Available to book
Abbie Ward
Resilience
Growth Mindset
High Performance
Transform team resilience with Abbie Ward, elite rugby champion and pioneer for women and maternity in sport. Abbie equips organisations with peak performance strategies and breakthrough leadership insights, drawing from her England Rugby career, World Cup experience, and groundbreaking return to professional sport after motherhood.
Inspirational Female
International Women's Day
Women's History Month
Female Empowerment
Sports Leadership
After Dinner Sports
Rugby
Inclusion
Sport
Motivational
Athlete
After Dinner Speakers
Abbie Ward is a professional rugby player whose exceptional skills at second row have propelled her to the highest levels of international competition with England Rugby and Bristol Bears. Her journey combines athletic excellence with groundbreaking sporting achievements. A Grand Slam winner, Premiership champion, and World Cup finalist, Abbie has been instrumental in the Red Roses' dominance over the past decade.
Since her senior England debut in 2015, she has contributed to five Women's Six Nations titles and featured prominently in two Rugby World Cup campaigns, establishing herself as a formidable presence in the lineout with remarkable athleticism. Abbie's impact extends beyond her on-field performance. As the first player to benefit from new rugby maternity policies, she returned to elite competition just 17 weeks after giving birth to her daughter Hallie in 2023.
This pioneering journey has created a blueprint for female athletes balancing motherhood and professional sports careers, demonstrating that pregnancy doesn't diminish competitive ambition or athletic capability. Audiences who hear Abbie speak gain practical insights into peak performance under pressure, strategies for overcoming physical and mental barriers after significant life changes, and inspiration for challenging conventional limitations in professional environments. Her story offers tangible lessons about resilience that transfer across industries and personal circumstances.
Book Abbie Ward to inspire your organisation with a rare combination of world-class athletic expertise and transformative leadership in advancing women's opportunities in professional sports.
Abbie Ward delivers powerful insights on peak performance and resilience, drawing from her experience as an England Rugby star, five-time Six Nations champion, and pioneering athlete who returned to elite competition just weeks after childbirth. Book Abbie to inspire your team with practical strategies for overcoming barriers and challenging conventional limitations in professional environments.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email abbie.ward@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Abbie's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Abbie Ward draws on her personal experience as the first professional rugby player to benefit from new maternity policies, structuring her talks around the practical steps of returning to elite competition 17 weeks after giving birth to frame broader lessons on resilience and performance under pressure.
Abbie Ward speaks on high performance under pressure, resilience through significant life change, and gender equality and maternity rights in professional sport. She is a Grand Slam winner, Premiership champion and World Cup finalist with England Rugby, and became the first player to return to elite competition under new rugby maternity policies, doing so 17 weeks after giving birth in 2023.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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