EP.67 Harnessing Headwinds With a Mach 2 Mindset with Nicole Malachowski, F-15E Fighter Pilot (Colonel Ret.), The President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, Keynote Speaker

About NICOLE MALACHOWSKI:

Nicole’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/realmalachowski

Websites:

• linktr.ee/realmalachowski (Company)
• damelionetwork.com (Other)

NICOLE'S BIO:

A 2019 National Women's Hall of Fame inductee and recent Presidential appointee, Colonel 

Nicole M. E. Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) has over 21 years of experience as an officer, leader, and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. Upon her commission into the military, she was competitively selected to fly combat aircraft and embarked on an adventure among the first group of women to fly modern fighter jets. Nicole served as a mission ready fighter pilot in three operational F-15E squadrons and accumulated over 2,300 flight hours, including 188 hours in combat. She has had the honor of commanding a fighter squadron, flying as a USAF Thunderbird pilot, serving as a White House Fellow and as an advisor to the First Lady of the United States. Nicole has forged a successful path through immense cultural changes in the military as well as significant adversity in her personal life. Following her medical retirement from the Air Force due to the severe impacts of late-stage Tick Borne Illness, Nicole reinvented herself as a highly successful entrepreneur, professional speaker, and leadership consultant. She’s been happily married to her husband Paul, an Air Force veteran, for over 22 years. When not hurriedly chasing their thirteen-year-old twins around, she finds immense meaning in traveling and advocating for those impacted by Tick Borne Illnesses. (©️2024 Nicole Malachowski & Associates, LLC-All Rights Reserved).

 

SHOW INTRO:
Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.

These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    

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VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.

You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.

Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. 

SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org

In this episode I talk with Nicole Malachowski a retired Colonel of the United States Air Force, an F-15E fighter pilot, who commanded a fighter squadron, flew as a USAF Thunderbird pilot, serves as a White House Fellow and as was an advisor to the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama.

First though, a few thoughts…

             *                         *                         *

It seems that I talk a lot about speed…

Its’ sort of a fascination…

…the pace of change and what it likely means for emerging markets, changing guest expectations, how we address new needs, how we transition through moments of uncertainty and ambiguity and how leaders shift their orientation from current, or past paradigms, that are no longer relevant or adaptable to the fast-paced world we are now living and working in 

…and turn their attention to growing companies and workforces into flexible structures that are deeply embedded with the idea of change as a given -  something not to be feared but seen as an emergent space of possibility.

And I gotta tell you, this change thing isn't easy. 

It takes a persistence of thought and a modicum of courage to keep on looking into the void, unable to predict the distant future and maybe rely on shorter term gains in the near future. 

Yeah, it's not easy. 

Especially when you've spent most of your life believing that there was a path that you were supposed to follow. Something that was laid out and that you could rely on as being consistent. And predictable.

But it seems as though life keeps having its way of throwing a monkey wrench in that ideal and reminding me that very little is in our control.