I Can Fly

The Struggles and Rewards of Being A Small Business Owner April 25, 2017

ICON Conference is an incredible opportunity for small business owners to convene together to show our strength and use powerful sources to get stronger. There are definitely huge pros and cons to being a business owner / entrepreneur. From the Abingdon experience, here are a few:

PROS:

• Flexibility: Ahhhh yes. You can make plans whenever you want to make the plans. You can start your work day early in the morning, mid-afternoon… just whenever! You can meet your friends for brunch. Not pre-work coffee or lunch break lunch. Nope, brunch. Your calendar is your oyster.
• Freedom: You can work in your pajamas if you want to. No one is going to tell you thats’s terribly inappropriate. You can work from your home office if you want to. You’re not caged down to the traditional rules of the nine to five grind. Which, is the huge appeal for most entrepreneurs and we cannot blame them. It’s nice to feel like you’re not tied down to anyone else’s set of rules.
• Challenging Growth: You have to have a stomach for growing pains and personal challenges. And, if that’s your M.O. this is perfect. You are faced daily with opportunities to become a better person and a better business woman.
• Key Decision Maker: There isn’t consulting amongst boards of people, massive teams, or share holders that hold your fate in their hands. You get to be the key decision maker on everything so you know that the fate of your business is totally in your hands.

CONS:

• Salary Regularity: Especially in the beginning this can be a struggle. At a traditional job you know when you’re getting paid and how much on a frequent and regular basis. As a entrepreneur / small business owner this isn’t the case at all. You don’t know what sales figures are going to look like. It could be a great month or a month that leaves you in the red. Whatever the case may be, there is a stronger fluctuation in being a business owner than being a businesses employee.
• TONS of Responsibility: You don’t have a hive of worker bees to do all the little things for you. It’s on you to jump into the weeds and get it all done (or if you have a small team) get most of it done. You have to be willing to get your hands dirty!
• Competition: Unless you’re in a niche market… and even sometimes in that case, there are tons of other guys on the block that are bigger and have more man power than you. They may even be enterprise level businesses.
• Your Commitments Are Your Boss: Because you’re the owner it’s all up to you to show up to all of the important events, meetings, and the like. They are your bread and butter for getting the word out. Therefore, they can’t be missed. Which means you might miss some “Girls Night Out” kind of nights. But who cares, your business is worth it.

History’s Top 5 Most Inspirational Female Pilots April 10, 2017

Women have had a bigger impact on Aviation than they are given credit for, creating pivotal points in the industry that made it the strong field it is today. Often under-cut or placed under shadows women were a part of aviation from the beginning but weren’t often acknowledged for their contributions, here are 5 that made huge contributions and should be acknowledged.

The first, of course, that is the most well-known of women in the industry is Amelia Earhart. Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo. Her journey began in a Lockheed Vega 5B on course for Paris. After this feat, other ambitious accomplishments came to pass; setting altitude records and being the first woman to set sail on her own across the Pacific Ocean.

In 1937 Earhart attempted to make a record journey flying around the world… the journey that sadly gave her the notoriety that not even aviation buffs know. The flight in which she departed for but never returned from. Earhart is fondly remembered for her groundbreaking achievements in aviation for women.

An acclaimed advocate for women flying in the Air Force, Jacqueline Cochran paved the way for women to participate in war efforts in a big way. She personally wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt to allow women to participate, proposing a womens flying division. Her request was granted which resulted in the founding of WASP (Women Air force Service Pilots). She also received a US distinguished service medal for her role after the war.

Bessie Coleman is a big deal for women and African-American women in the world of aviation having been the first African-American female to create a career in aviation. However, though try as she might in the USA to be part of the first world war she was disqualified because of her ethnicity. However, she wasn’t one to give up. She then moved to France where she could complete an advanced course in aviation — making a career out of being an aerial pilot in aerobatic shows.

Unfortunately a fatal accident cut her career short when she was thrown from her aircraft. She will be remembered as the first African American woman to gain an international pilot’s license.

Women are so not given enough credit for their contribution to engineering. Amy Johnson was the first woman in aviation to qualify as an aircraft engineer. She knew the aircraft and it’s instruments inside out… literally! She was also the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia as well as other hallmark flights which added to her claim to fame. During the Second World War, Johnson joined the Air Transport Auxiliary which helped her to remain a prominent figure in male dominated environment.

However, she came to an unfortunate fate when her plane crashed during a flight in bad weather conditions across the sea in 1941.

Harriet Quimby has a lasting legacy despite her death at the age of 37 having been thrown from her aircraft. She had several accomplishments in her lifetime including being the first woman to be granted pilots license by the Aero Club of America, being the first woman to fly across the English Channel in 59 minutes, and many other milestones that set her career in flight.