KEYNOTE SPEAKER | FORMER NASA PROPULSION ENGINEER

Turn Quiet Self-Doubt Into Real Performance.

Maureen helps your best people match their confidence to their competence. Smart, funny, and built around your outcomes.

See Maureen In Action
Johnson & Johnson IBM AT&T Nestle Purina Merck Kellanova Boston Scientific Otis Labcorp Freddie Mac Los Alamos National Laboratory U.S. Office of Personnel Management Texas A&M University UNLV

Signature Keynotes

Move the Room, and the Needle.

Each keynote is substantive, story-driven, and grounded in real strategy, wrapped in humor and Maureen’s unforgettable NASA stories.

★ Every keynote is engineered around your audience, your theme, and the outcomes you care about. Maureen tailors the talk in a pre-event planning call.

★ SIGNATURE KEYNOTE

Confidence is NOT Rocket Science

Silence the Self-Doubt That's Quietly Capping Your Best People.

Your most capable people are secretly convinced they’re frauds. Others see them as accomplished, but inside, a voice insists, “they think I’m smarter than I really am.” Maureen lived it for 14 years at NASA, and hands your audience the Fraud-Free Framework™ to finally believe they’re as capable as everyone already knows they are.
  • Name impostor syndrome for what it is, and what it isn't
  • Flip their inner script from pitiful to powerful, in three steps
  • Escape the "compare and despair" trap around their peers
  • Match their confidence to their competence, and unleash their influence
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★ SIGNATURE KEYNOTE

Leadership is NOT Rocket Science

Turn your superstars into supernovas.

Your high performers have a problem you’d never guess. They look secure, but something is quietly draining their creativity and capping their output. The #1 hidden brake on epic performance is impostor syndrome, and it’s costing you stalled decisions, “quiet quitting,” and the best ideas going unsaid. This isn’t a pep talk. It’s a thought-process overhaul for the people who lead.

  • Read impostor syndrome in their people: what they see vs. what the team feels
  • Turn their own self-doubt into a leadership advantage
  • Spot the ways culture amplifies impostor syndrome, and fix them
  • Ease it one honest conversation at a time

★ SIGNATURE KEYNOTE

Rethinking Impostor Syndrome™

Understanding and addressing impostor syndrome in the workplace.

CEOs and interns. First-year students and PhDs. Millions of capable people secretly believe they’re not as smart as everyone thinks, and it costs both them and their organizations. This interactive session, licensed through the Impostor Syndrome Institute, goes deeper on what it actually is, where it comes from, and how it shows up differently for different people.

  • Tell impostor syndrome apart from what it's confused with
  • Identify their personal "Competence Type"
  • See how it intersects with diversity and inclusion, and why it matters
  • Leave with practical tools they can use immediately

Why Organizations Book Maureen

A Rocket Scientist Who's Lived It.

Maureen spent 14 years at NASA’s Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center, where she became the first woman and youngest Facility Manager of the Propulsion Systems Laboratory.

She battled impostor syndrome the entire time, which is exactly why she can help your people beat it. Today she’s an inaugural licensed associate of the Impostor Syndrome Institute and the author of five books.
Engineer at NASA
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Books Authored
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Woman to Run NASA's PSL
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What clients say

"What great information — knowing we're in this together, feeling the same things. Maureen brought us together. Highly recommend!"
Jasmin Prose
Jasmin ProseDeposit Operations Specialist, Byron Bank
"Maureen Zappala is engaging, articulate, and speaks to a subject — impostor syndrome — that touches every human being."
Dawn Waye
Dawn WayeTax Assessor-Collector, Denton County
“As expected, you hit it out of the park! Thank you so much for making the trip and bringing the Impostor Syndrome front and center. I’m very confident you just made a big impact on many of our team!”
Don McIntosh
Don McIntoshCEO, Rea & Associates
"I again want to thank you on behalf of all the participants for your truly inspiring and transformative session! It was so informative and really has kept many of us thinking!"
Kristine Najaar
Kristine NajaarAssociate Principal Scientist, Merck Pharmaceuticals
"I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation — her relatability and fun exercises that I plan to share with my team, business associations, and friends."
Daniel Caldera
Daniel CalderaDirector of Commercial Sales, Century DDS & Universal Warehouse
"Amazing and valuable — it really helps young leaders think about their past and future, work through self-doubt, and understand that we aren't alone."
Shelby Walton
Shelby WaltonNurse Manager, UTMB

On stage

Big Rooms. Real Energy.

Flexible Formats

However Your Event Runs.

Keynotes

Opening & Closing Mainstage

Breakouts

High-Content Sessions

Virtual

Live & Interactive Online

Workshops

Deeper, Hands-On

BOOK MAUREEN TO SPEAK

Give Your Audience Their Breakthrough !

From STEM teams to executive rooms, Maureen matches your people’s confidence to their competence with science, story, and a lot of humor, and sends them back to work performing at a higher level.

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