In an industry historically dominated by men, more and more women are finding their passion and achieving success in the aviation sector.

Exploring how women can succeed in aviation, two franchise owners at RealClean Aircraft Detailing (RealClean)—Elisabeth Dickinson and Lindsay Parrott—discuss how different career paths can all lead to aviation and why it’s important for women to hold high-level roles in the industry.

How aviation careers can grow from all kinds of backgrounds

While both Dickinson and Parrott are thriving in their careers at RealClean, neither started her journey in the aviation industry.

Sharing about her expertise in talent acquisition and talent management, Dickinson explains, “My background is in the private equity space, high growth companies, so maybe that's what attracted me to RealClean. Part of it is that high-growth space.”

Dickinson continues, “It's given me the opportunity to work with a lot of different industries, a lot of different types of people, positions, roles.”

“There are definitely parallels…there's that war for talent to find and retain people—I think that’s especially true in the trades and in aviation maintenance,” adds Dickinson, “A&Ps and attracting folks, especially women, that's something we talk a lot about.”

In contrast, Parrott comes from a real estate background, maintaining her real estate license for eight years now and managing multiple rental properties with her husband.

Parrott shares, “Almost all of [my skills] translate…real estate is constant problem solving: scheduling, inspection issues, high emotion.”

She explains, “You're dealing with large ticket items, and it’s the same with aviation: multimillion dollar aircraft, maintenance, schedule shifts. Maybe the aircraft is down for a while, and we need to shuffle some things around.”

Dickinson echoes Parrott’s statements, noting that she also initially started looking for new opportunities to take on with her husband. She shares, “I was looking to take my career to that next level and do something different and stretch my brain a little bit.”

Dickinson elaborates, “We wanted to have something that could be here, local in the community, to really expand our network and employ people in the area.”

“My husband kind of grew up in aviation with his family,” adds Dickinson, “We definitely did our due diligence and talked with our friends who are pilots and in private aviation, and they really echoed that need for quality detailing services.”

She notes, “When we went to Confirmation Day and met Dustin and Luke, they reiterated that as well, and that made me made me feel great about the founders and what they want RealClean to stand for.”

Why is it important to hire women in aviation leadership roles?

On how women excel in aviation, Parrott says, “It's definitely a male-dominated industry, but honestly, it's been positive. If you show up confident and consistent and competent, people respect that and you're able to earn their trust fairly fast.”

Parrott continues, “I think women bring a different energy that makes it fun. Once people see that you actually know what you're talking about—or, at least, you're willing to learn anything, everything—I feel like that definitely changed the dynamic.”

She asserts, “Maybe we're a little bit underestimated, but that can kind of go to our advantage sometimes… I think maybe it's opening up more doors than we had anticipated.”

Dickinson echoes, “It's been really positive…one thing about RealClean is we have so many female owners, and that was really exciting.”

“Internally, we have a really great support system with our male coworkers and colleagues as well. But as females in the industry, just from that core, it’s been fantastic,” adds Dickinson.

She notes, “I'm energized to see more females managing FBOs or regional FBOs and really climbing the ladder. I think we'll continue to see that.”

How can aviation companies improve diversity and close gender gaps in the workforce?

Dickinson states, “It’s all about that representation. If girls and women don't see it, it's harder for them to pursue it. Early exposure is great, like getting high schoolers into FBOs to show them.”

She elaborates, “We had a client who had his kid’s class out to see their fleet, and I think that's wonderful. I know a lot of universities and community colleges also have programs. I think just continuing to link arms with that is important.”

Dickinson also points to her and Parrott’s journeys in aviation, sharing, “Being able to pivot into aviation if you have that love and passion, you can do it. Allowing opportunities for folks to come in and let that grab hold of them is wonderful.”

She notes, “We have a wonderful [aircraft detailing] team member who is female, and she comes to work every day and rocks it.”

Dickinson stresses, “That was really important to me to have representation on our team, so when we're out in the hangars, folks see that. Our little bit, our little part, what we can do to showcase women in aviation is important.”

After discussing how RealClean continuously hires women in high-level roles, Parrott advises, “It starts with exposure. I think a lot of women don't realize that there is so much opportunity in the aviation space, and it is just viewed as a male dominated industry.”

“Creating some exposure is key, whether it's on the operation side, service side, whatever that looks like, but we need more visibility. You can't pursue what you don't see.”

Parrott also offers advice to women interested in an aviation career. She says, “Don’t be intimidated. Aviation can kind of feel like its own big, exclusive club. It's really not.”

Parrott continues, “Everybody's very nice and friendly, and you don't have to grow up around planes. You don't have to have the perfect aviation background, a father who’s a pilot, anything like that.”

“If you're willing to work hard, there's absolutely a space for you. There's just a lot of opportunity, whether you want to be a detailer, a pilot, or manage an FBO.”

Dickinson also advises, “Go for it. Don't let fear be the reason that's holding you back in anything. You're able to learn this.”

She continues, “Find a mentor, find your local RealClean and reach out to the owner. Any of us would be happy to talk to you about our business, about aviation in general, about connecting you to anything that you're interested in, anyone in the business.”

“We're all here to help each other, so take advantage of that and walk into an FBO, introduce yourself and get to know people,” urges Dickinson, “If you say you're interested in aviation, they're going to share their knowledge and help get you to where you want to be.”

Dickinson concludes, “How can we pull women into this business in all realms of it? From maintenance to operators to pilots to owners, there's a real opportunity in that, and I think something we are starting to see shift a bit.”