Mentions: thegreatplanes

Finding my place in the sun

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The view from my downtown St. Louis apartment — my eighth home in eight years.

Eight years ago today, I was living with my mom in the town I grew up in just south of the Twin Cities. I was a year-and-a-half out of college, working two part-time jobs—day shifts at FOX Sports North and weekend overnights at KARE 11 News—and I had been dating a guy named Scott for about six months. Kind of funny that I ended up marrying a DIFFERENT Scott, huh?

Calm down… I’m kidding—it was the same Scott.

Anyways, I wouldn’t land my first full-time job for another six months, but I never could have dreamt up the journey I was about to embark on… never.

In these eight years, I’ve moved seven times, changed jobs six times, lived in five different cities, worked in four different states, gained three siblings, raised two cats and followed one big dream—one really big dream that I didn’t even realize I had until a few years back.

Even though it sounds like I had a lot going on, not much about my story is unique, at least not for a millennial.

I graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism, which offered a lot of flexibility in terms of what direction I could take my career. Naturally, I started in news… my first full-time gig was at KCTV in Kansas City, and before long I accepted a similar position back home in Minnesota with WCCO.

Alas, a few years of working as an assignment editor was enough for me to realize that news wasn’t my jam. I had a lot of fun and met some amazing lifelong friends, but my heart just wasn’t in it.

I switched to communications—still unsure what my “dream job” really was. I first worked for a nonprofit, before jumping ship to a corporate gig where there was more money to be had (almost 50 percent more, to be exact). I wasn’t really happy there, though. Yeah, yeah… insert your “money can’t buy happiness” comment here. I know, I know, you told me so. I get it.

I then did one more switcheroo from the private sector to government. I had heard from several people that working for the state was a lot more “chill,” and at the time, a low key gig was just what I needed. You see, it was during my first post-news job at the nonprofit when I had my “aha” moment: I loved airplanes… I always had.

So, throughout those few years of uncertainty, stress and not making “enough” money in various communications positions, I was also trying to figure out what the heck I could do with my love of aviation. I tossed around a few ideas in my head, and picked the brains of my family and friends.

Simultaneously, I was on two huge journeys: one with my head (trying to find my place in the working world) and one with my heart (trying to make something of my passion). I knew though, that if I really, really wanted to, I could rekindle the romance between my head and my heart, and weave these two stories into one epic saga.

I started small… I went out to MSP Airport a couple times a week to watch planes coming and going—I took pictures and quizzed myself on the manufacturers and models of the various aircraft. On January 1, 2017, I started this blog and launched my @thegreatplanes Instagram account.

Shortly thereafter, I began working with a mentor who critiqued my writing, cheered me on and helped me to get my name out there. I then did some freelance writing for Airways Magazine, which—between the many interviews I conducted and trips I took—was completely life-changing in the best possible way.

I was a few months into my job with the State of Minnesota when I got “the” call. It was Boeing, wanting to interview me for a position on the Executive Communications team in Chicago. No ifs, ands or buts… I knew I was taking it.

The job itself was a great experience, but it was pretty demanding and, on top of that, I was living alone while Scott finished school back in Minnesota. Despite the challenges, I did my very best… I made friends, I learned as much as I could and I kept a smile on my face even when times were tough. I had no idea that just one year after moving to Chicago—and before my husband even moved down there—I’d be packing my bags once again, this time for St. Louis.

And so, today, I find myself a Missouri resident once again. I’m working on Boeing’s historical archives team, where I’ll get to tell the story of all the amazing people, products and events that helped Boeing to become the industry-leading aerospace company it is today. That’s pretty remarkable, to me at least.

If my story isn’t enough to prove to you that YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, then I don’t know what is. At 31 years old, I’ve had a lot of jobs, I’ve lived in a lot of different cities and I’ve put myself first more than once, but all of it was because I was following my heart… and I’m glad I did. Plus, millennials are supposed to be selfish job hoppers, right?

Fly on, my friends… fly on.

Be kind, be determined, be gracious and oh, meet your hero two… too…

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As far as I am concerned, life is all about the connections you make. I don’t mean “knowing someone” in an industry who will put in a good word for you or having an “in” with someone at a company who will help land you a job. I mean the deep, personal connections you make with the people who are always there to help and support you on your journey.

Earlier this year I finally met my industry mentor, Benét Wilson (Aviation Queen). I first reached out to her almost two years ago, and today I’m lucky to call her my friend. We have a solid, trusting relationship and I certainly wouldn’t be where I am without her—I consider her “Hero One” in the story of my journey.

With Benét’s ongoing support and by working hard toward my goal of becoming an aviation journalist, I was brought on as contributing editor at Airways Magazine. That’s how I met “Hero Two” AKA Chris Sloan, Airways’ Managing Editor. Finally, more than a year after starting that gig, I met Chris in “real life” here in Chicago.

It’s funny, I first connected with both Benét AND Chris while living in Minneapolis… the city in which I lived for nearly all of my 31 years on this planet. However, I first met each of them in person here in Chicago as an employee of The Boeing Company—the company I’d long dreamed of working for and a place I’d never be without their help.

Yesterday, I met Chris in the lobby of Chicago’s iconic Sears—I mean WILLIS… (ugh)—Tower, where he and I toured the United Airlines National Operations Center.

It.

Was.

Awesome.

Seriously, the combination of meeting Chris AND seeing the ins and outs of how United keeps their (mostly Boeing!) fleet flying was ridiculously cool. I loved it. My favorite part? Chris and I were in the social media/de-escalation area where they had huge screens displaying real-time social data, and one of the screens had on it incoming conversations that were considered “positive” interactions on Twitter.

Chris: Hey it’s you!

Me: What?

Chris: @thegreatplanes – that’s you!

Me: Como se WHAT!? Whoa!

I looked at the screen and saw my very tweet ABOUT this tour, and the subsequent response from Ben Bearup saying I was living my “best life” (SO TRUE!). It was pretty awesome.

Aside from that, I saw firsthand the many people who are hard at work 24/7 to keep the airline up and running… air traffic controllers, meteorologists, pilots (yes, pilots!), the Airbus team and the Boeing team, among others. I also saw more pie charts, bar graphs, numbers and maps than my geeking-out brain could even handle.

All in all, my biggest take away from that tour was that even though it is extremely frustrating if your flight gets delayed or canceled, just know that whenever something isn’t 100 percent perfect in terms of an airline’s operations (so essentially… always), there are hundreds of dedicated people working to make things right.

Yesterday was a truly great day. I’m so happy to have finally met Chris, and I so much enjoyed spending my lunch hour with the kind folks over at United. The icing on the cake was doing some work from home later that evening as the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds zipped past my apartment window over, and over, and over again in preparation for this weekend’s Chicago Air and Water Show.

This year’s two-day event will include parachutists, fighter jets, a C-130 and even an AMERICAN AIRLINES DREAMLINER (pinch me, please). I’ll be attending the show both days, one of them on behalf of Boeing, and as I look forward to that… I think my teammate Jane best captured my excitement in her own words:

“Annie, you’re going to lose your mind.”

Flying to Pass the Time

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Time really does fly… but come this weekend, you’d think I was flying just to pass the time. Something big, something HUGE, something SO exciting is happening. BUT.. I’m keeping my lips sealed for now. I’ll just tell you this – two days, four states, five flights. That’s all you get for now. You’ll hear more from me Monday or Tuesday.

ANYWAYS… those who know me well, know I stress out pretty easily. But oddly enough, since I’ve started to really hone in on my aviation journalism and photography, I’ve gotten a heck of a lot busier AND a heck of a lot happier. Who’d have thought there’d be a positive correlation between the two? Not me. Not in a million years.

June brought a lot of changes in my life… I hit the big 3-0, we moved from Minneapolis to St. Paul and I lost my dear, sweet stepmom. With that being said, my apologies for being MIA in the blogging world, but I’m sure you can understand why I was.

However, my love of planes helped keep me sane and grounded throughout that time. And, over the last month I’ve hit a couple milestones that were quite exciting for me:

1. On my birthday, June 16, I hit one THOUSAND Instagram followers on @thegreatplanes (currently, I’m creeping up on 1,300 – it’s a good feeling).

2. I’ve had my third and fourth stories published on Airways Magazine’s website, both of which feature several of my own photos (and even one of my husband’s):

Where Planes Go, They Follow: The Rise of Plane Spotting and How Airports Are Embracing Their Biggest Fans

Fight For The Skies: The Air Traffic Control Debate

3. My Instagram friends, @jfkspotting, hit 7,000 followers and in doing so, named my page the ninth best of all those followers. Thanks guys!

4. I found that there is a bus that takes me directly from my new apartment to my favorite spotting location at MSP – the gold parking ramp. I was asked to leave by airport police, which I calmly and apologetically did. BUT, after a few days I didn’t feel quite right about it. I reached out to a contact of mine at the airport who in turn spoke with the police chief who confirmed I CAN be up there. The chief passed the message along to his officers and now I go three to four times a week. Now THAT’S a “great planes” win!

Thank you all for the love and support. To think that six months ago I went out on a whim and just thought I’d “take a shot” at pursuing something that I love… and seeing where I am now – it’s pretty incredible. The things I’m learning, the people I’m meeting, the stories I’m writing and the places I’m going… I’m very thankful and cannot wait to see where this love takes me in the years to come.