Wendy YawchingCourage & Bold Change
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Keynote Speaker  ·  Author of The Courage to Fly

The first female jet captain of Trinidad & Tobago speaks about the moment before the jump.

Keynotes and workshops on resilience, change, and reinvention. For organisations, women's groups, and schools who want their people to move, not simply to feel moved… and to enjoy the flight.

Check availability for your event Worldwide, in person or virtual. Speaking fees on request.
Wendy Yawching, first female jet captain of Trinidad and Tobago
Why organisations book her

Most people already know what they want. They are standing at the door.

Wendy Yawching lay on the grass in Trinidad at ten years old, watched a jet draw two white trails across the sky, and knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life. Every adult she told said the same four words. Girls. Don't. Do. That.

She believed them for sixteen years. Then she stopped believing them, worked six and a half days a week on two maxed credit cards to pay for flying lessons, sat the airline transport exam as the only woman in a room of thirty male pilots, and took her first airline job at thirty… ancient, by aviation standards.

The proof is a life lived.

Since the cockpit she has trekked to Everest Base Camp, run an adventure company, stood on the ice of Antarctica, rebuilt her career more than once, and learned the tango in Argentina before trekking Patagonia at 70. When she speaks to your people about resilience and reinvention, she is describing a road she has travelled.

The pilot story brings the audience into the room. What comes next is where the magic lives. She helps people connect with their inner power, recognise the internal rules that have held them back, and find a way to move through fear. Her mantra: courage is not the absence of fear; it is being afraid and doing it anyway.

Wendy Yawching works with organisations who want to change lives. She is not a novelty act and not a diversity symbol. She is a catalyst.

Who she speaks to

Three rooms. One message, shaped for the people in it.

Wendy Yawching

Organisations

For leadership teams, D&I programmes, employee resource groups, and companies in the middle of real change. Wendy Yawching speaks to the part of your workforce that has stopped putting its hand up.

  • Leadership and all-hands events
  • Women's networks and ERGs
  • D&I and culture programmes
  • Conferences and industry summits
  • Restructures and transitions

Women's groups

For conferences, professional associations, foundations, and NGOs serving women at a crossroads… career changes, empty nests, second acts, and the long shadow of being told no.

  • Women's conferences and summits
  • Professional and alumnae associations
  • NGO and foundation programmes
  • Mentorship and leadership cohorts

Schools & youth groups

For young people who have never seen anyone who looks like them do the thing they long to do. Wendy's message lands hardest where options and role models are scarce.

  • Secondary and sixth form assemblies
  • Careers days and prize givings
  • Youth organisations and camps
  • University societies
Signature talks

They come in standing at the door. They leave with the courage to walk through it.

The Courage to Fly: Breaking the Limits You Inherited

Signature keynote · women's leadership programmes, ERGs, D&I events, and general audiences

Four words taught a ten year old girl the limits of her own potential, and cost her sixteen years. Girls. Don't. Do. That. Every person in your audience carries a version of those four words, still running quietly long after the culture moved on.

What your people leave withThe means to dismantle the beliefs that quietly cap ambition, and the courage to take their own first step through fear and change… and claim the next level.

Leading Through Change & Reinvention

For leaders and teams in transition

Built for organisations in transition, restructuring, or rapid growth, and drawn from a lifetime of reinvention… from the cockpit, to running an adventure company, to becoming a master Feng Shui consultant and a competitive ballroom dancer.

What your people leave withThe courage to navigate uncertainty, the resilience to get back up when things go wrong, and the inner resources to keep moving forward while the ground shifts.

Getting Back Up: Resilience Under Pressure

For teams facing burnout and setbacks

A candid, practical session for people worn down by relentless change. Wendy Yawching has been flattened by grief, by money, and by her own fear, and got back up each time. She does not pretend recovery is quick or graceful.

What your people leave withThe mindset and the habits to recover, protect their energy, and move forward again.

Yes, You CAN: The Sky is No Limit

For schools and youth programmes

Self belief, breaking through fear, and daring to become all you were designed to be. Told for young people with the parts adults usually leave out… the doubt, the money, the failing, and doing it anyway. Wendy Yawching speaks from alongside, never from above.

What your people leave withThe belief that if Wendy could do it, so can they… and one step they commit to taking this week.

ORGANIZATIONS


WOMEN & YOUTH GROUPS


What audiences say

People who were in the room, afterwards.

You provided me with the tools I needed to take my professional life to the next level. In the past month, I obtained more than three times the funding for my work than in the last seven years.

Simone S.Jamaica

You have profoundly changed my life. For that I will be eternally grateful.

Jaime R.Trinidad

Thank you for allowing me to realise that my fears have been holding me back. I shall no longer allow this to be the case, and vow to start truly living my best life.

Simone S.Jamaica

Everyone will be motivated to review their dreams and move on them. I am… at my age of 79.

DavidCanada

Wendy's journey is an absolute inspiration that can lead women and girls to a place of wonder and a life of curiosity blended with freedom. Courage looks like this.

Nicole Joseph-ChinSocial entrepreneur and women's health advocate, Trinidad
Living the mission

Career Day. Real students. Real moments.

I've never really had someone to look up to. But right now, I feel like I can look at you as a hero. If you can do it, I can do it.

A female student

Thank you for the inspiration you delivered unto us. We are going to take it and run with it. I'm really, really touched by your message.

A male cadet
Who books her

The organisations who put her in front of their people.

Her compelling story of leadership and perseverance left a lasting impression on our audience… a powerful reminder of what is possible when women dare to lead.
Audra MitchellThen VP Group Learning & Development, Massy Learning Institute · International Women's Day webinar
Captain Wendy Yawching is one of those speakers whose authenticity immediately connects with an audience… In telling her story, Wendy helps others believe in theirs.
Dionne LigoureFormer Executive Manager, Corporate Communications, Caribbean Airlines
She connects meaningfully with listeners of every generation… I would recommend her without hesitation. If you are considering engaging Wendy, be assured: you will leave inspired to take the next courageous step in your own remarkable story.
Christine D. FrançoisFounder & Managing Partner, François Consulting Group
I have seen Wendy engage with very different audiences, from secondary school students to our senior community. She speaks with people, not at them… she leaves them thinking differently about themselves and what they believe is possible.
Penelope CampsFounder & CEO, Yahweh Foundation
Where Wendy has spoken and appeared
Massy Group Caribbean Airlines WI Global
Yahweh Foundation International Feng Shui Guild François Consulting Group Tobago Channel 5
Building relationships, not just bookings.
The International Feng Shui Guild has had the pleasure of welcoming Wendy as a speaker at three of our global Summits. She also guided our Summit committee from its inception and has served multiple times as cohost and moderator.
Deb Dermyer LambCEO, International Feng Shui Guild
The practical details

Everything a booker needs before the first call.

Keynotes45 to 60 minutes, shaped around your theme before the event.
WorkshopsHalf day and full day, interactive.
Fireside chats & panelsModerated conversations and panel appearances.
Audience sizeTen to a thousand, in person or online. She launched and chaired the IFSG international virtual summit in 2022, co-hosted it through 2024, and was invited back in 2026 to co-host and present.
TerritoryWorldwide. Based in Trinidad & Tobago and available for international travel.
FeesOn request. Special rates for schools and youth organisations.
Book Wendy Yawching

Tell her about your event. She will get right back to you herself.

Send the date, the audience, and what you want the room to walk out with. Wendy Yawching reads and answers every enquiry personally.

Send a speaking enquiry Or email wendy@thecourage2fly.com Podcast hosts, journalists, and interviewers are warmly welcome here too. Wendy Yawching joins the conversation from anywhere in the world, and travels for the right one.
Wendy Yawching