We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexandra Schloesser and Monika Gietl. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexandra Schloesser and Monika Gietl below.
Alexandra and Monika, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
It was spring 2022. Alex and Monika were with Alex and in the process of throwing together the first portfolio elements for their brand “Air Lovers”, which Alex had designed at the beginning of 2020. Almost overnight, Monika came up with the idea of the mental flight trainings and she created a first prototype that same night. Alex and Monika were on fire right away. On this day in spring 2022, pilot interviews, pilot stories and a regular online pilots meetup should now be added.
When they told a friend of theirs about their plans, he was so enthusiastic that he helped them to be guest exhibitors at the world’s leading aviation show AERO 2022. The challenge however: They only had 2 weeks to prepare and put their ideas into a presentable form because the fair was just around the corner.
“Challenge accepted!”, Alex and Monika thought. So the first step in the execution was done. And with the support from friends and other people they were able to keep the timeline without any problems.
At the fair, Alex and Monika had the opportunity to get initial feedback from pilots and potential customers. Building from there, they then further modified the Air Lovers portfolio. Some parts they discarded, and some new elements they added. One year later, in spring 2023, a harmonious and consistent portfolio had been developed, consisting of:
- Aviator Meetups 2.0 (regular online pilots meetups)
• Fly High Masterminds (deep-dive learning sessions to refresh, but also to expand aeronautical knowledge)
• Next Level Experiences (shared, extraordinary flight trips around the world)
• Mental Flight Trainings (for programming standard procedures into the subconscious)
This was the portfolio when Air Lovers LLC was finally founded in January 2023 and then officially launched in February 2023 as part of an online format called “OverFLYING Limits into Freedom – Must-knows for planning a successful flight trip across Europe”.
The feedback Alex and Monika received for their launch was amazing and very motivating. They even got their first customers at that time and started acquiring speakers for the now upcoming Aviator Meetups 2.0 and Fly High Masterminds. In addition, they started planning their Next Level Experiences flight trips to Hungary and Scandinavia in 2023.
For passionate private pilots and aviation enthusiasts who want to put their flying passion into practice and fly to dream destinations in a community, the Air Lovers offer the platform to learn together and to fly safely across national borders to widen the personal horizon.
Unlike other providers, everyone can get involved with Air Lovers and help shape the content and flight tours, share their joy and knowledge with others, fly over borders (worldwide) and thus fully enjoy their own freedom.
But the crystal-clear “why” still needed some defining. And while preparing for the next AERO in 2023 Alex and Monika had an inspiration: Their biggest dream – actually the reason why they started flight training back then – is to explore the world by flying. But it would take a strong team to make this come true. This is how the big vision “Around the World with 80 Pilots!” (inspired by Jules Verne’s famous novel “Around the World in 80 Days”) was born and suddenly everything fell into place.
The individual portfolio elements turned out to be the cornerstones for realizing exactly this vision together with the Air Lovers members.
The AERO 2023 was a great success. Alex and Monika received lots of attention and very positive feedback from private pilots (young ones, but also more experienced ones), got invited for several interviews and made great connections with flight schools, pilot associations and different flight experts.
Alex’s and Monika’s strategy until today has always been to make one step after the other, take enough time for creative processes and be open for the possibilities by always looking for the good in anything that happened to – or rather for – them.
Alexandra and Monika, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Monika studied Computer Science and is proficient in IT process and project management. Furthermore, she is a certified Agile Coach and an expert for modern meeting culture.
Alex has worked in product development and marketing in the beverage segment.
Both started flying completely independently of each other a few years ago.
Monika has been a private pilot (PPL(A)) since 2018. During a brainstorming session for her ‘perfect day’ (inspired by Julia Cameron’s “The Artist‘s Way”) she suddenly found out that she would love to travel all over the world in her aircraft.
Monika loves to bring people together and organize meetups (online and offline).
When she got her PPL(A) license at her local flight school “Air Munich Aviation” in Jesenwang (Bavaria, Germany) she founded – together with a girlfriend – a pilot’s meetup where pilots share their passion and experiences in flying and come together for flight trips. Up until then these topics were simply neglected.
One of the highlights was a Top Gun theme party in 2019, organized by Alex and Monika and two more friends. This group of pilots and pilot students soon comprised well over 100 pilots.
In 2019 and 2020 Monika lived and worked in Minneapolis, MN,USA, increased her flying
experiences and established contacts with local flying schools (e.g. Inflight Pilot Training in Eden Prairie, MN) as well as flying schools in California, Nevada and Hawaii. At that time she was planning a US flight trip with friends from Germany in the area of Las Vegas, NV.
Monika wanted to connect her home base in Germany with pilots of various U.S. flight schools for an exchange program for student pilots and their instructors.
But Monika is also the calm and imaginative part of the team. She loves to use her quiet voice in meditations and creative visualizations. Soon she decided to use her talent for „programming“ the subconscious with standard procedures in flying to gain more and more security in her own flight practice every day. Thus she developed the first Mental Flight Training for Air Lovers and they have since received lots of positive feedback.
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In 2008, Alex regularly went jogging past an airfield in Paderborn. Each time she stopped at the fence and watched the aircraft. One summer’s day, one of the pilots approached her and asked her if she wanted to accompany him on a flight and she accepted.
Never before had she thought of becoming a pilot, let alone that it might become her life’s passion. Nevertheless, after this first wonderful experience – a free discovery flight – she spontaneously signed up for the pilot training.
But after her first solo flight several events in her life forced her to quit. But whenever
she heard an aircraft‘s engine she looked into the sky. So in 2017 she restarted her
flight training and after more obstacles she finally got her PPL(A) – to the day after 12 years in July 2020. Thanks go to the pilot community who offered her great support on the last mile.
Since then, she no longer only dreams of flying, but actively pursues it and continues to improve her skills and develop.
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After Alex’s and Monika’s flight training, they flew with pilots from their home base and further explored the local area. However, Alex and Monika wanted more.
They checked further possibilities, e.g. a license for night flights or an instrument rating. This didn‘t seem satisfactory though as they didn‘t simply want to complete one training after the other. They rather wanted to make the most of their existing pilot license – together with many like-minded pilots, all over Europe or preferably even worldwide.
But such a possibility simply did not exist.
During 2022, Alex and Monika started to develop various portfolio elements according to their personal flying wishes and needs with the intention to transpose them into action – together with and for the benefit of other pilots.
Pilots meet at the (inter) national online Aviator Meetup 2.0 to make new contacts beyond their local airfield, discuss flight experiences and aims in the community as well as what development goals they personally want to achieve.
At the Fly High Mastermind sessions experts share the necessary know-how with the pilot community for planning flights across Europe and in future also worldwide. These experts offer their numerous experiences and sound knowledge of various topics.
Mental Flight Trainings anchor in the subconscious mind to make any standard procedures instantly available when needed.
Eventually Alex and Monika made a decision: “Let‘s put an end to prevarications and diversions. Let‘s not only dream of our life‘s journey. Let‘s make it become a reality. Never mind what might interfere.
And how can we achieve that? Definitely as a team!”
By combining Aviator Meetups 2.0, Fly High Masterminds and Mental Flight Training it is ensured that all members are best prepared for the flight trips by learning AND DOING. It‘s sad to just amass knowledge without applying what has been learned – often for years!
So this and the following year Air Lovers will fly to destinations in Europe, and later in Africa, South Africa and so on. Having acquired knowledge and experience in many countries and continents Air Lovers will finally be able to embark on the great journey together “With 80 Pilots around the World!”.
Alex and Monika are excited about their project and highly motivated to work on it. They want to make their dream come true, but not just for themselves: they want other pilots to join them on this journey and share this mind-boggling adventure with them.
Air Lovers is THE community for all those who want to widen their horizons: Let‘s fly to the continents and finally once around the world!
• Targeted preparation (including briefings) supported by experts from the piloting scene
• (Inter) national pilot networking
• All pilots – from prospective to “old hands” – meeting as equals
• Promoting the pilot mindset to stay calm and composed in challenging situations
• Unforgettable adventures and various events at the flight destinations
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
In their home airport it was customary for a student pilot to interact only with their flight instructors, but there was hardly any contact with other pilots. It was Monika‘s and her friend’s idea to promote the contact among pilots and so they organized a get together. When Alex heard about it she joined the group as she too was looking for a chance to meet other student pilots to learn and practice with and to talk about their experiences.
Alex and Monika found a person you could „steal horses“ with in each other. Over the years they became best friends and reliable business partners.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Alex and Monika each have quite a different professional background. Just a few years earlier getting a pilot license, let alone chucking one‘s career in a presumably safe profession to pursue the dream of flying were simply unthinkable.
Alex and Monika had to throw the conviction that dreams have nothing to do with reality overboard. However, only dreaming of possibilities is not the real thing either. They had to find ways to effect a change. It takes courage and perseverance to complete this process.
These days Alex and Monika are experiencing personally that one can make a dream come true, step by step. It‘s a journey with many ups and downs. But if you stay focused there will always be a new door opening and new opportunities will appear. And at some point there’s just no turning back.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://air-lovers.com/en/home-en/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/airlovers.official/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/airlovers
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/air-lovers-llc/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@airlovers.official