We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hector Torres a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Hector thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

At age 48, after 23 years in the IT industry, I decided to purse my dream to become an airline pilot. This was a huge decision and a huge gamble. The training lasted a little over 10 weeks and it was the most difficult endeavor I have ever pursued. The training itself was challenging and demanding but the what I had the most difficulty with was being away from my family for so long. At times I questioned my decision, but my close friends and family encouraged me to continue. I am glad I kept going, on August 15 my dream became a reality when I passed my final checkride.

My hope is to encourage my children and anyone thinking about pursing their dreams to create a plan and execute it. We are only here for a short time and we must create our own opportunities and our own story.

I hope my children, family and friends will remember a genuine individual that listened to his heart and followed his dream. Someone that was afraid but through the support of his family and close friends dared to take pursue his passion for aviation. I hope others will find my story inspiring so they may take the leap and seek out their own dreams!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am originally from Puerto Rico. At age 5 I took my first flight and immediately I fell in love with aviation. At age 13 I moved to California. I was not able to pursue my passion for aviation due to cost and instead became an IT professional. In 2016 I finally was able to pursue my dream to learn to fly and in 2017 I became a private pilot. I continued to earn other ratings and certificates, including becoming a flight instructor in 2022. In 2023, after some “soul searching,” I decided to pursue a career change and finally become an airline pilot. The decision was not easy and it took a lot of conversations with my wife, children and trusted friends.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In March of 2024 I was offered a job with a regional carrier and decided to quit my IT job and pursue my dream. After 10 grueling weeks of training, on August 15 I became an airline pilot. I am incredibly proud of this achievement because not only does it show my children the importance to seek out new opportunities and follow their own dreams but I learned how strong I really was. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life and often I’d think I would not make it, but in the end, I persevered through it and accomplished my goal. I also learned the depth of my family’s love for me, while I have always known they love me, respect me and admire me, their support and love reached a new depth. I would call them and cry on the phone because I missed them and I was feeling lonely and when I wanted to give up, they would not let me. They also reassured me that my value to them was not based on whether I made or not, simply taking the step to pursue my dream was a win in their view and that meant to world to me. I had to learn that my value is not attached necessarily to our “wins” or “losses” but to our character and how we go about life and our pursue of happiness.

I urge anyone that is considering pursing their dream to create a plan, seek the advise of trusted friends or colleagues, and dare to take that step of faith. In the end, not only will they achieve a dream but they will learn a lot about themselves and how strong the human spirit can be.

Any advice for managing a team?

I was in IT management for over 10 years and I always made sure to remember that I was not managing “numbers” or “resources” but people with families, dreams, etc. I would take an interest for each individual and would always take the time to learn about each of them and their families. This would help me better manage the department but most importantly, it would help me earn their respect. Often times management, especially those in senior positions, forget but the real reason why management exists, we are there to not only carry out a mission but to also care for those performing said mission.

Image Credits

All photos taken by me or with my personal device under my direction.