The Private Jet Broker Podcast
Tom is a husband, father, and lover of aviation. When he first started learning about private jets, he noticed there wasn’t a lot of content available for people who wanted real, down to earth, information without any fluff or pomp. He knew that many people were curious before they buy a private jet, and he wanted to be a guide for the curious to the serious and those in between. Tom pulls back the curtain on private aviation to help individuals buy sell or charter jets without wasting time or losing money.
In 2021 & 2022 Tom was the top producer of his former agency completing over 20 sales each year. In 2023 he started his own agency, Jet Life Aero where he looks to inspire the next generation of private jet brokers. As a former youth pastor, Tom wants to share his experience as a jet broker with others who aspire to change their lives through private aviation, like he did.
The Private Jet Broker Podcast
Want a Career in Aviation? Get Plugged In! ✈️ An Interview with Catherine Wren
In this episode of the Jet Life Podcast, I sit down with Catherine Wren, NBAA Top 40 Under 40 & NTBAA Board of Directors, to talk all about breaking into the world of private aviation. Catherine shares her story of growing up in a small New Mexico town, knowing nothing about aviation, and how she found her way into the industry. From starting out on the flight line to becoming a key leader in the business, Catherine’s journey shows how passion and determination can take you far. We cover everything from the challenges of getting started with zero experience to the importance of building relationships and making connections.
Catherine also dives into the value of mentorship, networking, and her involvement with NBAA’s Young Professionals (YoPro) Council. If you're trying to break into aviation but feel like you don’t have the right background, this is the episode for you. Catherine’s advice? Focus on hard work, patience, and finding the right people to learn from. Whether you’re curious about private aviation or already in the field, this episode is packed with practical insights that can help you get ahead.
Get in Touch with Catherine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catclay/
Sign Up for NBAA-BACE 2024: https://nbaa.org/events/2024-nbaa-business-aviation-convention-exhibition-nbaa-bace/
🤝 Join our FREE Private Online Community for aspiring Jet Brokers: https://circle.jetlifeaero.com
Being a Private Jet Broker is a life changing opportunity for those seeking a career in an industry that has low competition and extremely high commissions.
Let's book a call so you can discover how to get your FIRST SALE and start a new career in Aviation - https://www.theultimatejetguide.com
Hello everybody and welcome to the Jet Life podcast. My name is Tom Lelio, I'm your ultimate jet guide and on today's episode, we're pulling back the curtain on private aviation with Catherine Wren, and so we're going to be discussing a couple of really interesting topics when it comes to how to just break into aviation. What are some of the pros and cons and things that you've seen in your experience. So thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I appreciate being here.
Speaker 1:We're going to do a little walk and talk. Let's see if we can actually make this happen. But yeah, no, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2:Sure, I was born and raised in a very small town in New Mexico, about 30 miles from the Mexican border and about 90 miles from the Arizona border. Really Okay, aviation commercial or business Didn't even know it existed. I was blessed enough to play Division II college basketball, where a girlfriend of mine actually knew somebody that knew the manager at Business Chat at the time. So I come in, oh yeah, and I'm right out of college. It was maybe two months before I was going to graduate and I came up to Dallas for about a week to stay and had some interviews set up and then she set me up with some, but my ultimate passion was I wanted to be the next year manager.
Speaker 1:So I did broadcasting, journalism, pr okay, tell me about Aaron Andrews, sorry.
Speaker 2:I'm sports broadcaster okay, typically football, I mean on the sidelines. So she's the one, oh, okay, cool, talking to the coaches after, you know, during the games. But that was my ultimate goal and, like I said, I went to Dallas for about a week and I had some interviews set up. I set some up myself and went to lunch. My girlfriend that I used to play ball with knew somebody. She made a call, called Jamie Munoz, who's still in the industry, gave her a call and said hey, erica has a friend that wants to go to dallas. Sure, bring her in. Hey, at the time I didn't have a smartphone, so they gave me a dps and her phone, tom tom oh my gosh and um, they said go find her.
Speaker 2:And I said, okay, so what does she do something with airplanes? I think I am going to left Field to apply for a flight. Oh, and at the time I know, and at the time I thought I'm single. You know, I got no ties, I can go, I can travel. So I pull up to this beautiful facility, walked in, they stopped the door. I see this chandelier and I'm like this is going to be so nice. Anyway, ended up in a very informal interview with Jamie and she was the brand manager at the time. She gave me the lay of the land, as I'm giving her my hopes and dreams of being the next Erin Andrews. So fast forward. I got a call a week later. I graduated on a Saturday, moved on a Wednesday, started working.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's aviation. Sometimes it just kind of happens just like that. Yep, oh my gosh. Okay, so you got involved in aviation with no experience before, none. Okay, describe to what your first year was like.
Speaker 2:Scary. I moved to Dallas knowing one person and I jumped into an industry that I knew nothing about and I left everything that I knew, you know, 800 miles away. But it was scary and challenging but I loved every second of it. I could tell very early on this was a relationship built industry and it's all about connection on top of some of the most amazing aircraft at heavy metal out there. So I started out on the flight line and I was towing and I didn't fuel and I didn't dump labs, but I did basically everything else on the flight line and then I ended up, you know, getting trained at customer service and then from there roles started opening up. So I started to become a trainer for CSR, trainer on the flight line, and I ended up in marketing. And then here I am in the chief experience officer role and loving it.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. So what advice would you give to someone who is interested in joining the aviation world but they don't have an aviation background and they're getting a little bit of pushback from the industry of Well, we'll hire you, but we need aviation experience, sure.
Speaker 2:And I know that's where a lot of this industry is right now is getting good people in, and it really starts with the younger generation. I tell people this all the time and I even tell my employees I don't care how much you know or how much experience you have. You've got to have heart and you've got to have want, and if you have a desire to work hard, you're going to make it in any industry, this one in particular. Yes, there are some regulations and safety concerns that you've got to get under your belt before you can start making moves. Find a mentor, Find somebody that does not or that they know something more than you do in a different area, to just learn and it amazes me the different avenues and the different roles in the industry and so find somebody who you want to learn from and pick their brain and use them as accountability and as a mentor to keep you on track.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, and so now you're in a leadership position. You're also involved in NBAA's Yopro initiative, so why don't you talk to us a little bit about the importance for individuals to get involved in a network, something like an NBAA, and some of the stuff that you're doing with Yopro?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. This is one of my favorite topics and it again goes back to those relationships and connections. I am blessed enough to sit on the Young Professionals Council with 25 other young professionals that are powerhouses in every avenue that you could imagine. So I've been on the council for almost three years now and from there we have grown into so many different avenues to help get back to the community bring together young professionals on tips and tricks, on networking, how to build your LinkedIn profile, what is your personal brand, what does that mean, and really give them a light into this amazing industry and the different opportunities.
Speaker 1:Okay, can you tell us about one of? Can you tell us a story about a time where you faced either a failure or just a really big obstacle, and what you learned from that situation?
Speaker 2:There's, there's many of them right.
Speaker 1:It's like every day there's some fire to be put out right.
Speaker 2:But it brings me back to my first year as a chef, when I was 24 years old, starting my career and, um, you know, I I was jumping, like I said, head first, but into a very male-dominated industry. Oh, that's true. And you know, I learned very quickly through conversations and I would tell my story and a lot of the crew members would say so. You moved 12 hours from New Mexico to Dallas and they all say, oh, for a boy, right? And I said no, no, this is for me, this is for my career. And it also makes me think of I was the first female to tow that business jet since 1993 to get fully trained and certified.
Speaker 2:So you know, there was some pushback there. I had to ask a couple of times and I basically had to say, hey, I am going to be the best asset for this company if I can learn all the different roles and areas so I can help. But I ended up getting fully trained. But you know, in that process there were comments of oh, we'll see how long she lives, and then even comments of I think you need to stay in your company. That fueled my fire even more to be the best employee, not just female, but the best employee.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I really appreciate you bringing that up because I think, especially if people are getting into aviation, if it's whether it's their first career or not, you're going to face a lot of adversity and, um the, the ability to discipline your disappointments, yep and uh. I think the mentor is a huge piece, yes, and the network who you surround yourself with, because if you feel like you're all alone, you're going to feel all alone, and when these things happen, you're going to feel like it's just happening to me and there's no support. But with organizations like MBAA, gopro, there's resources there to help you through it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and you know you've got to think of it. We're not recreating the wheel and I'm not the first female to come through or hit the person. So finding other women that are like-minded, that have a passion in all people and just the industry in general, they help you and direct you in ways how they have overcome certain situations to give you a little light, and so that's what I really hope to pass on to the future generation, especially women in aviation.
Speaker 1:I get it. So there's a few more questions before we get into the rapid fire questions. But what's one of the biggest, or maybe a few of the biggest, mistakes that you've seen young brokers making or young aviation professionals when they're first getting started in their career?
Speaker 2:They want it all and they want it now and again. Experience comes with time and with that you build trust with not only your fellow employees, with your management team, but with your customers. You don't build relationships within a day, you don't get a deal done within a day. It's that relationship that, once you break down to certain layers, I always say you have to get a few layers in to build trust and then from there everything else just flourishes and kind of comes together.
Speaker 1:I love that. Yeah, patience, yep, sure, very much, okay, all right, so we're in our rapid fire questions. I'm just going to ask you, like two, two quick topics, you kind of pick which one that speaks to you. Doesn't have to be your favorite, doesn't have to be have any reason to it, um, or if you want to explain yourself, you're welcome to explain yourself too, okay. So, starting off with pizza or steak, steak, okay. Okay, what is cooked for your steak?
Speaker 2:medium okay and give. So you like to burn it, but I love all the sides. Give me some mac and cheese or like a loaded big potato and a steak, and I'm good to go iPhone or Android.
Speaker 1:Oh, iPhone Delta or Southwest.
Speaker 2:Southwest, mainly because I have so many friends that work there and I have so many flight attendant friends and I can get free drinks here and there. So there's some benefits.
Speaker 1:Gotcha.
Speaker 2:But I love the servant's heart. Uh, the customer first mentality. Uh, from that perfect uber or lyft depends on what promo codes they've got.
Speaker 1:Okay would you rather a hundred thousand dollars now or a thousand dollars a month for the rest of your life? Thousand dollars a month for the rest of my life? Falcon or Gulfstream.
Speaker 2:Oh, this is tough. Probably a Falcon, because if I'm in heels I can actually stand up straight in the cabin. Gotcha.
Speaker 1:You're learning to fly High wing Cessna 172, low wing Piper.
Speaker 2:High wing.
Speaker 1:Well, yes, you own a jet. Would you rather own a jet and be the pilot that flies it, or be the owner of the jet sitting in the back seat?
Speaker 2:Sitting in the back. Nice, be propped up, maybe with my steak Love it.
Speaker 1:Well, Kat, thank you so much for spending some time with us. I really do appreciate it. Where can people find more information or reach out to you if they have any questions on MBAAA or Yopro?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. I'm on all social media sites, but on LinkedIn you can find me at Catherine Kat Rin and then I can share from there YoproGo and other Yopro initiatives. Maybe get more folks involved. Perfect, we're looking forward to your talk later today.
Speaker 1:Awesome, thank you Appreciate it.
