The day was finally here! May 16, 2015. It was my first solo flight in a sports aircraft, my teddy bear as my only passenger. My instructor, my husband and our two children, and a good friend of mine would be standing on the ground, watching as I made three take-offs and three landings.
I was nervous. This was going to be either the most exciting day for me, earning my wings, or it was going to be devastating for my family and friends to watch if something happened to me.
It was a beautiful but very hot summer day. Small aircraft like the one I would be flying don’t have any interior cooling, or heating, for that matter. To help cool the airplane, the only thing you can do is take off the doors to allow better airflow and a breeze to cool you, and that’s just what we did.
Having the doors off can make flying a bit harder because the wind can sometimes cause things to fly out of the airplane. I wasn’t worried, though. I was feeling confident. I had trained for a lot of hours to get to this point.
I was lined up on the edge of runway two seven, my favorite.
Take Off!
I was on top of the world and feeling very confident. My little teddy bear companion, Amelia, had been given to me by a friend and was in the seat next to me.
As I took off, I was so excited. I thought, “Oh my God, I’m flying!” I even said it on my solo video, “I’m flying, I’m flying!”
In no time at all, I had landed the first time. It was beautiful.
When you land, you communicate with the tower and then get off the runway. You don’t just land and take off right away. You get all the way off the runway and then come back on. This gives you a little bit of time to think through setting up your plane and taking off again.
As I did this and prepared for my second take-off, I had a million thoughts running through my mind. They were excited, happy thoughts, and the one that kept circling was, “Oh my God, my family is so proud of me! This is so exciting!”
I was wheels up, taking off for the second time just as quickly as the first time. I’m sure my smile was the biggest ever.
And then it happened.
I was turning to go downwind when Amelia, the teddy bear, almost flew out of the plane due to the strong crosswind. I saw it just in time and reached out, grabbed her, and quickly stuck her between my back and the seat, squished but safe.
At that moment, I didn’t realize I’d let go of the power of the plane, and had elevated the airplane a couple of hundred feet above the pattern of the airport. I had to calm down. This was my first solo, and now I was nervous.
Everyone was watching me. The tower was watching me because they knew that I was a student. I was nervous, and I called the tower back to tell them I needed to extend my downwind because I was too high.
The controller gave me a little bit of pressure because three other planes were waiting to land right before me and said, “Don’t take a long time.” That landing was one of the worst in my 400 landings.
It was very bumpy–just horrible–and I thought I would stop somewhere off the runway. I was so scared. I had tears running down my cheeks and talked to the tower in a broken voice.
At the same time, I thought of my family and what they might be thinking. I had to decide–to make one of the most important decisions. Do I want to do this? Do I want to fly planes, or do I want to give up right now?
A moment later, I took a deep breath, straightened up in my seat, and knew that I had what it takes to be a pilot. Even more, I wanted to be a pilot. So, I decided to take off again, this time with more mature confidence. I was humbly confident, and Amelia was right there where I put her, the bravest teddy bear you’ll ever meet.
A Successful Landing
I landed, and I remember it was just such a fantastic feeling. My instructor was telling me, “You did it, Jackie! I’m so proud of you. I knew you could do it.”
My kids, my husband, and my friend were all hugging me. Lynn had brought me some flowers, and then the instructor proceeded to cut the back of my shirt to symbolize getting my wings. That was a beautiful moment, but I did wish I’d chosen a different shirt that day.
The Start of #Pilotina
It was amongst all that excitement and energy when I felt something, what I call a “divine download,” to my heart. I knew I needed to replicate my little teddy bear to give to people all over the world. I didn’t have travel plans—yet—but I knew that I was going to.
It wasn’t long before we had created a little Teddy bear with a logo that my husband designed for #Pilotina, the word that I made up, which is pilot plus (+) Latina. So, everything started merging, and I think that’s when you know that you’re living your purpose.
When I ordered my first hundred teddy bears, my husband was like, “what the is this? What are you going to do with 100 teddy bears?” I explained that I had to do this. I would figure it out. I didn’t know who they would be given to yet, but I knew it would be impactful.
I don’t even remember who I gave the first hundred to, but it was like sparkling magic everywhere. And then the second box arrived, and by the fifth or sixth box of 100 teddy bears, he said, “I give up. I surrender; you win.”
To date, I have given away 1075 teddy bears all over the world. I have given them to kids at the airport, to the elderly, to authors, to graduates of the Fig Factor Foundation, to children with cancer, and more.
It is amazing and magical what you can do with a little teddy bear waiting to be put into someone’s hands and held tight. They have touched the lives and hearts of many people.
Live With Intention
I think when you live with intention and a magical approach, it’s as Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though life is ordinary. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
So, I live my life trying to share those miracles that are happening every single day, measured by #micromoments. I can be very pragmatic as a CEO to land on things. I have to look at the cockpit to see if the oil pressure is there and all that, but I could also be very whimsical.
I think the point where both of these worlds intercept–the pragmatic and the whimsical world, and that’s where a lot of brilliance and magix lie.
Jacqueline Camacho-Ruiz is the CEO of JJR Marketing (www.jjrmarketing.com) and Fig Factor Media LLC international book publishing company (www.figfactormedia.com), founder of The Fig Factor Foundation (www.thefigfactor.org), creator of Today’s Inspired Latina book series and international movement (http://www.todayslatina.com), author of thirteen books (www.jackiecamacho.com), international speaker, and pilot. Jacqueline speaks to hundreds of audiences about marketing, servant leadership, finding your passion, and achieving success in business. She has addressed the United States Army, BP International, United Airlines, Allstate, and Farmers Insurance among other corporations to share her inspiration.
If you or an organization you know needs as speaker, please get in touch with us at https://www.jackiecamacho.com/contact.