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At age 47, Mary Build took her very first flight lesson. What followed was a remarkable 30-year career in aviation—flying seaplanes, running her own seaplane base in Maine, flying to Alaska, competing in the Air Race Classic, and serving as a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE).

In this interview, Mary shares her powerful journey from overcoming personal challenges to becoming a respected leader in aviation. We talk about her memoir Finding Myself in Aviation, the courage it takes to start something new later in life, and the joy of never saying no to opportunity.

📚 Finding Myself in Aviation was the Aviatrix Book Club pick for August. Order it here: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/finding-myself-in-aviation/

✈️ Topics we cover:

• Mary’s path from young motherhood to seaplane pilot and instructor
• Adventures flying to Alaska (and close calls along the way)
• Competing in and judging the Women’s Air Race Classic
• Lessons learned as a flight instructor and examiner
• Advice for starting—or restarting—your aviation journey at any age

💙 Blue skies and happy reading!

#WomenInAviation #Seaplanes #AirRaceClassic #AviationHistory #PilotLife #LiteraryAviatrix

Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/

Thanks so much for listening!

• Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
• Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
• Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
• Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.

Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!

-Liz Booker

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In this episode, I sit down with Captain Tammie Jo Shults — one of the first women to fly Navy tactical jets, longtime Southwest Airlines captain, and author of Nerves of Steel.

Tammie Jo is best known for her extraordinary leadership on Southwest Flight 1380, but as she shares in this conversation, her story is about much more than one day in the cockpit. It’s about the obstacles she faced along the way, the resilience she built, and the way her faith, perseverance, and preparation equipped her for the moment the world was watching.

We talk about:

• 🚫 Being told “girls can’t fly” — and proving them wrong
• ✈️ Breaking barriers in Navy aviation in the 1980s
• 💪 Facing cultural and institutional challenges in both military and airline cockpits
• 📝 Why journaling matters and how it shaped her memoir, Nerves of Steel
• 🧭 How true stories and past experiences shaped her decision-making on Flight 1380
• ❤️ The role of faith, family, and community in sustaining her through adversity

This is a conversation about resilience, truth, and the power of persistence — one that will inspire anyone navigating obstacles in their own path.

Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/

Thanks so much for listening!

• Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
• Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
• Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
• Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.

Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!

-Liz Booker

Send us a text

This is my first in-person interview, recorded at Patty Bear’s home in a medieval village in Provence. Her new book, Captain Patty’s Wisdom Hacks, launches September 9 and is available for preorder now.

We bridge the years after her memoir From Plain to Plane—from USAF KC-135 pilot (Desert Shield/Desert Storm) to nearly 30 years at United Airlines, parenting, coaching, and building a life between the U.S. and France.

In this episode:

• Pay Yourself First (money, health, time, energy)
• Like It or Love It? (making aligned choices)
• New Day, New Jet (reset after mistakes)
• The Ground Doesn’t Care (respect reality)
• Mentor Yourself (self-leadership > gurus)
• Anam Kara (soul friends & discussion prompts)
• Leaving Your Neighborhood (life passages & growth)

Preorder: link in show notes
Launch: September 9

Also by Patty: From Plain to Plane and House of the Sun.

#AviatrixBookClub #WomenInAviation #Leadership #Resilience #Provence

Did you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/

Thanks so much for listening!

• Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter.
• Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages.
• Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation.
• Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree.

Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!

-Liz Booker