When Abingdon sat at a 99s Christmas dinner in 2006, she thought she was just celebrating her new private pilot certificate. Instead, she discovered a gap no watch company was willing to fill: pilot watches built for women. Within hours she set herself an 11-month deadline to design, fund, and deliver a watch that didn’t exist yet. That deadline became the seed of The Abingdon Co., now an 18-year-old brand serving women across aviation and STEM.

In this conversation, Shaesta and Abingdon walk through the full arc: from a 14-year-old chasing free pizza at a high school career talk, to getting a pilot certificate in 34 days, to preselling $400 watches off CGI renderings before a single unit existed. Abingdon explains why you can’t wait for “perfect,” why she swears by “trip your way forward,” and how saying yes to an imperfect start changed her entire path in aviation.

They also dig into the reality behind the highlight reel of entrepreneurship—caregiving, near-shutdown moments, investors, and what it looks like to keep a promise to customers when life blows up. Abingdon talks candidly about stepping away to become her father’s full-time caregiver, the pressure to close the company, and why she refused to quit while thousands of women were still wearing her watches.

From there, the conversation zooms out: Gen Z as the most entrepreneurial generation yet, where product ideas really come from, and why aviation desperately needs people who can see a problem and build anything better—whether it’s a watch, a system, or an entire mindset around mental health and aeromedical reform. Abingdon also shares her view of aviation in 2035, from autonomous air vehicles and drone logistics to why analog watches are growing in a world of smart devices.

If you’re a young innovator wondering where you fit in aviation—or someone sitting on an idea you don’t feel “ready” to launch—this episode is a playbook on starting before you’re comfortable, serving a niche the industry ignores, and staying human in a career that loves to put people on pedestals.

CHAPTERS

(00:00) A missing watch at Christmas dinner

(03:00) Trip your way forward, not perfectly

(06:00) From free pizza to pilot in 34 days

(11:00) Starting the first women’s pilot watch

(18:00) How one product opened aviation doors

(24:00) Gen Z, gaps, and building in aviation

(30:00) Caregiving, near shutdown, and investors

(36:00) Mental health, identity, and aeromed

(44:00) Autonomous flight and 2035 aviation

(50:00) Why analog watches still matter

SPONSORS

⁠Atlantic Aviation | atlanticaviation.com

WORK WITH SHAESTA

For bookings and inquiries, visit: https://shaestawaiz.com/book

MORE ABOUT ABINGDON MULLIN

Website: abingdonco.com

LinkedIn: Abingdon Chelsea Mullin 

IG: @theabingdonco

MORE ABOUT SHAESTA WAIZ 

Website: shaestawaiz.com 

Instagram: @shaesta.waiz

LinkedIn: Shaesta Waiz

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@aviateplatform

TikTok: @shaestawaiz

Threads: @shaesta.waiz

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