In this episode, we talk to Olga Custodio about finding success in a male-dominated profession, balancing family and professional life when pursuing career goals, why accessibility is the key to mentorship, and much more.

In this first episode of 2021, Sylvia talks with Alaska native and speaker Shannon Huffman Polson about her journey as a thought leader on grit and resilience. She served as one of the first women to fly the Apache helicopter in the US Army and earned her MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth before writing The Grit Factor: Courage, Resilience, and Leadership in the Most Male-Dominated Organization in the World and founding The Grit Institute where she coaches people on developing grit in careers and workplaces. We talk a lot about grit, what it is, how it is built and what its soft underbelly looks like.

Today, we highlight Refilwe Ledwaba in the fourth episode of our Summer Series. Refilwe is a social entrepreneur, pilot, and educator. She is Founder of the Girls Fly Programme in Africa, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young women to pursue careers in STEAM fields and to foster innovation in their communities.

Sylvia is joined by Patty Wagstaff to discuss her journey to becoming a US National Aerobatic Champion. Patty was the first woman to achieve this title, a feat she repeated twice thereafter, and has garnered worldwide recognition for her aerobatic routines.

In today’s episode Cecilia shares her story of moving through fear, learning to fly & dismantling the perceived limitations that gripped her. For little girls & women aspiring to achieve great things, it’s the story of overcoming incredible barriers & achieving your dreams. For the rest, it’s a reminder of the consequences of unexamined implicit bias, privilege, bullying, and negativity.

Liz Booker shares what drives her dedication to amplifying the voices of women in aviation and her ingenuity. With just a GED, she worked herself up the ranks from a non-rate enlistee in the US Coast Guard to lieutenant commander, and eventually attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Liz shares the need behind amplifying the voices of women in aviation any how she promotes books, authors, and discussions via the Aviatrix Book Review website and Facebook Group Aviatrix Book Club.

Marissa Colclasure helps to redefine what we think of as the “typical” mom. A single mother of three, Marissa has found a way to integrate her love for flight and adventure with her work and family responsibilities. In this episode, Sylvia and Marissa discuss how pursuing our passions can influence our loved ones, the light we become for the world when we lean into what sets our heart on fire, navigating the inevitable turbulence in life and in the air, and much more.

Sylvia talks to Sarah Halas, flight instructor and mountain guide. Challenging assumptions and defying gender roles from the beginning, she has built her life around a love for exploring and pushing limits of endurance, a passion for travel, language, and culture. We dive deep into the issues around valuing transience, crafting a life rid of preconceived notions of womanhood, and so much more.

Being born without arms has not deterred Jessica Cox from being an ambitious dream chaser. In this episode, Sylvia is joined by Jessica to discuss the remarkable life she's created for herself as a pilot, martial artist, athlete, and keynote speaker. Jessica shares with listeners how we can dig deep and cultivate the resiliency needed to overcome life's greatest challenges.