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PODCAST

AVIATE with Shaesta

AVIATE with Shaesta brings some of the most interesting female aviators together- trailblazers, record-setters, mothers, adventurers, entrepreneurs- to have honest conversations about what it means to be a woman in aviation. Join Shaesta Waiz, the Youngest Woman to Fly Solo Around the World, as she goes around the world (via a podcast) and connects with the industry to have honest conversations about being a woman in aviation. AVIATE, which stands for Acknowledge, Vocalize, Inclusion, Act, Travel,

society & culture relationships

All Episodes

23:41

What AI Means for Aviation’s Workforce with Paula Sacks

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/10/07

AI is changing how we work, but what does that mean for the people behind aviation?Shaesta Waiz sits down with Paula Sacks, Chief Human Resources Officer at Atlantic Aviation, to explore how AI could reshape the aviation workforce and why human judgment, mentorship, trust and leadership may become even more valuable as technology advances. Paula shares where she sees opportunities for AI, from reducing time-intensive work to supporting frontline operations, while making the case for protecting

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20:21

Making Room for More: Rethinking What an Aviation...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/09/30

What happens when you love aviation, but it isn’t your only passion?Marlis D’Souza built a career as an aerospace engineer and genuinely loved the work. But she was also an artist. In this episode of AVIATE, Shaesta Waiz sits down with Marlis to talk about stepping away from the expected career path, building a life around more than one passion, and discovering that engineering and art weren’t as separate as they seemed. Marlis shares the realities of building a creative business, what her

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24:35

Who Gets to Decide? Rethinking Aviation Policy with...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/09/22

What happens when a policy that looks reasonable on paper doesn’t work in real life?In this episode of AVIATE with Shaesta, I sit down with Samantha Sliney, an attorney, Air Force veteran, current Air National Guard officer, author, and policy advocate, to talk about how lived experience can become a catalyst for meaningful change. Samantha’s advocacy began with a problem she experienced herself: traveling for military duty while breastfeeding and discovering there was no policy to reimburse the

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24:46

Building What Aviation Needs Next with Lisa DeFrees

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/09/15

Building What’s Next with Lisa DeFreesWhat does it take to build a career in aviation that can evolve alongside the industry? In this episode of the AVIATE with Shaesta podcast, Shaesta Waiz, the 8th woman to fly solo around the world, sits down with Lisa DeFrees, an aviation sales, marketing, and media leader whose career has spanned three decades of transformation across the general aviation industry. Lisa shares why curiosity, relationships, trust, and even a little naivety have helped her

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36:11

Aviation Pro Sarah Kalmeta Reveals Why Pivoting Is Power

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/04/30

Sarah Kalmeta built her career around one core truth: a pivot is not a failure. It is feedback. In this conversation, Sarah explains how her own aviation career forced her to confront burnout, health issues, identity shifts, and the pressure to keep performing even when life was clearly asking for change. Her early work in private aviation gave her constant exposure to change, pressure, and high-stakes decision-making, but over time she realized that the pace of the industry was taking a toll on her

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15:05

Tasha Funes: What Private Aviation Flight Attendants...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/04/17

Tasha Funes built her aviation career across commercial, charter, government, and private aviation, and in this conversation she explains how each chapter taught her something different about the job. Commercial aviation gave her structure. Charter sharpened her professionalism. Private aviation brought those skills together and showed her what full-spectrum service, safety, and adaptability really look like. She also pushes back on one of the biggest misconceptions about flight attendants: the idea

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26:32

Katherine Moloney Built a Movement in Aviation — And...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/03/26

Katherine Moloney did not grow up thinking she would become a pilot, even though aviation was in her family. Her father flew, but she never saw herself in the cockpit and brushed off early signs that she might belong there. That changed when she started working at a flight equipment company on an airfield, where daily exposure to aviation turned curiosity into action. A helicopter trial lesson at Brighton City Airport changed everything. She signed up right away, earned her helicopter license at 19,

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36:42

Katie Hill on eVTOLs, policy, and building aviation’s...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/03/19

Katie Hill works at the center of aviation policy, government affairs, and advanced air mobility, and in this conversation she explains how she got there. She started on Capitol Hill working for Senator Moran, where mentors pushed her toward the commerce portfolio and introduced her to aviation policy. What began as a Hill assignment turned into a real calling once she started working on advanced air mobility and saw how policy could help shape an entirely new part of aviation. For Katie, joining

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23:07

Pilot-Turned-Candidate Shelly DeZevallos Says...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/03/12

Shelly DeZevallos has spent decades working in aviation and public service, and in this conversation she explains why running for Congress felt like the natural next step. She argues aviation and policy are already deeply connected—from FAA modernization and ATC pressure to advanced air mobility and supersonic aircraft—and says the industry needs more people in government who actually understand how aviation works. For Shelly, the move into politics is not a departure from aviation but an extension

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41:37

Samantha Spencer: Why airport ops is the hardest job...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/02/12

Samantha Spencer oversees both landside and airside operations at South Bend International Airport—meaning she’s responsible for everything from FAA and TSA compliance to snow ops, badging, construction coordination, and daily airfield safety. She explains why airport operations has no “typical day”: her team can handle a fuel spill, a raccoon on a runway, a runway closure, a diverted aircraft, and pilot deviation reporting all before lunch—then make it look smooth anyway.She also breaks down what

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44:43

Amman Mujahid: There’s No Female or Male...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/02/05

Amman went from rejection to finding her path in aircraft maintenance—then had to fight to be treated like a real technician. In a mostly male program, she was pushed toward admin work while men got hands-on tasks. A mentor’s line changed everything: “Engineer has no gender.” She kept showing up, asking questions, and pushing for harder work until the hangar floor had to take her seriously.Now based in the UK, she explains the shift from credential-focused hiring in Pakistan to a UK system that

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30:17

Sabira Rezaie: Afghan Helicopter Pilot Rebuilds Her...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/01/15

When Sabira Rezaie sits in a cockpit, she says she carries two things at once: the voices of Afghan women who never got the chance to fly, and the weight of everything she lost. That mix—purpose and grief—runs through this entire conversation with Shaesta Waiz.Sabira explains how aviation first meant freedom in Afghanistan: the sky was the one place culture and politics couldn’t fully control her. She became one of the first Afghan women to fly the MD 530, pushing through constant doubt from men

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62:36

The 3% Club: Aviation Needs Mechanics but Women Are...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2026/01/08

When Veronica Leacock moved from Panama to the U.S., she wasn’t just changing countries. She was rebuilding her entire career—new language, new system, and a licensing process that nearly shut her out. She went hangar to hangar asking for a chance, trained without pay, and kept pushing until an FAA office in Oregon agreed to review her case and sign her paperwork.In this conversation, Shaesta and Veronica walk through the real path: becoming a mechanic young, having a baby during training,

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61:15

Trip Your Way Forward: Abingdon Mullin on Watches,...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2025/12/11

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

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31:02

The Cost of Silence: DEI Rollbacks, Safety, and the...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2025/09/18

In this episode, host Shaesta Waiz speaks with Dr. Kimberly Perkins—787 airline pilot, research scientist at the University of Washington, and fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society—about the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion in aviation and why it matters for safety, innovation, and the next generation.Kimberly shares how DEI was often treated as a branding campaign rather than systemic change, why psychological safety is inseparable from operational safety, and how silence in the

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40:50

Purpose-Driven Leadership: Lynda Coffman on DEI,...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2025/09/04

In this episode, host Shaesta Waiz speaks with Lynda Coffman—CEO of Women in Aviation International, former United Airlines executive, and Northwestern adjunct professor— about sustaining a qualified aviation workforce while navigating the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion.Lynda shares her journey from being the first female engineer in United’s powerplant group to leading airport operations across 63 stations and founding United Ground Express. She reflects on how DEI has been

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32:18

“Don’t Wait for the Invitation” — Aircraft Mechanic &...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2025/08/19

In this episode, host Shaesta Waiz speaks with Samantha T. Mitchell—licensed A&P mechanic, author, and founder of Black Women in Aviation—about building a career where women are still drastically underrepresented, especially in maintenance. Samantha recounts finding aviation through a college brochure, nearly losing a dream role over citizenship status, becoming the first female mechanic for Air Jamaica at JFK, and learning to navigate rooms where she was often the only one. They discuss how the

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39:23

A Business Case for DEI in Aviation with Jennifer...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2025/08/08

In this episode, host Shaesta Waiz speaks with Jennifer Pickerel—President of Aviation Personnel International and a veteran executive search consultant—about the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in aviation and its real-world impacts. Drawing on over two decades of experience in recruitment, leadership development, and organizational culture, Pickerel examines how performative DEI, policy softening, and cultural misalignment can undermine both safety and profitability

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26:16

If the Space Won’t Hold You, Move: Leadership and...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2025/07/31

In this candid conversation, host Shaesta Waiz speaks with Captain Reyné O'Shaughnessy—veteran FedEx pilot, human-performance specialist, and author of This Is Your Captain Speaking: What You Should Know About Your Pilot’s Mental Health. Together they unpack the realities of high-stakes aviation work for women: chronic stress that accumulates unnoticed, the double standard around mistakes, and the current retrenchment of formal DEI efforts across organizations.Reyné shares why completing the

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34:09

Why Ignoring DEI Is Aviation’s Biggest Safety Risk...

AVIATE with Shaesta ·

2025/07/24

In this episode, host Shaesta Waiz speaks with Kathryn Creedy—veteran aviation journalist and advocate for workforce equity—about the rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in aviation and its consequences. Creedy draws on decades of reporting and personal experience to challenge misconceptions about DEI, highlight the business case for inclusion, and explore how cultural resistance, policy rollback, and outdated work rules threaten both profitability and safety. They discuss the power

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