Want a Career in Aviation? Get Plugged In! ✈️ An Interview with Catherine Wren

In this episode of the Jet Life Podcast, I sit down with Catherine Wren, NBAA Top 40 Under 40 & NTBAA Board of Directors, to talk all about breaking into the world of private aviation. Catherine shares her story of growing up in a small New Mexico town, knowing nothing about aviation, and how she found her way into the industry. From starting out on the flight line to becoming a key leader in the business, Catherine’s journey shows how passion and determination can take you far. We cover everything from the challenges of getting started with zero experience to the importance of building relationships and making connections.

Catherine also dives into the value of mentorship, networking, and her involvement with NBAA’s Young Professionals (YoPro) Council. If you're trying to break into aviation but feel like you don’t have the right background, this is the episode for you. Catherine’s advice? Focus on hard work, patience, and finding the right people to learn from. Whether you’re curious about private aviation or already in the field, this episode is packed with practical insights that can help you get ahead.

Get in Touch with Catherine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catclay/

Sign Up for NBAA-BACE 2024: https://nbaa.org/events/2024-nbaa-business-aviation-convention-exhibition-nbaa-bace/

🤝 Join our FREE Private Online Community for aspiring Jet Brokers: https://circle.jetlifeaero.com

Being a Private Jet Broker is a life changing opportunity for those seeking a career in an industry that has low competition and extremely high commissions.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody and welcome to the Jet Life podcast.
My name is Tom Lelio, I'm yourultimate jet guide and on
today's episode, we're pullingback the curtain on private
aviation with Catherine Wren,and so we're going to be
discussing a couple of reallyinteresting topics when it comes
to how to just break intoaviation.
What are some of the pros andcons and things that you've seen

(00:22):
in your experience.
So thank you so much for beinghere.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Thank you, I appreciate being here.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
We're going to do a little walk and talk.
Let's see if we can actuallymake this happen.
But yeah, no, please tell us alittle bit about yourself.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Sure, I was born and raised in a very small town in
New Mexico, about 30 miles fromthe Mexican border and about 90
miles from the Arizona border.
Really Okay, aviationcommercial or business Didn't
even know it existed.
I was blessed enough to playDivision II college basketball,

(00:52):
where a girlfriend of mineactually knew somebody that knew
the manager at Business Chat atthe time.
So I come in, oh yeah, and I'mright out of college.
It was maybe two months beforeI was going to graduate and I
came up to Dallas for about aweek to stay and had some
interviews set up and then sheset me up with some, but my
ultimate passion was I wanted tobe the next year manager.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
So I did broadcasting , journalism, pr okay, tell me
about Aaron Andrews, sorry.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
I'm sports broadcaster okay, typically
football, I mean on thesidelines.
So she's the one, oh, okay,cool, talking to the coaches
after, you know, during thegames.
But that was my ultimate goaland, like I said, I went to
Dallas for about a week and Ihad some interviews set up.
I set some up myself and wentto lunch.
My girlfriend that I used toplay ball with knew somebody.

(01:37):
She made a call, called JamieMunoz, who's still in the
industry, gave her a call andsaid hey, erica has a friend
that wants to go to dallas.
Sure, bring her in.
Hey, at the time I didn't havea smartphone, so they gave me a
dps and her phone, tom tom oh mygosh and um, they said go find
her.
And I said, okay, so what doesshe do something with airplanes?

(02:00):
I think I am going to leftField to apply for a flight.
Oh, and at the time I know, andat the time I thought I'm
single.
You know, I got no ties, I cango, I can travel.
So I pull up to this beautifulfacility, walked in, they
stopped the door.
I see this chandelier and I'mlike this is going to be so nice

(02:20):
.
Anyway, ended up in a veryinformal interview with Jamie
and she was the brand manager atthe time.
She gave me the lay of the land, as I'm giving her my hopes and
dreams of being the next ErinAndrews.
So fast forward.
I got a call a week later.
I graduated on a Saturday,moved on a Wednesday, started
working.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Oh my gosh, that's aviation.
Sometimes it just kind ofhappens just like that.
Yep, oh my gosh.
Okay, so you got involved inaviation with no experience
before, none.
Okay, describe to what yourfirst year was like.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Scary.
I moved to Dallas knowing oneperson and I jumped into an
industry that I knew nothingabout and I left everything that
I knew, you know, 800 milesaway.
But it was scary andchallenging but I loved every
second of it.
I could tell very early on thiswas a relationship built
industry and it's all aboutconnection on top of some of the
most amazing aircraft at heavymetal out there.

(03:18):
So I started out on the flightline and I was towing and I
didn't fuel and I didn't dumplabs, but I did basically
everything else on the flightline and then I ended up, you
know, getting trained atcustomer service and then from
there roles started opening up.
So I started to become atrainer for CSR, trainer on the
flight line, and I ended up inmarketing.
And then here I am in the chiefexperience officer role and

(03:41):
loving it.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
That's amazing.
So what advice would you giveto someone who is interested in
joining the aviation world butthey don't have an aviation
background and they're getting alittle bit of pushback from the
industry of Well, we'll hireyou, but we need aviation
experience, sure.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
And I know that's where a lot of this industry is
right now is getting good peoplein, and it really starts with
the younger generation.
I tell people this all the timeand I even tell my employees I
don't care how much you know orhow much experience you have.
You've got to have heart andyou've got to have want, and if
you have a desire to work hard,you're going to make it in any
industry, this one in particular.

(04:20):
Yes, there are some regulationsand safety concerns that you've
got to get under your beltbefore you can start making
moves.
Find a mentor, Find somebodythat does not or that they know
something more than you do in adifferent area, to just learn
and it amazes me the differentavenues and the different roles
in the industry and so findsomebody who you want to learn

(04:43):
from and pick their brain anduse them as accountability and
as a mentor to keep you on track.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
Gotcha, and so now you're in a leadership position.
You're also involved in NBAA'sYopro initiative, so why don't
you talk to us a little bitabout the importance for
individuals to get involved in anetwork, something like an NBAA
, and some of the stuff thatyou're doing with Yopro?

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Absolutely.
This is one of my favoritetopics and it again goes back to
those relationships andconnections.
I am blessed enough to sit onthe Young Professionals Council
with 25 other youngprofessionals that are
powerhouses in every avenue thatyou could imagine.
So I've been on the council foralmost three years now and from
there we have grown into somany different avenues to help

(05:30):
get back to the community bringtogether young professionals on
tips and tricks, on networking,how to build your LinkedIn
profile, what is your personalbrand, what does that mean, and
really give them a light intothis amazing industry and the
different opportunities.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Okay, can you tell us about one of?
Can you tell us a story about atime where you faced either a
failure or just a really bigobstacle, and what you learned
from that situation?

Speaker 2 (06:01):
There's, there's many of them right.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
It's like every day there's some fire to be put out
right.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
But it brings me back to my first year as a chef,
when I was 24 years old,starting my career and, um, you
know, I I was jumping, like Isaid, head first, but into a
very male-dominated industry.
Oh, that's true.
And you know, I learned veryquickly through conversations

(06:27):
and I would tell my story and alot of the crew members would
say so.
You moved 12 hours from NewMexico to Dallas and they all
say, oh, for a boy, right?
And I said no, no, this is forme, this is for my career.
And it also makes me think of Iwas the first female to tow

(06:47):
that business jet since 1993 toget fully trained and certified.
So you know, there was somepushback there.
I had to ask a couple of timesand I basically had to say, hey,
I am going to be the best assetfor this company if I can learn
all the different roles andareas so I can help.
But I ended up getting fullytrained.
But you know, in that processthere were comments of oh, we'll

(07:10):
see how long she lives, andthen even comments of I think
you need to stay in your company.
That fueled my fire even moreto be the best employee, not
just female, but the bestemployee.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, I really appreciate youbringing that up because I think
, especially if people aregetting into aviation, if it's
whether it's their first careeror not, you're going to face a
lot of adversity and, um the,the ability to discipline your
disappointments, yep and uh.
I think the mentor is a hugepiece, yes, and the network who

(07:41):
you surround yourself with,because if you feel like you're
all alone, you're going to feelall alone, and when these things
happen, you're going to feellike it's just happening to me
and there's no support.
But with organizations likeMBAA, gopro, there's resources
there to help you through it.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Absolutely, and you know you've got to think of it.
We're not recreating the wheeland I'm not the first female to
come through or hit the person.
So finding other women that arelike-minded, that have a
passion in all people and justthe industry in general, they
help you and direct you in wayshow they have overcome certain
situations to give you a littlelight, and so that's what I

(08:20):
really hope to pass on to thefuture generation, especially
women in aviation.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
I get it.
So there's a few more questionsbefore we get into the rapid
fire questions.
But what's one of the biggest,or maybe a few of the biggest,
mistakes that you've seen youngbrokers making or young aviation
professionals when they'refirst getting started in their
career?

Speaker 2 (08:40):
They want it all and they want it now and again.
Experience comes with time andwith that you build trust with
not only your fellow employees,with your management team, but
with your customers.
You don't build relationshipswithin a day, you don't get a
deal done within a day.
It's that relationship that,once you break down to certain
layers, I always say you have toget a few layers in to build

(09:03):
trust and then from thereeverything else just flourishes
and kind of comes together.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
I love that.
Yeah, patience, yep, sure, verymuch, okay, all right, so we're
in our rapid fire questions.
I'm just going to ask you, liketwo, two quick topics, you kind
of pick which one that speaksto you.
Doesn't have to be yourfavorite, doesn't have to be
have any reason to it, um, or ifyou want to explain yourself,
you're welcome to explainyourself too, okay.
So, starting off with pizza orsteak, steak, okay.

(09:31):
Okay, what is cooked for yoursteak?

Speaker 2 (09:33):
medium okay and give.
So you like to burn it, but Ilove all the sides.
Give me some mac and cheese orlike a loaded big potato and a
steak, and I'm good to go iPhoneor Android.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Oh, iPhone Delta or Southwest.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Southwest, mainly because I have so many friends
that work there and I have somany flight attendant friends
and I can get free drinks hereand there.
So there's some benefits.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
Gotcha.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
But I love the servant's heart.
Uh, the customer firstmentality.
Uh, from that perfect uber orlyft depends on what promo codes
they've got.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
Okay would you rather a hundred thousand dollars now
or a thousand dollars a monthfor the rest of your life?
Thousand dollars a month forthe rest of my life?
Falcon or Gulfstream.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Oh, this is tough.
Probably a Falcon, because ifI'm in heels I can actually
stand up straight in the cabin.
Gotcha.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
You're learning to fly High wing Cessna 172, low
wing Piper.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
High wing.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
Well, yes, you own a jet.
Would you rather own a jet andbe the pilot that flies it, or
be the owner of the jet sittingin the back seat?

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Sitting in the back.
Nice, be propped up, maybe withmy steak Love it.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
Well, Kat, thank you so much for spending some time
with us.
I really do appreciate it.
Where can people find moreinformation or reach out to you
if they have any questions onMBAAA or Yopro?

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Absolutely so.
I'm on all social media sites,but on LinkedIn you can find me
at Catherine Kat Rin and then Ican share from there YoproGo and
other Yopro initiatives.
Maybe get more folks involved.
Perfect, we're looking forwardto your talk later today.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
Awesome, thank you Appreciate it.