Deidra Wilson

I attribute my success to determination and never giving up. I've learned that failures aren't just failures - they also helped me succeed and learn. People told me I couldn't do things, that I had no way of doing them, and they were probably right at the time. At first it made me angry, but then I realized they're just products of their environment. They don't know because nobody has really done that. Maybe I need to show them that we can do that. I remember when I first got our first simulator - they're a million dollars each, and we have two of them - I would travel around and ask investors for money. My husband would get so embarrassed and ask how many no's I had to get. I told him, until I get my yeses. People said only airlines do that, and I said, okay, well, it doesn't say that I can't do it. Nobody really believed me, and although it was frustrating, it was also kind of a strength because it pushed me. My competitors didn't really believe me, and then when I did do it and got the first simulator, then the second one, and now I'm opening international locations, they realized maybe they have to watch this. The biggest thing I've learned is just keep going, just keep trying, don't give up. We get told you can't do that, you shouldn't do that, no one's ever done that more than anybody ever tries to encourage us.

The best career advice I've received is to be persistent and not give up. Don't let people tell you that you can't do something. If I could go down the list of how many people have told me you can't do that, you're not gonna do that, or you have no way of doing that - and they were probably right at the time - but it made me think that maybe I need to show them that we can do that. I remember when I wanted to buy simulators, people said only airlines do that, and I said, okay, well, it doesn't say that I can't do it. Just because airlines do it doesn't mean that I can't as a school. Nobody really believed me, and although it was frustrating, it was also kind of a strength too because it pushed me. But it also meant my competitors at my school, the other schools, they didn't really believe me either, and they didn't think I could really do it. And then when I did do it, I got the first simulator, and then the second one, and then now I'm opening international locations. The biggest thing is just keep going, just keep trying, don't give up. We get told you can't do that, you shouldn't do that, no one's ever done that - we get told that more than anybody ever tries to encourage us. And that's why I do a lot of mentorship, especially with women.

My advice to young women entering aviation is that it's okay to ask for help. Sometimes when they have their challenges, they don't know where to turn to, and a lot of times they're scared to ask for help. Sometimes they feel like when they're asking for help, that maybe they have failed, or maybe they're fearful to ask for the help because they're embarrassed. When I'm working with women in aviation and girls in aviation, you can always tell - sometimes they get timid, sometimes they don't want to ask something because they think they should know that. But it's okay to ask for help, it really is. I learned that the hard way, because I got to a point where I wanted to do everything myself because I wanted to make sure it was done right. But then I learned the hard way, where you can't do everything yourself, and people are there to help you. If you ask somebody, can you help me, 99% of the time, they're gonna help you. They're not gonna think anything negative of you. If anything, people love helping people. Do not be ashamed to ask for help, do not be ashamed to explore different ideas and creativity. But most importantly, when you get to where you are going, always look back and help the people behind you too, because they have been where you've been once upon a time. So always try to help forward and backwards, no matter where you go. When you're at a point where you're flying for the airlines or you're overseeing a flight school, there's gonna be other girls coming to you asking some of the same questions you might have had, so help them too.

Right now we're in a huge transition in aviation from traditional methods to AI technology. There's a lot of discussion about allowing AI in the aviation industry. It has its pluses and not so much pluses, but at the same time, if you use it as a tool for advancements, it can help with a lot of administrative errors, compliance, and triple-check systems. It'll allow your teammates to focus on more productive and efficient tasks versus checking paperwork when AI can do that. If you use it right, it can help you grow and help you advance. There's so much out there that we haven't even tapped into because of fear of change and fear of learning something new, when those can all be positive. It still has a long way to go, but at the same time, just to tap into it just 10%, especially in a training atmosphere, I'm excited to see where it takes us. There's so much on the table, and from now into the next 5 years, it's gonna be completely different. We're learning that right now - that's our biggest new topic of discussion in the business.

The most important values to me are humility, giving back, and helping others. When I travel to countries like Thailand and other places, I see that they're not as fortunate, and I realize how much I have that I don't really need. You become more humble going to these countries, and it's a good learning environment to be worldly because you get to experience other cultures. You come back and think, wow, I don't need all this stuff, I don't need all these clothes, these name-brand shoes and shirts - I just need something that's comfortable, and to be humble. I try to get my nieces and nephews to experience things that I wasn't able to growing up, to make them worldly. I'm very active in giving back to the community I'm from. I work really, really hard for a couple months straight, and then I play hard too. When I'm not working, I'm enjoying personal time, relaxing, or doing charity work - some for business, but some just for personal purposes because they mean a lot to us. Women need to stick together and give each other props. I always try to support other women in aviation, send them sweet messages saying I think they're awesome. We try to do that with each other.