Our guest today, to launch us into season three, is Lalitya Dhavala. Lalitya, who joined me from London, is an aviation consultant working for Ascend, the consultancy arm of the aviation analytics firm Cirium, aerospace engineer, and Board member of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Originally from India, Lalitya grew up in the United Arab Emirates in a passionate family about education. Following in her father’s footsteps, Lalitya decided to become an engineer at a young age. In 2013, she received her bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and obtained a Masters in Aviation Safety in 2015.

In my conversation with Lalitya, she talks about her career in the middle-east, in a male-dominated field, where she felt the cultural pressures and expectations of being a working woman.

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Our guest today, who will conclude season two of the AVIATE with Shaesta podcast, is Colonel  Nicole Malachowski. At age 5, during a time when women were not permitted to fly for the military, Nicole knew that someday, she would fly a fighter jet. Finishing fourth in her class, Nicole graduated from pilot training at Columbus AFB, Mississippi, and was selected for the only F-15E slot allotted to her class. Nicole has served in a few operational tours and went into combat for the United States Air Force. In 2005, Nicole made history by becoming the first woman to fly for the Thunderbirds, completing 140 performances, and inspiring a generation of women aviators.  

In my conversation, I ask Nicole about her remarkable career and how she managed her mental health along the way. We also discuss Nicole’s physical health, especially after she was suddenly diagnosed with a tick-borne illness, which changed her life and career trajectory.

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Vanessa Blacknall-Jamison is our podcast guest today. Some of you may be familiar with Vanessa’s leadership from OBAP (the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals) or her advocacy and hard work with the FAA.

Vanessa grew up in Denver, Colorado, and was introduced to aviation by her mother, a Flight Attendant talent recruiter. Inspired by her mother’s ability to connect with people and her work in aviation, Vanessa started her career as a Flight Attendant. In the last 40-plus years, Vanessa has worked for United Airlines, the FAA, a Member of the Board of Trustees Foundation for the Civil Air Patrol, and the first woman and non-pilot Chairwoman of OBAP. Mentorship and connecting with people are at the core of everything Vanessa does.

In this conversation, Vanessa and I talk about her bringing, work-life balance, commitment to lifting minorities and women in aviation, and plans for the future.

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Today, our guest is a corporate pilot, Founder and President of the Hera Aviation Group, and mommy of two, Jessica Webster. As a Massachusetts native, Jessica attended airshows with her family and admired the aircraft from afar. It wasn't until the Commander of a P-3 Orion invited Jessica to sit on the aircraft's wing with the crew that she believed aviation was a career possibility. It was a defining moment that inspired her to pursue flight. After a non-linear path to becoming a corporate pilot, Jessica found herself in a difficult situation. Because she was a new mother, she was not given the opportunity to upgrade from her First Office position to Captain, although she worked just as hard as her counterparts.  

This situation shocked Jessica and later motivated her to find a way to continue to fly. Jessica was also inspired to start her non-profit, Hera Aviation Group, which raises awareness of the current constraints for women and primary caregivers in aviation and advocates for change within the industry.

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Joining me on this episode of the AVIATE with Shaesta podcast is the CEO and President of the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Amy Spowart. Amy grew up in central Pennsylvania and took a non-traditional route in aviation. Her first flight experience was when she was 19 years old on a TWA flight. 

Although Amy had her hesitations about flying for the first time, this was a big deal back home in her hometown, where people didn’t travel much. During her twenties, Amy lived in England, and when she came back to America, she decided to enroll in College. Believing that she wasn’t a capable student, Amy found herself drawn to history, resulting in her obtaining two degrees at the same time. Her passion for acknowledging the past opened the door to aviation and launched her career at the NAHF.

In our conversation, I ask Amy about her upbringing, her love for connecting with people, her 22+ year career and leadership with NAHF, and her contributions to women in aviation.

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Our guest today is the Chief Executive Officer of The Registry of Aruba, Alexandria (Alex) Colindres. Alex had fond childhood memories of spending her summers at The Registry of Aruba, which is a company founded by her dad. Although she was surrounded by business aviation, Alex had a soaring interest in the arts. After receiving a bachelor’s in fine arts and a master’s in art management from Columbia College Chicago, Alex started her art career in Miami, working for an Art Gallery and Spinello Projects.

To save up money to move out to California, in pursuit of accelerating her art career, Alex started working as the PR Manager and Civil Aviation Liaison for The Registry of Aruba. Through her work, her interest in business aviation grew and she started to earn her place in the family company.  

Alex is here to talk to us being a young executive leader, how she managed her business and team during covid, and how she is empowering young women in the aviation industry to pursue their dreams.

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Today, our guest, Shelley Svoren, is the Founder and CEO of Infinite Branches, which connects and transforms business aviation investments. With over 30 years of experience in finance, Shelley received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon in Finance, Economics, International Business, and Scandinavian Studies. Her interest in aviation came from her father, who served in the marine corp, but because she didn’t see people in aviation who looked like her, she didn’t explore the interest further. Shelley has worked for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Silicon Valley Bank, at Macy’s as the Financial Analyst and Budget Manager, and the First Republic Bank before starting her own company.

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Our guest today is Guyanese American pilot Beverly Drake. In the 1970’s Beverley became one of Guyana’s first female pilots, flying both military for the Guyana Defense Force and commercial operations for Guyana Airways. By the end of the 1970s, Beverly left her country as a celebrated aviator, got married, had her first child while settling in America, and embarked on a different career track as an analyst for Goldman Sachs. Longing to return to aviation, Drake decided to work as an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). With over 30 years of experience as an aviation accident investigator, Beverly became the first and only black senior aviation accident investigator woman for the NTSB. Determined to change the status quo, Beverly has served as the Federal Women’s Program Manager for the past seven years at the NTSB. Beverly is a trailblazer nominee of Forbes 50 over 50, and an advocate for STEM.

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Our guest today is Kimberly Perkins who is a Gulfstream 650 Captain, writer, researcher, and mother to two adorable girls. Discovering the possibility of an aviation career during a college campus tour, Kimberly was determined to earn her wings to fly. After building her flight time and finding unique ways to instruct pilots, Kimberly landed a job flying a CRJ for a US regional air carrier. When the 2008 recession hit, impacting air travel, Kimberly moved to a different continent to operate a CRJ 900 out of Lagos, Nigeria. While in Lagos, Kimberly identified a need in her new community, a lack of basic school supplies for children, which eventually inspired her to start her non-profit, Aviation for Humanity.

Today, Kimberly is working her Ph.D. at the University of Washington, focusing her work on the impact of cognitive bias on aviation safety. She is here today to share her story and more about the important research she is doing in our industry.

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Carole Hopson, our guest today, is a New Jersey native who took notice of the airplanes flying above her in the sky at the young age of four. Although she admired flight because she didn't see other black women pilots, let alone pilots who wore glasses like her, Carole didn't consider an aviation career. 

She went on to earn her bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia and a master's in journalism from Columbia University. Carole's impressive career path includes being a journalist, working for the NFL, and serving in executive leadership positions for Foot Locker and L'Oréal.

It wasn't until Carole was flying on a business trip as a passenger when the pilot invited her to the flight deck that she discovered that she, too, could be a pilot. At age 34, Carole pivoted, leaving behind her successful career, and started flight training. At an aviation conference, Carole first discovered Bessie Coleman's story of becoming the first African woman pilot, and she was inspired. She started writing a book about Bessie's life and her historical flying adventures. 

Today, Carole, a mother of two boys, is a first officer for United Airlines, flying the Boeing 737 aircraft and the author of, “A Pair of Wings, A Novel Inspired by Pioneer Aviatrix Bessie Coleman”.

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