Why I am a Mommy Pilot
- Mommy Pilots
- Apr 4, 2017
- 2 min read
For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a pilot. I asked my parents for flying lessons in High School, and for Christmas I received the Jeppesen Private Pilot kit. I was hooked. Not long after my first lesson, I knew this is what I was meant to be doing! After graduation, I left to attend flight school in Alabama at Auburn University. I am so thankful to have completed my flight training there, where I met so many wonderful friends and pilots. After building flight time as a CFI I was thrilled to start flying as a First Officer at ExpressJet Airlines (formerly Atlantic Southeast Airlines), where I still work today.
In 2012, my husband and I brought home our first baby girl and it has been an adventure ever since! It was never a question in my mind whether I was going to return to flying or not. When the day came to go back to training, I was devastated. I did not want to leave my baby. I told myself I would just give it a try to see how things went. As soon as I was back in the airplane I knew I had made the right choice for myself and my family. Since then we have added two more
children into the mix...three kids in three years. Each pregnancy brought its own challenges and each return to work was just as hard as the first. Navigating nursing, motherhood, and being a pilot was very demanding.
It is still tough to leave each week but we have worked to find balance in it all. For my family, we have to keep our priorities in line in order to make it all work. For us faith, family, and work are the order in which we do life. If there is any time left after that then okay, if not then we just don’t do it. Since family is a priority, I have been a little slower reaching my career goals and that’s alright. I have learned in motherhood we have to be patient with ourselves and learn to show grace. Being able to connect with other Moms that are Pilots has been so helpful to me. It is has been so rewarding to relate with other Mommy Pilots, and to support each other. We
navigate a unique space and it is important that we encourage each other in all that we do.
Being a Mommy Pilot has made me a better Mom and Pilot. When I am home there is nowhere else I would rather be. It allows me to be very intentional with my time. When I am at work, that is where I want to be, and I am able to focus on that. I have learned everyone is different and has to do what is best for their family.
Most importantly, I hope that I am setting an example for my daughters and son. I hope that in their life they will know that with hard work they are able to accomplish whatever they set their minds to. If that means being an airline pilot or being a stay at home parent, that is great too!
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