Lauren Moorhead: CFI
If you had told me in my early 20s, I was going to be a pilot one day, I would have laughed in your face and said, "Yeah right, no way.” I grew up in the 90s when fewer women were pilots, and people suggested I should become a flight attendant. After I graduated college in 2013, I went to work as a graphic designer, which only lasted 2.5 years before I found myself bored and stuck behind a desk Monday through Friday. With little idea of what I wanted to do next, I was yet again told to become a flight attendant. I figured why not; I would love to travel and get paid to do so. In October of 2015, I began training with Mesa Airlines, and it was here that I caught the flying bug. After many delays and 1 cancellation later, I got the opportunity to sit up front in the spare flight deck jumpseat for a ferry flight back to IAD airport. Shortly after takeoff the autopilot failed, and the pilots had to hand fly. I was completely enamored with everything going on and knew at that moment I was meant to fly the plane, not pour sodas in the back. And the rest is history. Flying is the most challenging yet rewarding thing I have ever done, and I look forward to sharing that passion with future aviators. Blue Skies y'all.
