Business Woman Emerging...

Here I go! I've been flying tandems for a couple of years now, and last summer I was lucky enough to work full-time at a paragliding school and flew over 150 tandems for them. Since my certification I have also worked for myself and wondered where exactly my tandem and instructor licenses would take me. Teaching students from scratch hasn't been my first focus, although I do love teaching the basics at ground school (ground handling, etc). It's also quite an expensive option, as the instructor needs training gear (school gliders, harnesses, helmets, etc) and besides, my friends have a good school already with all the facilities.

So this year I decided to focus on training pilots who were already signed off with their "novice" rating, but were looking for more guidance and information. I was approached last summer by a couple of pilots about this option, and this year decided to go ahead and DO IT! I put a note up on my website and started working on my plan.

In the mean time, a newer pilot approached me with some questions about competing and suggested I put on a course for those like him who had no idea what it was all about. He offered up a meeting room at his worksite and voila! About a dozen pilots attended, were really supportive of my idea of continuing to teach classes and courses and a handful asked about the intermediate coaching program they saw on my website.

In his now-famous Standford graduation speech, Steve Jobs talked about looking back through your life and seeing how all the dots connected to get you where you are today. I'm having one of those moments now, and am excited and feel I'm on the right path, even if it is currently a little crooked as I weave through financial hurdles, outside jobs and logistics.

In addition to my coaching and tandems, I'm setting up a web shop so I can offer cool flying items - things I've been looking for but often have trouble finding. The first items I'm selling are my company T-shirt and the Microvario, an audio only vario that only weighs an ounce! I bought it so I wouldn't have to keep switching my gear between my solo and tandem wings and was really happy with it so asked Flyte Park if I could carry their product.

Here's the link to my website, and even though I don't have web design experience I'm pretty proud of it. I'm still working on the shop & figuring out shipping costs and all but if you want to order something please fill out the contact form there & let me know. My first orders are going in soon!

www.jetsetparagliding.com

Thanks so much for your support so far, I'm having a blast on this journey and hope you're all able to find that inner fire that pushes you to keep following your dreams,no matter how crazy they may seem to somebody else!