event format?
· Do they tailor their keynote to your organization, theme, and audience needs?
· Do they have strong testimonials, media, books, business experience, or other proof of audience impact?
This list includes female motivational speakers with a range of backgrounds, keynote styles, and areas of expertise.
Top female motivational speakers typically cost $25,000 to $50,000+
The average cost to hire a top female motivational speaker ranges from $25,000 to $50,000. Speaker fees can vary depending on the speaker’s category, experience, demand, travel, event format, and level of customization. This list also includes a few speakers above and below that range. For a more specific quote, The Mollie Plotkin Group can help you compare options and consult on the right speaker for your event.
Female Motivational Speakers for Women’s Leadership and Career Confidence
These female motivational speakers help audiences build confidence, define leadership on their own terms, and take action during career transitions.
Best for: women’s leadership conferences, executive retreats, and professional development events.
Mel Robbins
- Creates customized keynote experiences for Fortune 500 companies and corporate audiences
- Uses neurological research, human behavior insights, and personal storytelling to drive action
- Helps audiences build confidence, collaboration, communication, and leadership habits
- Speaks on leadership, communication, team building, and women’s empowerment
Mel Robbins fits leadership events that need high audience energy with practical behavior change. Her customized approach helps planners connect motivation to measurable workplace action.
Anne Mahlum
- Inspires audiences to bet on themselves and live life on their own terms
- Brings experience as a two-time founder, CEO, and entrepreneur
- Speaks on belief systems, fear, choice, and personal agency
- Speaking Fee: Starts at $52,500
Anne Mahlum fits women’s leadership events focused on reinvention and ownership. Her message helps audiences choose bigger goals with more conviction.
Bobbi Brown
- Shares lessons on building brands, embracing reinvention, and leading with authenticity
- Brings experience as a bestselling author and founder of two iconic cosmetics brands
- Uses fireside chats to tailor business and confidence lessons to the audience
- Speaking Fee: $160,000 to $200,000
Bobbi Brown fits executive women’s events and brand leadership programs. Her career connects confidence, creativity, and reinvention through a recognizable entrepreneurial story.
Liz Brunner
- Helps audiences lead with intention, presence, and authentic impact
- Brings experience as an award-winning broadcast journalist, bestselling author, and executive coach
- Teaches audiences to connect life experiences into a meaningful next chapter
- Speaks on communication, leadership, personal development, and women’s empowerment
Liz Brunner fits leadership programs that focus on executive presence and career transition. Her work helps audiences recognize the value of their experience.
Julie Wainwright
- Helps audiences reframe failure as a tool for learning and personal development
- Brings more than 25 years of experience in technology, e-commerce, and brand management
- Founded the online marketplace The RealReal and wrote the bestselling memoir Time to Get Real
- Speaks on entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, technology, and women’s empowerment
Julie Wainwright fits business events focused on reinvention after setbacks. Her entrepreneurial story gives leaders a practical lens for growth and resilience.
Female Motivational Speakers for Resilience and Overcoming Adversity Events
These speakers use lived experience, service, adventure, and reinvention to help audiences move through pressure with purpose.
Best for: healthcare leadership programs, corporate resilience events, and association conferences.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler
- Delivers conversations on resilience, personal growth, life lessons, and finding purpose through adversity
- Brings decades of television, film, and Broadway experience to audiences worldwide
- Uses honesty, humor, and optimism to connect with audiences facing change
- Offers keynote, conversational, and virtual speaker formats
Jamie-Lynn Sigler fits events that need a warm, personal perspective on resilience. Her story helps audiences connect adversity with purpose and self-belief.
Carey Lohrenz
- Teaches leadership, teamwork, winning under pressure, and overcoming obstacles
- Brings experience as one of the first fully qualified female naval aviators to fly the F-14 Tomcat
- Helps teams prepare, perform, and prevail under pressure
- Speaking Fee: Starts at $42,500
Carey Lohrenz fits leadership conferences that need a disciplined resilience message. Her aviation background gives teams a clear model for performance under pressure.
Nicole Malachowski
- Uses aviation-based headwinds as a framework for navigating change and adversity
- Brings experience as the first woman Thunderbird pilot and a fighter squadron commander
- Helps leaders overcome personal and professional failure during uncertainty
- Speaking Fee: Starts at $38,500
Nicole Malachowski fits organizations facing change, disruption, or pressure. Her story gives audiences a practical way to reframe obstacles as usable energy.
Debra Searle
- Draws on expeditions across the Atlantic, around Antarctica, and up to the Arctic Circle
- Brings experience as a professional adventurer, serial entrepreneur, author, and BBC host
- Tailors keynote content for corporate events ranging from one-hour sessions to multi-day programs
- Speaks on resilience, leadership, mindset, and overcoming adversity
Debra Searle fits corporate resilience events that need adventure-based lessons with workplace application. Her programs are built around practical tools audiences can use after the event.
Yvonne Cagle
- Brings experience as a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and NASA astronaut
- Connects inspiration with science, service, and public leadership
- Speaks on global affairs, inspiration, motivation, and women’s empowerment
- Works well for keynote programs, panels, emcee roles, and value-added appearances
Yvonne Cagle fits events that need an inspirational perspective from aerospace, medicine, and public service. Her background supports conversations about possibility and leadership.
Female Motivational Speakers for Sports, Team Performance, and Winning Cultures
These athletes and sports leaders translate elite competition into lessons on teamwork, grit, and high-performance culture.
Best for: sales kickoffs, sports business conferences, and team-building meetings.
Becky Hammon
- Shares leadership lessons from professional basketball and team transformation
- Brings experience as a two-time WNBA Champion Head Coach and six-time All-Star player
- Explores breaking barriers, coaching culture, resilience, and high-performance leadership
- Works well for fireside chats, athlete appearances, and leadership programs
Becky Hammon fits sports business events and leadership programs focused on team culture. Her career gives audiences a grounded view of resilience and barrier-breaking leadership.
Laila Ali
- Speaks on competitiveness, champion mindset, wellness, and reinvention
- Brings experience as the most successful female boxer of all time
- Offers keynote, fireside chat, and moderated Q&A formats
- Connects sports performance with fitness, wellness, business, and legacy
Laila Ali fits high-energy events that connect motivation with wellness and competitive performance. Her story gives audiences a clear model for discipline and reinvention.
Emily Harrington
- Uses elite climbing experience to show audiences how to approach risk and achievement
- Brings experience as a five-time U.S. National Champion rock climber
- Represents women breaking boundaries in adventure sports
- Speaks on fitness, inspiration, lifestyle, motivation, and sports performance
Emily Harrington fits conferences that want a bold adventure-sports perspective on ambition. Her climbing career brings concrete examples of focus, risk, and persistence.
Julia Landauer
- Translates racing lessons into workplace strategies for leadership, resilience, and innovation
- Brings experience as a history-making NASCAR driver and Stanford-trained strategist
- Teaches strategic preparation, focused execution, and calculated risk-taking
- Uses motorsports principles to support workplace performance
Julia Landauer fits organizations looking for a fast-paced keynote on performance and resilience. Her motorsports lens makes leadership and risk-taking easy to apply.
Susie Wolff
- Shares lessons from motorsport on belief, resilience, and breaking barriers
- Brings experience as an F1 driver, team principal, CEO, and Managing Director of F1 Academy
- Speaks on diversity, inclusion, motivation, and bold goal-setting
- Connects elite motorsport with opportunity and high-performance leadership
Susie Wolff fits events focused on motorsport, inclusion, and leadership ambition. Her career helps audiences see how belief and structure create opportunity.
Female Motivational Speakers for Burnout, Wellness, and Personal Growth
These women help audiences manage stress, build self-awareness, and reconnect performance with wellbeing.
Best for: employee wellbeing programs, healthcare events, and human resources conferences.
Leslie Maxie
- Uses the Olympic Mindset to teach sustained excellence and intentional goal-setting
- Brings experience as a U.S. Olympian and former Fox Sports and ESPN host
- Connects athletics, media, and entrepreneurship to business performance
- Speaks on leadership, communication, culture, burnout, and team building
Leslie Maxie fits wellbeing and culture programs that need a performance framework grounded in elite athletics. Her message connects excellence with preparation, trust, and endurance.
Alison Canavan
- Helps audiences manage energy, reduce stress, and build intentional daily habits
- Uses mindfulness, behavior change, and resilience frameworks for practical audience exercises
- Speaks on energy management, self-awareness, leadership, and intentional living
- Speaking Fee: Starts at $12,500
Alison Canavan fits wellness programs that need practical tools for energy and stress. Her sessions translate mindfulness into daily behaviors for leaders and teams.
Michelle Gielan
- Uses positive psychology to spark sustainable happiness and measurable business results
- Brings experience as a bestselling author and former CBS News anchor
- Connects optimism with performance, productivity, sales, and stress reduction
- Speaks on resilience, mindset, morale, and culture
Michelle Gielan fits organizations focused on wellbeing, morale, and measurable culture outcomes. Her work connects positive psychology to workplace performance.
Tara Schuster
- Helps audiences find their authentic voice through practical lessons and personal examples
- Brings experience as a bestselling author and entertainment executive
- Speaks on health, wellness, burnout, creativity, and team building
- Uses lessons from Hollywood to help audiences clarify their voice
Tara Schuster fits wellness and creativity events that need a personal growth keynote. Her content helps audiences build a more grounded relationship with their own voice.
Tasha Eurich
- Equips audiences with tools for self-awareness, adaptability, and high performance
- Brings expertise as an organizational psychologist, bestselling author, and leadership expert
- Can tailor keynotes to specific audience needs through a pre-conference process
- Speaks on self-awareness, resilience, sanity, and success in constant change
Tasha Eurich fits leadership wellness programs that need research-backed tools. Her content helps audiences understand themselves more clearly during periods of pressure.
Female Motivational Speakers for Business Change, Innovation, and Customer Experience
These business speakers help teams collaborate, adapt, serve customers, and lead through disruption.
Best for: corporate leadership meetings, customer experience summits, and innovation conferences.
Erica Dhawan
- Teaches connectional intelligence as a driver of collaboration and innovation
- Brings experience as a Wall Street Journal bestselling author and founder and CEO of Cotential
- Helps teams reduce dysfunction, duplication, delays, and silos
- Tailors programs to each audience and industry
Erica Dhawan fits business events focused on collaboration, communication, and innovation. Her work helps teams understand how connection drives execution.
Henna Pryor
- Helps audiences build mental and social skills for success in a changing workplace
- Brings experience as a TEDx speaker, author, executive coach, and workplace performance expert
- Uses behavioral science and storytelling to reframe modern excellence
- Speaks on disruption, innovation, leadership, personal development, and team building
Henna Pryor fits business audiences navigating disruption and new expectations. Her keynote gives high performers a practical way to adapt without clinging to old tools.
Sam Rapoport
- Shares a playbook for organizational change from inside professional football
- Brings experience as an award-winning NFL executive and change-maker
- Helped transform professional football through gender progress in coaching, scouting, and officiating
- Speaking Fee: $25,000 to $45,000
Sam Rapoport fits change management events that need a concrete case study in disruption. Her NFL work shows how institutions can move from tradition to transformation.
Mandy Rennehan
- Speaks on leadership, entrepreneurship, and the importance of the blue-collar workforce
- Brings experience as host and lead contractor of HGTV Canada’s Trading Up with Mandy Rennehan
- Advocates for diverse and inclusive practices in the facilities and trades industries
- Shares a self-taught business story grounded in reinvention
Mandy Rennehan fits events focused on resilience, trades, entrepreneurship, and workforce pride. Her keynote brings a direct voice to conversations about opportunity and reinvention.
Nicole Lipkin
- Uses clinical psychology and business experience to improve leadership and culture
- Teaches agile thinking for mental flexibility and peak performance
- Helps audiences think with clarity and optimism during stress and change
- Speaks on leadership, personal development, team building, and overcoming adversity
Nicole Lipkin fits events that connect mental flexibility with leadership performance. Her keynote gives audiences tools for thinking clearly during change.
Speaker fees listed in this post reflect publicly available information at the time of publication and are meant to be as accurate as possible. Fees are subject to change based on event type, format, travel requirements, and date. Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group for current pricing and availability.
To book a female motivational speaker for your next conference or corporate event, contact the Mollie Plotkin Group at booking@mollieplotkingroup.com or call 215-995-0905.