Rachael Fischer

My girls push me to be better. They are what drive me. I always had big dreams growing up, and we didn't have a lot of money, so I always wanted to provide a lot for my kids. But after we had kids, it shifted. I still want to provide the world for them, but now it's more about making sure they have confidence in themselves so when they go out in the world, they can succeed in what they want to. I want them to see their mom doing things so they know they can go out and do stuff too. The drone industry is fairly male-dominated, and I don't want them to be deterred because something is more male-dominant or female-dominated. I want them to go after whatever makes their heart happy. I want them to see me doing things, not just saying 'you should do this' but actually doing it myself. Leading by example is what I'm looking for.

Just to keep going, keep learning, and if you have questions, ask them. Don't be scared to ask questions, because if you just assume or try and start doing things, you're gonna do it wrong and then you don't actually know how to do something. Sometimes you learn the most when you fail, and even though it's hard, it gives you that chance to roll up your sleeves and say you're not done with this yet.

Ask questions and definitely learn from the people around you. When you take the test to get your drone license, you don't have to actually fly a drone to pass it, it's all a written test. So it's just getting out there, experiencing different situations, experiencing different weather days. Is it windy? Put your drone up, as long as it's safe, safety first, but try things that are a little bit out of your comfort zone. Definitely learn from those around you, for sure.

Some of the biggest challenges are actually getting into the field. Utilities, it's not always easy to get in there. I got fairly lucky, honestly. I had a contractor approach me for putting me into the interview, and I'm very grateful and fortunate for that. I always pride myself on being an extremely hard worker, and I think that shows through when I talk to people in interviews. But getting into the industry can be a little daunting and hard, getting connections, finding other people around. I only know one other person that flies a drone, and they are in Wisconsin. It's definitely a challenge, but as long as you persevere and keep going, you can definitely get in there. The drone world is exploding right now. They use drones for power washing windows, agriculture, military, first responder work where they send a drone to a scene before police or paramedics to assess the situation. There's so much the industry is moving into, which is amazing.

My top value is family. My kids and Sean and his boys, all of our kids come first. I put a big emphasis on that. Otherwise, it's really definitely communication and honesty. If you communicate well to me, if you tell me something, as long as it's honest and not in a demeaning way or anything like that, I really, really value that. If I'm doing something that's wrong and you're like, hey, this is how it's supposed to be done, and you talk to me about it, I will switch gears and start doing it that way, no problem. I'd rather know than not know.