How This Woman Became a Trailblazing Airline Pilot at 50 After Waiting 15 Years

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Have you ever looked at your age, your responsibilities, or how long you’ve been putting something off and wondered if you missed your chance?

Captain Carole Hopson dreamed of becoming a pilot from the time she was four years old. Then life got full. She built a successful corporate career, became an executive at Foot Locker, and raised two sons. The dream never left her. At 50, Carole began flying for the airlines. Today, she is a Boeing 737 captain for United Airlines.

In this conversation, Carole breaks down what starting over actually required and shares how she turned “someday” into a plan she could follow.

In this episode. they get into:

- The deadline that turned Carole’s childhood dream into a real goal

- How she prepared financially for a major career change

- Why she waited until her children were older to fly professionally

- What it felt like to be the oldest person in the classroom

- How to build a personal “board of directors” for your next chapter

- What pioneering aviator Bessie Coleman taught her about possibility

- Her mission to help 100 Black women attend flight school through the Jet Black Foundation