Meet Maureen Zappala
Why, Yes, I AM a Rocket Scientist.
Former NASA propulsion engineer turned keynote speaker. Maureen helps high performers turn doubt into output, and execute under pressure and beyond doubt.
THE CREDIBILITY BEHIND THE KEYNOTE
The Origin
It Started in New York City
Growing up in New York City, Maureen was mesmerized by bridges, tunnels, and towers. Her dad, a Port Authority transportation analyst, helped develop the World Trade Center, and she still remembers studying the blueprints of the Twin Towers before she could barely read.
At seven years old, her future was already written: she would become an engineer.
FROM NOTRE DAME TO NASA
A Rocket Scientist Is Born
There she became the first woman and the youngest Facility Manager of the Propulsion Systems Laboratory, NASA’s premier jet-engine testing complex. It was her dream job, and the credential that still opens every keynote.
The Turn
Experiencing Impostor Syndrome Firsthand
Maureen loved her work at NASA. But with every project and promotion, the same fear crept in: “I don’t belong here. I’m not as smart as everyone thinks I am.”
When she left NASA to raise her kids, she discovered a gift for captivating audiences, and stumbled onto a thing called impostor syndrome. It named exactly what she’d felt in the control room. She knew people needed to hear how to make peace with that voice, so she talked herself out of her own self-doubt and became a speaker.
Today she’s an inaugural Licensed Associate of the Impostor Syndrome Institute, and she’s built her work around one idea: the doubt that quietly steals performance from your most capable people can be defeated.
Doubt Isn't a Feelings Problem. It's a Performance Problem.
Maureen helps high achievers stop treating doubt as a confidence issue and start treating it as an execution issue, so they perform under pressure and beyond doubt.
- Growth happens in small nudges, not quantum leaps.
- The enemy of growth isn't fear. It's refusal, refusal to nudge a limit to see if it even IS one.
- When truth meets doubt, let truth win. Go from refusal to choosal.
The Short List
A Few Things Worth Knowing
- First woman and youngest Facility Manager of NASA's Propulsion Systems Laboratory
- Inaugural Licensed Associate, Impostor Syndrome Institute
- Toastmasters member since 1999; winner of 50+ speech contests
- Author of 5 books
- Former Design Associate at La-Z-Boy (yes, really)
- Enthusiastically joyful amateur ballroom dancer
- B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame
- Toastmasters Accredited Speaker, one of few worldwide
- Top 10 of 25,000+ in the World Championship of Public Speaking (2009 & 2020)
- Active member, National Speakers Association
- 20 years teaching junior-high Sunday school, the toughest audience anywhere
What Planners Say
“Maureen’s presentations are always polished and relevant. She speaks with a sureness and eloquence that engages the audience’s trust. Her storytelling and high-energy enthusiasm connect her message in such a way that people feel she’s been talking to them personally.”
– Jeannine Murray
Trusted By
Organizations That Bring Maureen In
Ready for Liftoff
Let's Give Your People Liftoff
Bring Maureen to your stage and send your team back executing under pressure and beyond doubt. Easy to work with, and she makes you look like the hero.