Keynote Speaker for Women
Resilience Keynote Speaker for Women's Leadership Events
The Thriving Mindset: build resilience, align with your values, create sustainable success.
Marilyn Gansel, PsyD is a performance psychologist and resilience keynote speaker who works with women's leadership events, mixed-gender leadership conferences, healthcare organizations, professional teams, and associations. Her signature keynotes are built for high-achieving professionals who look successful on the outside — but are ready to feel more energized, aligned, and fulfilled on the inside.
Built for women who hold themselves to a high standard
These keynotes are designed for professionals — executives, clinicians, entrepreneurs, caregivers, educators, and leaders — who have built impressive careers but find themselves running on empty. The content resonates with women's leadership events as well as mixed-gender leadership, healthcare, and professional teams ready to move beyond survival mode and design a life of purpose, resilience, and sustainable success.
- Women's leadership conferences
- Mixed-gender leadership events
- Healthcare & caregiver forums
- Executive retreats
- Professional associations & teams
- Wellness & resilience summits
Signature Talks
Keynote topics for women's and mixed-gender leadership, healthcare, and professional teams
Life transitions & Purpose: Thriving in Your Next Chapter
For professionals navigating career shifts, empty nests, retirement, or reinvention — and ready to define purpose on their own terms.
Stress Resilience & Mid-Life Crisis: Thriving Through Change
A grounded look at midlife stress, identity shifts, and the resilience practices that turn uncertainty into growth.
Rest & Recovery for Overwhelmed Moms & Caregivers
Designed for caregivers who give everything to everyone else — and need evidence-informed strategies to restore their own energy.
The Thriving Mindset: Where Performance Meets Wellbeing
Aligning mindset, values, and wellbeing for sustainable success. The signature talk for leaders and teams who want to perform without depletion.
Performing Under Pressure: A Field Guide to Sustainable High Performance
Spot burnout early and build the recovery habits that let you sustain your best work — not just survive the week.
What participants experience
From survival mode to thriving
In today's fast-paced world, many high-achieving professionals find themselves successful on the outside while feeling overwhelmed, depleted, and disconnected on the inside.
The Thriving Mindset is an engaging and interactive keynote designed to help individuals move beyond survival mode and create a life of greater purpose, resilience, wellbeing, and fulfillment.
Participants leave empowered with practical tools to strengthen their mindset, align their actions with their values, and develop a sustainable personal success strategy.
Audience Takeaways
What participants will learn
Replace limiting beliefs
Identify the thought patterns holding you back and reframe them into empowering, action-oriented beliefs.
Clarify your core values
Use your values as a clear guide for decisions — so your work and life feel aligned, not scattered.
Create energizing goals
Set goals that fuel you rather than deplete you, with built-in recovery and sustainability.
Recognize burnout early
Spot the warning signs before performance drops and build a prevention plan that actually fits your life.
Build resilience through wellbeing
Develop practical, evidence-informed wellbeing practices that strengthen you under pressure.
Leave with an action plan
Walk away with a concrete, personalized plan for lasting personal and professional growth.
Available Formats
Choose the experience that fits your event
Keynote Presentation
30–60 minutes
Conferences, leadership events, and professional associations.
Interactive Workshop
60–90 minutes
Groups ready to reflect, discuss, and build an action plan together.
Half-Day Training Experience
3–4 hours
A deeper dive into mindset, values alignment, resilience, wellbeing, and sustainable success.
About the speaker
Marilyn Gansel, PsyD
Marilyn Gansel, PsyD is a performance psychologist and coach who integrates functional medicine principles, behavioral psychology, and performance science to help high-achieving professionals thrive under pressure.
She works with clinicians, athletes, executives, and leaders — many of them women — who are navigating burnout, midlife transitions, and the tension between ambition and wellbeing. Her speaking style is warm, evidence-informed, and deeply practical.
Marilyn is also the author of three books, including Saved by Sport, Mac 'n Cheese: Mini Morsels for Positive Performance, and Pain, Purpose, Passion: That Was Then, This Is Now.
What event planners say
Praise from past speaking engagements
“[Replace with a real quote from a past speaking engagement. Example: Marilyn's keynote gave our audience practical tools they could use immediately — and the feedback was outstanding.]”
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“[Replace with a real quote. Example: She connected with the room instantly. Women left feeling seen, energized, and ready to make real changes.]”
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“[Replace with a real quote. Example: The Thriving Mindset was exactly what our leadership event needed — evidence-based, relatable, and actionable.]”
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PsyD
Doctor of Psychology
3
Published books
3
Speaking formats
Don't have testimonials yet? After your next speaking engagement, ask the organizer or a few attendees for one sentence about what landed with them. Real quotes convert far better than polished marketing copy.
Speaker Media Kit
Everything event planners need, in one page
Speaker bio
Marilyn Gansel, PsyD is a performance psychologist, coach, and keynote speaker who integrates functional medicine principles, behavioral psychology, and performance science to help high-achieving professionals thrive under sustained pressure. She works with clinicians, athletes, executives, and leaders — many of them women — navigating burnout, midlife transitions, and the tension between ambition and wellbeing. She is the author of three books, including Saved by Sport.
Credentials: PsyD in Applied Sports Psychology (Optimal Performance Institute / Wexford University); MS in Education (Fairfield University); MLS (Southern Connecticut State College); BS in Speech (Emerson College). NBC-HWC Certified Health & Wellness Coach, ICF Credentialed Coach, and ACE Certified Behavior Change Specialist.
Speaking topics
- Life transitions & purpose
- Stress resilience & midlife change
- Rest & recovery for moms & caregivers
- The Thriving Mindset
- Performing under pressure
Booking contact
marilyn@positiveperformancecoach.orgReply within one business day · Virtual and in-person engagements
Also from Marilyn
What's Weighing You Down — the podcast
Real, heartfelt conversations about the challenges we face and the ways we rise above them. Guest applications are open.
Let's talk about your event
Interested in bringing The Thriving Mindset to your conference, retreat, or team? Send a speaking inquiry and I'll reply within one business day with availability and next steps.
No pressure. Just a focused conversation about your audience, your goals, and how we can make the experience memorable.