We were lucky to catch up with Julie Bennett recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Julie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?
I was very reluctant to post on social media for years, both personally and professionally. Two events occurred in early 2018 that changed my mind. The first was one of our flight students kept bugging me to post. She was relentless because she believed we had so many interesting stories to tell. At the same time, Christina Pascucci who was then working as a reporter for KTLA news, video’d a flight she took with us and tagged us on Instagram. I was not prepared to do anything with that great exposure. As a non profit we were not in a position to hire anyone to post for us, so that was never an option. Because I manage all of our non profit missions, our Warriors SOAR program for veterans and Glider-STEM program for teens, as well as our regular flight school business, and have up close and personal knowledge and ability to capture the trials and smiles –it made sense that I would be the person posting. Our accounts grew slowly, but within three years we had 10K followers on Instagram and today as of this writing we have 35K, 15K on Facebook and 195K on TikTok. We receive DM’s from people all over the world wanting to schedule flights, asking us “how to become a pilot”, and cheering us on from afar. And now even our instructors take videos of their students flying for me to use, showcasing the abilities of everyone from 11-100 year olds, as well as gorgeous views of the mountains, ocean and high desert. People visit from all over the world because they saw our social media posts, especially airline pilots who are on layover at LAX. We’ve been told that our Instagram is fun to watch because of its inclusivity re all ages, genders, race and that all backgrounds are represented. A lesson that I can share with others re posting is to leverage your passion for your business and think of your social media accounts as if you’re creating a show. There are characters in your business, episodes, lessons learned, ups and downs, visuals, all while telling a story as to how people are benefitting from what you offer. or are doing. Create your social media to entertain and inspire and the sales will follow. Today in 2024, creating videos and posts for social media is my most favorite thing to do, because I have so much fun interviewing people and sharing stories. I’m curious about what brought them to aviation and particularly to our airfield. Make sure you’re having fun too. If you’re not having fun, don’t do it. Take a break and come back to it when you can find the joy in it. I’ve taken many a break and when I’ve returned to posting, the audience was still there waiting for more!
Julie, 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?
I’m on my third career. I started out as an event planner in Los Angeles in the 1980’s cutting my teeth during the ’84 Olympics, and large events like The Governors Ball. I was in the restaurant business with my family for the next 21 years, both in Palm Desert from 1990-2003 and then Melrose Bar & Grill until 2010 (in the space Craig’s currently inhabits) in West Hollywood. One night the head of the FAA was dining with us in our Palm Desert restaurant. I introduced him to my husband, who was our chef (and a private pilot since his early 20’s). He suggested that my husband look into flying gliders and that it would help his airplane flying. My husband took his advice. Upon closing our restaurant in 2010, many years after that fortuitous conversation with the FAA, my husband was serendipitously asked to manage the same small glider operation in the high desert of Los Angeles (Southern California Soaring Academy), where he’d been recently flying gliders for fun. Because we’d already been in business together for 21 years, it was natural for him to ask me to help him as a volunteer in this new job. I was happy to help, but terrified of the flying aspect. By 2011 I was asked to join its board of directors and to manage the marketing, office, bookkeeping, scheduling and non profit events. After observing how happy everyone was at the glider port, I was keen to shed my personal fear of flying, which developed a decade earlier during a turbulent commercial flight. While it was not an easy process, my desire to shake the fear was very strong. I started taking lessons and by 2017 I earned my private pilot rating in gliders. In 2011 the Southern California Soaring Academy received its 501c3 non profit status and that summer we hosted our first mission; Warriors SOAR, with veterans who had just received their new prosthetics from the Naval Medical Center as our first participants. In the years that followed we’ve grown to include all the SoCal VA hospitals and have taken over 2000 veterans flying during these private monthly fly days. Soaring Academy opened in 2009 and is a glider flight school based in the high desert of Los Angeles, right up against the north side of The Angeles Forest Mountains. Gliders aka Sailplanes are fully certificated aircraft, but without engines, able to stay aloft after being towed to altitude using rising air currents referred to as lift (as seen in The Thomas Crown Affair). Our main business is flight instruction for the general public toward earning FAA pilot certifications. We also offer educational rides to the public. Our first mission was Warriors SOAR for veterans and our second mission Glider-STEM was launched in 2014, where we partner with schools and other community organizations like the LAPD, to introduce aviation to young teens and show them what they’re capable of through instructional glider flights and workshops. To date we’ve taken thousands of teens flying and exposed tens of thousands to a career field they never thought was even possible. What sets us apart from the other few glider operations in the country is our background in hospitality, running events and working with large groups of people. Having dealt with thousands of high profile customers on a weekly basis during our restaurant and catering years in Palm Desert and Los Angeles, working with veterans who have ptsd, brain injuries and other disabling injuries is such a big change and a privilege. These veterans are so appreciative of every little thing we offer, including a handshake or a smile. Likewise, we hear from parents of young teens who report back “flying gliders started it all, gave my daughter true confidence and judgement at such a young age”. That same girl who solo’d with us as a teen, is now a Navy Jet Pilot. Veterans tell us that flying in the glider made them feel alive again. It takes a large community of highly skilled pilots and other professionals for us to offer our services, maintain our facility, our aircraft and pull off our events, with the safety and efficiency required if we want to sleep well at night. In business I’m most proud of my ability to work so well with my husband for the past 34 years and to have cooperatively built an organization where others shine and thrive and earn FAA ratings and go on to greater things. At present I am on the Soaring Academy’s board of directors and I co-manage the organization, its missions and flight operation with my husband Chris. I’m personally most proud of the path I carved out to overcome a tremendous fear of flying and work through all the anxieties and symptoms that go along with that, to earn my private pilot rating. Our brand is about serious fun! It’s about inspiring the impossible, lighting a flame in the next generation, offering therapeutic flight experiences for veterans and first responders dealing with ptsd, and cooperatively working with many, in support of flights that launch potential and provide so much joy. I consider myself very fortunate to be doing what we’re doing. It’s also a privilege to fly in the world class soaring conditions that our geographic location affords. Where the cool moist air from the Los Angeles basin meets the hot arid desert air over the San Gabriel Mountains is where the magic is. Come see for yourself what all the fuss is about, it’s addicting and it’s right in Angelenos’ backyard! It’s freedom at its very best!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Building a reputation in aviation is ongoing and it involves cultivating deliberate habits. For starters something very simple that applies to most business is the habit of answering e-mails, and phone calls. I like to receive good customer service myself, so I make it a point to respond right away, even if its to say thanks for your e-mail, I’ll be back in touch soon. I receive countless replies from people saying thank you for replying. The next big overarching factor above everything else we do is safety. We don’t deviate from our standard operating procedures, and rules of the airport. Sometimes that involves the opposite of what might be considered customer service, which can become a distraction. Distractions in aviation are not good. They take your focus off of what is required to keep things safe. All it takes is one compromise and you begin a domino effect and then you’re operating within other peoples standards. At the end of the day without safety we don’t have a business. Our mission is to create an atmosphere where the potential to become a very good pilot and earn an FAA rating has the highest outcomes for success. We tell it like it is. Sometimes people come to us and have a request that isn’t in their best interest. For example, we’ve turned down some big money from production companies wanting to make commercials at our field using helicopters or other aircraft, who in our opinion did not have safety at the forefront of their plans. On one such occasion my husband told the producers that their idea was not safe, and why we were not going to participate. He described what the outcome could be. They moved on to another location in the western US who did take their business and the result was that the glider pilot was killed during the filming of that commercial, for the exact reasons we predicted. Because safety is our primary focus, we attract high calibre pilots who instruct and fly our tow planes, which in turn creates a high level of professionalism throughout our daily operation. The students and people who take rides from us as well as the veterans and teens we work with all benefit from that. We cultivate a friendly atmosphere and take the time necessary to educate people about all aspects of flight training. Our goal is for people to walk away with a comprehensive view, even if they never follow up and sometimes that’s a good thing. We stay focused one day at a time to create high value experiences for everyone. It’s such a privilege to offer our services and we don’t take it for granted.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve had to pivot several times. The thing about pivoting is you get more familiar with uncertainty, which in itself is a skill and an attitude. One notable time was in 2007 our restaurant on Melrose in West Hollywood was originally a fine dining restaurant with corresponding high prices. Noticing that things were changing in the marketplace, we knew we had to pivot to keep up with those changes. After strategic planning we closed for 6 weeks, and basically had a barn raising. Our neighbors and loyal customers in West Hollywood, who were architects, designers, and graphic artists rallied to help us re-brand and reopen quickly. We created a new menu with pub style food, re-designed the space, re-decorated and re-named the business to Melrose Bar & Grill. The result was as one West Hollywood resident put it “you guys hit a bullseye”. We had lines out the door and a good review in the LA Times. It took a village to make that happen. Before we closed in 2010 we receive a Michelin award for “Best Value” in West Hollywood. Moral to that story was “Ask for help”! People want to help. Then again when our family decided to get out of the restaurant business altogether after 21 years, I had to pivot again. This time I did not have a clue what I was going to do. It felt scary because I was in my mid forties. My husband had already segwayed into running the Soaring Academy flight school, but it was not clear what my path forward would be. It certainly wasn’t going to be anything to do with aviation. I was having anxiety about what was next. One day my husband said “you’re coming with me to the airport (his work), I need your help”. I kept an open mind as I volunteered, eventually going all in, mostly to help him. That led to the board of directors inviting me to be on the board, which led to more responsibility. It was small incremental movement forward and for about a year I was simply helping as this was a brand new business. I enjoyed the people and the place immensely and that was a big payoff for me. As the months passed it grew on me more and more and at a certain point I couldn’t imagine not being there. I was lucky enough that eventually it also became my job as well as my passion. I’ve grown to love everything about it including the nature aspect of what we do up in the air. I’got to educate myself on many subjects over the years including earning my Aviation Advanced Ground Instructor rating as well as earning my pilots license, and immersing in topics surrounding ptsd, disabling injuries, recreational therapy, fundraising, teamwork, and educating teens. What started out as a lot of fear turned into a lot of love. As one of our restaurant customers told me twenty years earlier during a difficult time “the hotter the fire the stronger the steel”. It’s not necessarily following your passion that leads to what’s in your best interest in the long run, but rather leaning in to what scares you and offering help without expecting anything in return. When you find yourself in a crises or don’t know what to do, leverage your strengths and take the next best step. It may not be comfortable, but that’s where the growth is and new opportunities abound.
Contact Info:
- Website: SoaringAcademy.org
- Instagram: Soaring Academy
- Facebook: Soaring Academy
- Other: Email: [email protected] Tik Tok: Soaring Academy
Image Credits
Photos by Soaring Academy