Afton Howard

My success comes down to not giving up, first and foremost. Number one would be my faith - I am a woman of faith, I am a believer, and I'm a Christian. My faith, my family, and my work ethic, all of those things together really help me to be successful. You can't do life alone, I've learned that the hard way. I've always met challenges as learning lessons, and you have to, especially as a single mom - there was really no space to give up when someone was looking to me for life. I had great mentors, I had a great community of men and women who poured into my life and encouraged me, gave me words of wisdom and constructive critique. All of that put together is what made me feel like that taste of success is there for me. Years ago, I rededicated my life to Christ, and it's about making good decisions. I'm really just a debtor to all of my mentors, my mom, and everyone who has poured into my life - it's because of them that I've gotten where I am. I also had a mentor who worked for Boeing who took me in when I was a homeless teenager and my mom was struggling. She introduced me to different things, took me to ballets and nice restaurants, and told me I could decide how successful I wanted to be and that I didn't have to let struggle point me in the wrong direction. Now it's my turn to point people in the right direction.

The best career advice I ever received was 'do it scared' - just do it scared. When I was younger and still learning, so many opportunities came and I would have that complex like, oh, I don't know if I know enough, or I'm just too afraid, I don't know the changes that might happen. One of my managers, her name was Corinne Castinita, finally looked at me one day and said, 'Do it scared. Just do it scared. Apply scared. Get to position scared.' She told me I was crazy if I thought every CEO, every supervisor, every manager was not nervous or afraid of what was next. She said you're ready enough, and you're never completely ready for a role because the role makes you. That was just really freeing to hear. I started doing that - I started applying for roles and just doing it scared, and by the first week, I'm not scared anymore. I love it, I enjoy what I'm doing. Even with the LinkedIn videos, that was something I did scared. I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know if anyone would even see the value of my voice and what we were trying to accomplish. But now the videos are very, very successful. So that would be the best thing I've heard that has really helped me - just do it scared.

Never give up. Never, never give up. And also, be open to embracing a different career path. Essentially, that's what happened for me - this career path of aviation was nowhere on my radar, not in school, just nowhere, wasn't even a thought. However, you have to embrace change, and you can't give up, period, if it's something that you really want to do. Do your research. Research the companies, research the industry, find out if this is the place for you, especially for the airline industry, because there are so many different paths to grow. Most people just think about the ticketing agents, the pilots and the flight attendants, but really in the airline industry with zero experience - because they're going to train you and teach you - you can become a pilot, a flight attendant, human resource rep, mechanic. There's so many different fields. You can't be afraid of what you see, you can't be afraid of the numbers or the applicants. Don't get intimidated. When the airline industry opens employment, it almost shuts down the web with so many people trying to apply, and a lot of people get intimidated by that. But I showed up to a hiring event in 2006 and there were 100 applicants at that event. I was hired with no experience, just personality. And I kissed my young son goodbye and spent 4 weeks in another state training in an industry I knew nothing about. Sometimes those things can sound terrifying, but what is meant for you is going to be for you. Research FAA jobs, DOT jobs - there are so many different jobs attached to aviation that we don't even scratch the surface with getting applicants. Connect with people. If someone wants to be in the airline industry, when they're flying out, ask for a card, talk to the customer service representatives and say you'd really like to get into this industry. A lot of times they'll show you the way. Also create employment profiles - companies, especially airlines, let you create a profile and put a resume up, and then you get first-hand notification when there are vacancies in the area you're looking to gain employment with.

I think the biggest challenge is still diversity and representation. There are times, especially when I go on different roles, that I could be the only Black woman in the room. The industry itself has definitely progressed - we know that years ago, when you say pilot, you thought of a man, and when you say flight attendant, you thought of a woman. These have just been a lot of stereotypes, and I think that's the challenge. The challenge is breaking through and working through those stereotypes where, for a while, you might be the only one in the room for that representation. It could be a challenge to how you're valued professionally, but you should never let it stop you from getting the purpose out of what you're trying to do. You don't maybe have that community in the room for you, and it develops over time. You learn how to be resilient, you learn how to be patient, and you learn how to also be the person to pull someone else up, pull someone in. Say, hey, have you heard of this job? I've been doing it for a while, even in your own community, in order to get that diversity and to have a voice. There should be a voice at the table for everyone. We're still pulling out of it, for sure, but we're still sometimes in a realm of still needing that representation.

Faith, family, and integrity are the foundation of my personal and professional life. I also value resilience, mentorship, community, and a strong work ethic. I believe in lifting others, creating safe spaces for growth, and leading with empathy and purpose.