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Dr Kate Hays is a highly respected motivational speaker, sports psychologist and performance expert whose work has helped some of the world’s most successful women thrive under pressure. As Head of Women’s Psychology at the Football Association, Kate has been instrumental in supporting England’s elite female footballers, contributing to the culture, mindset and performance strategies behind the Lionesses’ historic achievements on the international stage. Her unique perspective on confidence, resilience and leadership has made her a sought-after speaker for organisations looking to empower women, develop inclusive high-performing teams and unlock potential at every level.
After completing a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University, Kate began her career as a Sports Psychologist with British Diving through the English Institute of Sport while undertaking a PhD in the same field. She remained with the English Institute of Sport for almost twenty years, supporting Olympic athletes and coaches across multiple disciplines. Her expertise led to her appointment as Sports Psychologist for Harlequins Rugby Club, one of the world’s most recognised rugby organisations. She later became Head of Performance at Sport981 while simultaneously serving as Performance Lead within the English Institute of Sport’s Performance Solutions team, working with technical and tactical Olympic sports. Kate subsequently progressed to Head of Performance Psychology at the English Institute of Sport, where she led the strategic development of performance psychology programmes for elite athletes and coaches before joining the Football Association as Head of Women’s Psychology.
Alongside her work in elite sport, Kate has established herself as a respected author, researcher and commentator on performance psychology. Her book, How to Win, distils years of experience into a practical framework for achieving excellence and developing a mindset geared towards long-term success. The publication received widespread recognition and was shortlisted for the Vikki Orvice Award for Women’s Sports Writing at the 2026 Sports Book Awards. Kate also contributes regularly to professional and mainstream media, sharing insights through publications, podcasts and broadcast interviews.
What makes Kate such an impactful female motivational speaker is her ability to connect high-performance principles with everyday challenges. She speaks candidly about confidence, self-belief, teamwork and overcoming setbacks, offering audiences practical tools they can immediately apply. Whether addressing female leadership groups, corporate audiences or professional networks, Kate inspires people to challenge limitations, embrace opportunity and perform with greater conviction. Her evidence-based approach, combined with stories from elite women’s sport, leaves audiences motivated to create lasting change in both their professional and personal lives.
Dr Kate Hays is regularly booked to engage audiences at events, read their latest feedback below:
“Kate played an instrumental role in helping me achieve my dream in the pools, but armed me with all the techniques to be able to deal with pressure, expectation and taught me the importance of perspective. Anyone that has to deal with high pressure and high stake situations would be incredibly lucky to get an insight into Kate’s work.”
“Dr Kate Hays was a fantastic addition to our True North event in Manchester, and her keynote was a real highlight of the evening. Kate has a brilliant ability to take lessons from elite sport and make them genuinely relevant to the challenges business leaders face. Drawing on her experience working with the England Lionesses, Harlequins and Olympic and Paralympic athletes, she shared fascinating insights into the psychology of high performance, adaptability and what it takes to get teams delivering under pressure. Her delivery was engaging, natural and full of great stories, with practical takeaways that really resonated with our audience of senior business and transformation leaders. The feedback afterwards was overwhelmingly positive, and Kate was one of the most talked-about parts of the evening. She was also an absolute pleasure to work with. What we particularly appreciated was how generous Kate was with her time ahead of the event. She made a real effort to understand Sullivan & Stanley, what we wanted to achieve with True North and how her work connected with our thinking on transformation and human performance. She was genuinely curious about the synergies between our work, which made her contribution feel particularly relevant and thoughtful. We’d wholeheartedly recommend Kate to anyone looking for a speaker who can bring a fresh, credible and genuinely thought-provoking perspective on leadership, performance and organisational change.”
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