Valorie Kondos Field

During her legendary career as the head coach for UCLA Women’s Gymnastics, she transformed the program into a national powerhouse, leading the Bruins to seven NCAA Championships, 19 conference titles, and earning recognition as the Pac-12 Coach of the Century. Remarkably, she accomplished it all despite never having competed in gymnastics herself, building her success through culture, creativity, trust, and transformational leadership.

What makes Field especially compelling for corporate audiences is her ability to lead through change, adversity, and pressure while keeping people inspired and engaged. Her philosophy challenged the traditional “win-at-all-cost” mindset and proved that organizations can achieve elite results without sacrificing humanity, culture, or joy. Her TED Talk, “Why Winning Doesn’t Always Equal Success,” has resonated with millions around the world, as has her best selling book Life is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance.

Field’s leadership has been tested in extraordinary ways. In 2014, she battled breast cancer while continuing to coach. Choosing to approach chemotherapy with optimism and gratitude, she chose to call her treatment her “Chemo Spa.” Her resilience became a defining example of mindset, perspective, and courage through adversity.

She also guided UCLA through one of the darkest periods in gymnastics history during the Larry Nassar abuse scandal, supporting athletes with empathy and transparency. In the midst of that emotional environment, her team won the 2018 NCAA National Championship. A season widely viewed as one of the most inspiring championship runs and greatest comebacks in collegiate sport history.

Field speaks to CEOs, executives, and leadership teams around the world about championship culture, authentic leadership, resilience, adaptability, and building high-performance teams that thrive under pressure. Her clients have included organizations such as Gucci, JPMorgan Chase, General Electric, NASA, Chick-Fil-A, the Aspen Institute, Keller Williams, PGA and PGA BC.