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Only you can give yourself the confidence to achieve.

[Credit: Derrick Davis]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Carole Hopson, a United Airlines Boeing 737 captain, overcame significant hurdles as a Black woman to achieve her lifelong dream of flying, attributing her success to perseverance, strategic planning, and strong personal support.
  • She actively champions diversity in aviation through her Jet Black Foundation and the "100 Pairs of Wings" program, aiming to recruit and train African-American female pilots to address industry shortages.
  • Hopson inspires others by emphasizing the importance of mentorship, continuous learning, and maintaining focus and grace while balancing a demanding career, family life, and philanthropic efforts.
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We can all easily remember the first time the dream to fly wrapped its arms around us and refused to let go. That was Carole Hopson’s story. Becoming a pilot was to her not a question, it was more of a challenge, and as a young Black woman, the hurdles could have seemed too high to overcome.

Carole is not a person who saw those challenges as insurmountable. Previously, as a corporate executive and journalist, she met every obstacle with gusto. When she started training to fly, her quest to her current role as a United Airlines Boeing 737 captain based out of Newark, New Jersey, could have been derailed many times. It took a solid plan, years of work, and a combination of brains, perseverance, and an infectious positive attitude to make her dream come true.

Dan Pimentel

Dan Pimentel is an instrument-rated private pilot and former airplane owner who has been flying since 1996. As an aviation journalist and photographer, he has covered all aspects of the general and business aviation communities for a long list of major aviation magazines, newspapers and websites. He has never met a flying machine that he didn’t like, and has written about his love of aviation for years on his Airplanista blog. For 10 years until 2019, he hosted the popular ‘Oshbash’ social media meetup events at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

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