Marie Gleeson is a former Captain in the Irish Navy, known for her exceptional leadership skills and motivational speaking. Over her 20-year military career, she operated primarily in the challenging environment of the Atlantic Ocean, ascending from naval cadet to Captain of the LE AOIFE. Her experiences range from international drug busts to the tragic loss of a colleague at sea, providing her with profound insights into human performance and leadership under pressure.
As one of the first female officers in the Irish Navy, Marie offers a unique perspective on leading in a traditionally male-dominated field. She is celebrated for her ability to translate her military experiences into valuable lessons for the business world, focusing on decision-making in high-pressure environments, resilience, and the importance of support systems. Her speaking engagements are known for being insightful, humorous, and deeply engaging, tailored to resonate with diverse audiences.
Marie also holds a role in offshore renewables with the Simply Blue Group and serves as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Bord Iascaigh Mhara. She is passionate about promoting leadership, diversity, and inclusion, and she leverages her vast experience to inspire and motivate others.
To book Former Irish Navy Captain & Motivational Speaker Marie for your event, contact Front Row Speakers on +353 1 485 3991 or email welcome@frontrowspeakers.com.
“Marie comes highly recommended as a leadership expert. She has a vast array of expertise to draw on and openly shares her knowledge. She reflects on her experiences in a most realistic and eloquent manner. Marie has the ability to capture the attention of an audience, through her storytelling and evident compassion. There is no doubt that Marie is a gifted leader and puts people and team at the centre. Her core values, her own learning experiences and her ability to deliver a lecture make her a truly remarkable speaker.”
– Dr Sarah McCloskey, CEO, MaryMount Hospice
“Marie addressed our company (virtually) for the IWD 2021 and did an amazing job sharing her wisdom and insights into Leadership, high performance and authenticity. She is a compelling speaker and it was brilliantly well-received.”
– Niall Norton, CEO Opennet (An Amdocs Company)
“Marie was the main speaker at one of our recent (virtual) partner events and she was fantastic. She shared her journey in the Irish Navy with a lot of authenticity and humility and shared many valuable leadership learnings with the audience. Feedback has been great, thanks Marie!”
– Anthony Nakache, Managing Director, EMEA Partnerships at Google & Business Angel
“We had the pleasure of having Marie speak to our teams at Trigon Hotels as part of our Data Bites programme recently. Marie is uplifting, inspiring and motivational. She has a unique and powerful story and she tells that story in a way that captures an audience. Whilst the story is unique, it had the ability to resonate with a broad group of people in different ways. Marie’s experience in leadership and team engagement connected strongly with our own team while also having a very human side that gave a real sense of balance. I would highly recommend Marie as she has such an energetic and positive disposition and really is a pleasure to listen to.”
– Aaron Mansworth, Managing Director, Trigon Hotels
“Marie was amazing, the feedback has been super. She was so easy to deal with, such a lovely person and her talk was brilliant!”
– Eimear Michaels, Business Manager, Microsoft Ireland
“Marie addressed our company (virtually) for the IWD 2021 and did an amazing job sharing her wisdom and insights into Leadership, high performance and authenticity. She is a compelling speaker and it was brilliantly well received.”
– Niall Norton, CEO Opennet (An Amdocs Company)
“Marie Gleeson has provided a number of inputs to our diversity sessions in the health service. Feedback and the response to Marie was outstanding with Marie sharing her experience in leadership, staff engagement and motivation theory. Marie has a relaxed and engaging style always with requests for further inputs.”
– Rosarii Mannion, National Director of Human Resources, HSE
“Marie comes highly recommended as a leadership expert. She has a vast array of expertise to draw on and openly shares her knowledge. She reflects on her experiences in a most realistic and eloquent manner. Marie has the ability to capture the attention of an audience, through her story telling and evident compassion. There is no doubt that Marie is a gifted leader and puts people and team at the centre. Her core values, her own learning experiences and her ability to deliver a lecture make her a truly remarkable speaker.”
– Dr Sarah McCloskey, CEO, MaryMount Hospice
“Marie was fantastic! She had the room so engaged and her talk was definitely the highlight of the day for a lot of people. They found her story captivating and insightful, while also being so human.”
– Catherine O’Doherty, New Ireland Assurance
“It was fantastic, a very unique perspective. The team were very impressed and thought Marie was excellent. We were very happy with what she delivered.”
-Martin Healy, Franchise Manager, Boston Scientific
“Raw, personal and deeply honest, Marie is an exceptional storyteller. She connected with the audience in that rare way of making everyone in the room feel like she was speaking to them directly, taking them on her journey through the highs and lows of leadership, and life. Her story is a rollercoaster of emotions that reflects the true nature of leadership in all its forms, and will leave you feeling moved, inspired and uplifted.”
– Jennifer Welsh, Chief Executive Northern Health and Social Care Trust
Please note this form is intended for Corporate Speaking and Commercial enquiries only. Due to the volume of emails we receive on a daily basis, we regret that we are unable to respond to specific requests from charities, schools, clubs or individuals.
