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Sarah Furness is a highly regarded mental health speaker, former RAF combat helicopter pilot, and resilience expert. With a passion for enhancing performance under pressure, she delivers insightful talks that blend her military experience with mental health strategies, providing her audiences with practical tools for thriving in high-stress environments. Sarah’s unique approach is rooted in her real-world experiences and evidence-based techniques, making her a sought-after speaker for organisations looking to boost leadership, resilience, and mental wellbeing.
Sarah’s career began with a determination to break barriers. She became the first female RAF combat helicopter pilot to fly and lead UK Special Forces missions in Iraq. Her service also saw her lead operational combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, earning her the rank of Squadron Leader. Through these high-stakes experiences, she developed a deep understanding of mental resilience, leadership under pressure, and the importance of maintaining mental health in challenging situations. This insight laid the foundation for her later work as a mental health speaker and coach.
In recent years, Sarah has continued to build on her expertise, founding Well Be It, a coaching company dedicated to helping individuals and organisations perform at their best. She created the H.A.B.I.T.S. formula, a mental training approach that blends mindfulness, cognitive techniques, and human factors science to enhance mental performance under pressure. Her books, ‘Fly Higher: Train Your Mind to Feel as Strong as You Look’ and ‘The Uni-Tasking Revolution’, are bestsellers, providing a deeper dive into her mental resilience strategies and their application in everyday life.
Sarah is hired as a speaker for her unparalleled ability to connect high-pressure situations with mental health and performance techniques. Drawing from her remarkable career and proven methods, she inspires audiences to overcome adversity and achieve their best. Organisations look to her for guidance on resilience, leadership, and stress management, knowing they will leave equipped with actionable strategies to enhance both personal and professional wellbeing.
“Sarah’s keynote at our National Sales Conference, speaking to 700 sale professionals, was truly captivating. Drawing from her remarkable career as a Combat helicopter pilot and Squadron Leader in the RAF, Sarah delivered a session that provided invaluable insights on gaining a competitive edge ‘under fire.’ Her stories and experiences from life-or-death situations offered a fascinating parallel to the high-stakes environment of sales, emphasizing the importance of holding one’s nerve in challenging situations.”
“The highlight of the afternoon was a keynote session by Sarah Furness, a former RAF combat helicopter pilot and Squadron Leader. Sarah shared her experiences of embracing vulnerability and thriving in uncertainty – valuable takeaways for all our resilient leaders”
“If you’re looking for an inspiring yet credible and relatable speaker Sarah Furness is the woman you want. Sarah takes the time to understand her audience so she can tailor her key messages and takeaways for people to take back to their day jobs. It’s impossible to listen to Sarah’s stories and experiences and not be motivated to trust yourself and your decisions more.”
“The standout moment for me was Sarah Furness’ keynote speech on leadership, where she drew on her experience as a Puma pilot flying in conflict zones. Obviously, the storms that Sarah faced in her career were quite different to those that Donald Millar and I face, but her thoughts on leadership do translate from the battlefield to the exciting world of UK Real Estate! With a flight to the UAE coming up, I’m looking forward to delving into her book Fly Higher.”
The Mental Health Speakers Agency has been one of the UK’s leading bureaus for emotional wellbeing experts since 2020. We supply speakers for corporate and public events across the world, and cater to both in-person occasions and online webinars. Our roster includes athletes, psychologists, celebrities and more, to ensure that audiences of all demographics receive tailored, impactful mental health guidance.
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