The Cereal Box Interview

Recently I was asked to do an interview for a national website and answered the following questions. Unfortunately, I neglected to read the release they wanted me to sign until I  after I spent time typing this all up. Since the series they were promoting was being sponsored by a major food manufacturer, I would have had to give up all rights to my words and photos so that they could be used "in perpetuity" and "in any manner" by this company which shall remain nameless. So I declined, which might hurt the chances of letting others know about Girls With Wings, but at least I can share with you my thoughts here.

1.       What’s the biggest challenge you’ve taken on? What inspired you to take on this challenge? How did you feel when you accomplished it?

It’s funny that I was just reflecting on this today in the sense that life would be pretty boring if we only did what we KNOW we could do. If we add to that the things we THINK we could do, it would make life more interesting for sure, but what if we were to try the things we thought we MIGHT be able to do. Or better yet, might NOT be able to do? That we might truly live!

I have always been motivated by my belief that life is short and we owe it to ourselves to try as many things as we can while we are on this earth. Add to that my stubborn streak and the propensity of some people to tell me I couldn’t or shouldn’t, and you have the fuel that drives me to take on numerous challenges.

The first challenge I had was applying for Initial Entry Rotary Wing Training in the US Army when someone said it was the hardest branch to be assigned. I showed up without knowing the first thing mechanical or aeronautical, yet there I was learning to fly helicopters. The training was made much more difficult by the military environment that, back in 1993, embraced the “if the student isn’t understanding, yell louder” theory of instruction. 

But I persevered, mostly because of a [relatively] friendly flight instructor that took me aside to ask me, “What makes you so special?” I was stumped at the point of his query until he continued, “What makes you so special that ALL of these other people have learned to fly the Huey but you’re so special you cannot?” Crazy reverse psychology, I know, but it worked. And to this day one of my favorite quotes is from Henry Ford, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.”

And even though I got my wings nearly 20 years ago now, it still has the power to influence my thinking. Hey, if you can hover a helicopter, you can do anything right?

2.       What goal you're trying to achieve right now? How do you plan to achieve this goal?

Currently I am training to be an Airbus Simulator Instructor for a major airline. I have completed many “ratings” or become qualified to fly many different aircraft, for many different companies under many different conditions since the Army’s flight school – even taught people to fly myself (albeit with NO yelling). But this training has been far more difficult than any I’ve done since. And I still have to remind myself that I can do it because sometimes the depth and breadth of information I have to know well enough to teach others to fly an airplane I’ve never flown myself is somewhat daunting. But I’ve never been a quitter.

A parallel challenge I’ve taken on has been founding a nonprofit, Girls With Wings, to use women in aviation as role models to inspire girls to achieve their full potential. Only 6% of licensed pilots are women, and there is no reason that women cannot be as accomplished in the aviation fields as men. But not all women are motivated by a challenge like me, and we want to encourage more girls and women to have an interest in flying.

I have a degree in history and a pilot’s license, neither of which qualify me for nonprofit management. But I do have a passion for what I do.  Along the way I probably made more mistakes than I’d care to count, but today Girls With Wings is a nationally recognized organization that has thousands of supporters and is giving away thousands of dollars in flight training scholarships. And most importantly, we’ve been able to reach out to countless girls and women to have dreams of flight – no matter to which goal they may aspire.

3. What will you do when you succeed?  

Look for the next challenge.

Getting more women and girls into the air!

If you've been following any of my posts or newsletters lately, you would have noticed that I am strongly encouraging people to get involved in Women of Aviation Worldwide Week from Mar 4-10, 2013. This is a concentrated effort to get more girls and women into small aircraft and up for what may be their only flight of their lives. But it may also be the start to increasing the number of women in the aviation field, by encouraging the participants to pursue the dream of flight.

I'm not sure, but I believe that a vast majority of people think this is a good idea, no? It's inspiring for both the volunteers involved and the recipients of all of the attention. It's awesome overall for the future of aviation and aerospace, but still there is not an overwhelming response to the request for events. Don't get me wrong, there ARE events, and they are impressive.

First of all, it is not about having a week long event - only about concentrating the activities during this week to try to build a synergistic energy to promote women in aviation. Secondly, it doesn't have to be a huge airshow/rally/extravaganza. Anything you can do to help promote their mission (which is obviously compatible with the Girls With Wings mission) would be beneficial.

In fact, I was having a conversation with Natalie, one of our GWW Spring 2012 Scholarship winners, who was also a recipient of the Sennheiser Live Your Dream Scholarship more recently, about her upcoming WOAW event in Ohio.

One of the things she stressed was how she was keeping it simple, rallying the support of friends and the facilities on the airport where she did her flight training. Instead of making a big fundraising effort, she has asked the participants for $30 for a ride, but providing many other activities for free.

She says, "Aviation is truly in my heart since I saw that Cessna fly over my head at three. I was hooked! Now, I want to inspire the young future Lady Aviators within my community through this event with Woman of Aviation Week. These girls never would have had this opportunity to tour their local airport, Flight School hangar or be photographed sitting in our rental Cessna C172 G1000. These young ladies ages elementary to high school  will have a chance to fly for the first time. Many it will be their first flight ever, including any commercial flights. It is all too common for woman to not realize the great career opportunities in Aviation that could open so many great doors.   We will show that on March 9th. I have a small budget, yet, many kids excited with their parents for this day to fly! it will be fabulous! Woman of Aviation Week and Girls with Wing are incredible organizations that have opened my eyes that pilots to individuals and companies helping to inspire, motivate and give a chance to pass Aviation to the next generation. Never leaving my dream behind to earn my ticket, meeting so many fabulous Lady Aviators has given me a new positive perspective and I too, want to share my passion of Aviation with others!"  

With just a little effort, you can help this movement grow as well. Please contact Victoria via the website for her event: Women Fly it Forward.

And I've received information about another event from an organization who has decided to hold several events in June:

"Right now the 99’s, Liberty University, and the DOAV are planning three Women Can Fly events.  Women Can Fly is a newly created volunteer organization whose mission is to promote women of all ages to fly. We are pilots and aviation enthusiasts who know the exhilaration of flight, the joy of discovering new horizons, the friendships born of shared visions, with the hope that more women will fulfill their dreams by joining us.

The number of women pilots in the United States has remained at 6 percent of the total pilot population for decades. There are a few major barriers that women face with a lack of female mentors and support systems, lack of confidence in their ability, and lack of experience to just name a few. This event is to try and change these numbers. We can offer female mentors and support, as well as some experience and the confidence they need to jumpstart their own career in aviation.

In June women from all over the state will come to receive their free airplane rides. At the Lynchburg event there will be ground lessons and Simulator Rides in Frascas and CRJ-200 Simulators. We will have Guest speakers from Airlines and Military branches. We will also be promoting women mechanics with our Aviation Maintenance School. All this is to promote women to enter the world of Aviation. 

The dates of these events are set for June 8, 2013 at Warrenton-Fauquier Airport, June 22, 2013 at Hampton Roads Executive Airport, and June 29, 2013 at Lynchburg Regional Airport. Please contact them regarding if you will be able to volunteer as a pilot, ground helper, or donate as sponsorship to the Lynchburg event! Anything would be greatly appreciated!"        

I fully support any event that gets more women and girls involved in aviation. I hope you do too!

The Girls With Wings Pilot Shop is CLOSING!

It was with great sadness that I recently had to announce the closing of the Girls With Wings Pilot Shop, the place to get licensed GWW merchandise and all the aviation themed accessories I could find that would appeal to girls and ladies. My reason for starting the line was simple: I wanted to offer the kind of merchandise I could buy for my nieces that I could get for my nephews. When I became a pilot in 1993, there was virtually nothing available. I had to buy the girls (first one born in 2001), things that were maybe a periwinkle blue - as close as I could get to purple.

Delaney, now 11

I started out by buying a $2500 embroidery machine, with which I stitched out my self styled airplane logo onto tees and onesies for friends and co-workers. So many people responded with enthusiasm to my offerings that I soon realized that a bigger issue was at stake - why weren't these products already available? Why was half of our population excluded from all this cool aviation swag? And did this perhaps have something to do why the pilot population remained 94% male?

So with my small success thus far, and to reduce my losses with screwing up the embroidery so much, I had some tees screen printed (said niece born in 2001 modeling first one to the left). And I started attending shows and conferences to sell my wares. The enthusiasm with which my things were received encouraged me to continue booking these booths, but there are major costs involved. Some of these booths cost several thousand dollars, and once you add in my travel, lodging and shipping, I was never breaking even, much less making a profit to return to Girls With Wings, Inc, the nonprofit organization. Online sales were not setting any world records either, no matter how much I tweeted and facebooked about it. If you've ever owned a business, not even necessarily a store, you know the overhead of which I speak and have to cover.

One of the early booths at Oshkosh

And so, I regret to say that I just have to close the shop. So many people have responded with an aghast "But you can't! There's no other place for us buy these things!!" I know, I know. But I've been personally subsidizing the endeavor and I just can't do so anymore in its present form. So for the time being I am offering clearance prices (mostly 50% off) on all remaining merchandise. When things settle down and I can look at how to reformat the structure, I hope to reopen the Girls With Wings line. Sales have gone through the roof since I marked the prices down to what I paid for the items (or even less than) and its a basic business practice that you can't continue running a business at so great a loss.

But I do want to reiterate: Girls With Wings, Inc., the nonprofit organization, is NOT GOING ANYWHERE. We will continue our outreach activities because the need to do so  is still there. In fact, I want to share with you this amazing email I just received (via the store website, BTW).

Anna getting her personalized copy of Penelope Pilot

Writes Jennifer:

I just wanted to write to you about a recent event that happened on our flight this month. 

My daughter Anna and I discovered this program along with the Penelope Pilot book when we met Linda at Air and Space in Washington, D.C. in 2011.  Linda spent the time to talk to Anna and autograph her copy.  The book has become one our favorites. 

At the age of 6, my daughter has become quite the frequent flier.  She carries the book with her on many flights.  Several pilots have invited her to come take a look in the cockpit as we board the plane.  Unfortunately, we have lost our paper doll Penelope, but we still take the picture.

This leads me to our most recent flight back from Europe.  Late in the flight, I  thought I heard the female voice on the intercom say she was the pilot.  I stopped one of the flight attendants to ask if indeed we had a female pilot.  You should have seen this male flight attendants face.  His face lit up and puffed his chest a little as he proudly told us that his crew was led by the first long-haul female pilot for SAS (my emphasis). In fact, the whole crew seemed quite proud of this fact.  He even told us that he would get the pilot to sign Anna's book and that we might be able to meet Charlotte, our pilot.  Since it was late in the flight we would have to wait for the book to be signed until after we landed. 

As we exited the plane, we saw the book waiting for us by the door.  When we asked if we could meet Charlotte, the flight attendant happily went to get her.  Charlotte had never heard of your program, but was glad to hear it existed.  She also took some time to talk to Anna and take a picture. Hopefully, we'll see Charlotte on another one of our overseas flights.

Yeah, stories like this mean Girls With Wings isn't going anywhere! Thank you all for your patronage of the Girls With Wings Pilot Shop and we hope to see you again there soon.

Sincerely,

Lynda Meeks, President

The Girls With Wings Pilot Shop

Very Important Pilots, LLC

www.shop.VeryImportantPilots.com