Adva Amir
Appearances
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I think my fear caught me at different momentum than other people in aviation. And I know because I was speaking to my friends and a lot of people are afraid of their first solo and how they'll do. And I think I was confident in my solo. I know I'm going to land it. I know I'm going to do well. But The fear was always, you know, the first step is like you need to do landings.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And then the next step is like, you know, flying an approach. And then you have to do maneuvers. And every time before this step started, I was like, am I going to do well? Am I going to do well? I wasn't sure, like every time I had a doubt in myself if I'm going to do well. But once I was released to my solo, I knew I'm going to do well. So when you leave me by myself...
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
After 1,500 hours, this is what you need to get in the airlines in the U.S., I got accepted to my first airline. It's a regional airline. This is normally will be your first company. And they do flights in the US mostly on a smaller airplane. It's not a small airplane, but it's a smaller. It's between 50 and 70 people on a jet. And then I started my training, which is a three-month training.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
It's including a lot of knowledge, aeronautical knowledge and simulator, a lot of simulator training to train all scenarios and to learn the airplane. And then one week before the end of training, COVID hits. And then they send all of us back home. And now the big uncertainty, I finally made it. I'm already there. And all of a sudden they changed all my plans.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And I was in a big cloud of uncertainty. I went back to Israel. I didn't know when they'll call me, if they'll call me. And it was a really tough time, but I needed to stay optimistic.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
So I went back. It took me some months to understand. I was hoping maybe one, two months, three months, I'll be back. And then after time passes, I understood that I need to do something. So I started to do marketing for small businesses. I opened my business. I was starting doing that. And I was doing that for a whole year till they call us back.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
That's amazing. Yeah, I had to. And I didn't want to just sit at home because then you don't know, there are a lot of thoughts and I wanted to do something. And I found the one thing everybody needed at the time, everyone were moving to online platforms. And I had this experience from before. So it really helped me to help other people to find their audience online now.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
So after about one year, I went back. They call us back. I was so happy to go back and fly. I had to finish training too, but we had to start everything from zero again. So I finished training. I become a first officer. So when you're just starting at an airline, you become a first officer.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And then after you get enough hours, normally it's a thousand, but it depends between company and company, you become a captain. So I was working at a first officer for about two years, and then I got upgraded to a captain.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
It's very, very, very low. Very low. I think less than 2% actually become captain. And, you know, during my time in the airline, I only got to fly with two other women in the cockpit. So you can understand the statistic is not really for us. Right.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
All the gossips that went in the cockpit this day. No, I'm joking.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And I got a lot of remarks also as a first officer. I think they just were extended when I became a captain. But the flight attendant thing used to happen a lot. I would come to the gate, to the gate agent. And sometimes when we commute back and forth from work, If the flight is full, we have the benefits of taking the jump seat, which is the seat in the cockpit.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And I would go and I would ask for the jump seat and they would tell me, oh, you can't. And I'm like, why I can't? And they say, because it's only for pilots. I was like, but I'm a pilot. So this would happen so many times just based on my look and the assumption that I must be the flight attendant. And it happened so many times, like really, I cannot even tell you.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
But I take it in a humor way and it's not like insulting me or hurting me because I know it's a awareness kind of thing because there's so little women in aviation.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Good morning. Good afternoon. I don't know. Where are we?
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
This was after we got back from COVID. After my first flight at the airline, I decided to write a post. It was about my journey. And as we talked about all the negative comments, it was important for me to show to people that it doesn't matter what people say. They can tell you everything, but eventually you are the only one who knows what you are capable of.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
So sometimes we take these comments so seriously. from people we don't even know that don't even know us and what we're capable of.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I got a lot of comments from people after I shared this post about things they wanted to do and they had a dream to do, but they didn't do it. And all of a sudden, when I showed my way and my journey, I remember I had one guy who told me he has a high paid, like high tech job and he wants to volunteer in Africa. And this post made him go and do that.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And he's been volunteering in Africa and opening his own nonprofit. there. So, and this is just one story among a lot of them. I got a lot of messages from flight attendants who want to become a pilot and this post pushed them to do that. And when I wrote the post, I just wanted to share my journey.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I had no idea it will have such an impact and we'll get like 3 million views and so many people will see that. And I think when you do something really from your heart, this is what happened.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I was really just wanted to share my journey. I wasn't working on anything. I was just beginning my flight journey at a new company.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And I told you I had so many struggles during the way and so many comments and I had this breakdown and then I had the breakthrough and then I had COVID and like every time like you're trying to hold your face above the water and you feel like drowning sometimes and then it happened. Like you see the light and
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
My light sparked somewhere around age eight. I was flying for the first time with my family to the US. And then I was a very stubborn kid and very curious kid. And from the jet bridge, I was waving for the pilots and they didn't notice me. And I kept waving, kept waving, kept waving till the captain finally saw me and he invited me to the cockpit.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I remember like my first flight, I was pulling into the gate and it was all kind of the mirrors reflecting. So I couldn't really see myself, but I say, wow, I'm like flying this big jet. And I just wanted more people to go and show them that this is possible experience. Like if you have a dream, you can go and do that. There will be challenges. There will be a lot of barriers.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
There will be a lot of breakdowns, but it's possible. So this was my goal.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Hawaiian Airlines is an amazing company and Hawaii has some of the best waves in the world.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Correct. When I moved to Hawaii and started working for the airline here, I'm now flying the Airbus 330, which is the long haul flights. So a lot of flights from the islands to the West Coast. And we fly to Japan and Australia, South Korea as well. So, yeah, I do a lot of long flights right now.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
The jet lag. You know, before in the regional airlines, normally you fly in the morning, you come back at night and you do a couple of flights during the day. Here, if you do one long leg, you stay the night somewhere with a big difference in time zone, then you have to come back. So some people think pilots can deal better with a jet lag. We don't.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
But the big switch I think is starting to enjoy the pilot life. Like really, because till now I was in a kind of a race since I started till day one to get as many hours as you need to get to the first airline, which is the regional. And then in a race to get to the major airline where I fly right now. So I was in a race all the time. And sometimes I forgot to enjoy the journey.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And this is also something I'm telling people, like, enjoy the journey and all part of it because... Right now, it's not a secret that also I love my lifestyle. I love my life. I love flying these big jets and my company. But sometimes you do miss the small aircraft where you could actually fly. It's not a secret that our airplanes, 90, 95% of the time we fly on autopilot.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
We do have a lot of tasks to do during and we are in control of the airplane eventually. But you do miss like, you know, hand flying and you miss all those little stuff and maybe missing a little bit of flight instructing, just a little bit. It's important to enjoy every step of the way. So I think the big thing right now is really enjoying my lifestyle finally.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
So I went there with my brother and all of a sudden this little kid seeing all these buttons and lights, I was just amazed. I was asking the pilot so many questions and I think at some point they were afraid the flight will be delayed because of me. But they were so kind and so patient and they answered all my questions. There is one thing I remember specifically.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
98 to 95% of the flight is normally on autopilot. We have a lot of tasks during autopilot. We have to monitor traffic and weather and fuel and systems and reporting points and working as a crew if something comes up from the cabin or from the cockpit. We have a lot of monitoring to do.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And it's not just we're sitting there like most people think, but a lot of the flights right now are mostly automated.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I came here on vacation when I just was kind of my first time I was surfing. I was surfing in Waikiki Beach.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I really started surfing like one and a half years ago, almost two years ago.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Super new, super new. And I enjoy every part of it. It teach me a lot of things about myself, which is insane. You know, you also have to deal with a lot of fears. And I think surfing is a really a mental game more than it's the physical game. So I came to Hawaii for vacation and about two weeks I was loving it and I just decided to stay.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Yeah. I knew I wanted to work for them, but it's kind of all, everything happened at the same time and it was amazing.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
When I started surfing, I loved it so much that I went out like every day that I could. And then... I heard the comments of people telling me, now you're too old, right? Because now I'm 31. I'm not 21. When I was 21, I started flying. I was too young. But now learning a sport at 31 is too old. You're too old. You're never going to get it. You cannot improve at that age.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
You have to be really dedicated for that. And... I finally found something that I'm so passionate about. And all these comments right now, they didn't do anything for me because I knew better now because I already experienced all these comments before. And when I'm passionate about something, I don't care about anything else. I'm just going with it. And
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I just got aboard and just started going out again and again and again and again and again. And one day I was in the water and there was another Israeli guy over there and we got connected. He became my coach and everything just happened fluently and naturally. And I moved to smaller boards and I started surfing bigger waves. And every step of the way, I was so scared.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Even today, when I go in the water, I'm like, I have this fear of the big waves, of not being good, of falling in front of other people, which is supposed to be fun. But, you know, when you have to tell yourself and talk to yourself and, you know, just enjoy it.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
They told me, welcome to the most beautiful office in the world. And they were right. So this is how it started. Later on, I wanted to become a military pilot. All the air shows and everything, it's really... made my life even bigger, but it didn't work out for me.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
First of all, Ilana, I'm a spoiled surfer. So this is why I surf in Hawaii, only in warm water. Ah, okay.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
What I realized this year, because last year I was surfing during the winter and the winter is where we get here, the bigger waves and suddenly pushing myself to bigger and bigger waves. And I remember like some sessions I would be out there, I would be so, so scared. I don't even want to catch one wave. I would just be there scared.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Fast forward to this winter, all of a sudden you go to the same spots and you have the same waves and you're not as fear as you were. So I learned the fear level also can change, but it's a matter of pushing yourself. And even if not catching any wave, being out there, sometimes you just have to be. And from being at a spot, you'll grow.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I need to work on it, Ilana. I need to chill, you're right. Yeah, for sure. I think this is a thing for me. It's hard for me to just chill. And I know I need this, but it's kind of a race that I need to tell myself, okay, today you are resting, you're staying at home or at the beach. I think there is this part of it that, yes, I need to chill for sure. It's
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And it's not easy sometimes for some people. On the other hand, I think when you're doing stuff that you're very passionate about, you always want to do that. You want to fly, you want to surf. So I'm happy that I found my passion. Finally, it's like some people would say it's late in life. Yeah. But I was doing a lot of sports as a young kid. I was swimming. I was playing volleyball.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I was playing soccer. I did a lot of things and I was swimming too. And when I found surfing, all the sparks in the air, like you fall in love. It's what happened to me. Yeah.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Yeah, so the Maccabi Eye is in July. Oh, okay, so it's coming. I still have two more months to be nervous about it, you know?
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
There is anxiety, especially, you know, I'm a brand new surfer. Two years is a brand new surfer.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Yes. Yes. And I know I'll be competing with Gareth's surf 10 years, 20 years plus. And it's all of a sudden putting myself in a place where I'm not the best. when talking about experience, which is really, really difficult to put myself out there. It's really- But you're still doing it, which is really cool. I'm still doing it and I'm still working on my mind for doing that.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And it's not easy, but I think it's really going to be outside of my comfort zone when I'm used to excel and be good at what I do. And all of a sudden I'm not. It's new. I'm still falling every session. I'm still doing stupid stuff on the board and with the waves. And I'm still learning every time.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
But I think because I learned that when I put myself outside of my comfort zone, this is where I grow. And it's very, very uncomfortable. Very, very uncomfortable, I can tell you. But I'm doing it.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I think what I learned is just start, whatever that is. If you're not 100% sure this is what you want to do, but you have a dream, but you don't have all the resources right now, just start. Start your journey. Some things will work out, some won't, but you'll learn a lot on the way. And when you're starting something and trying, just like experiencing something,
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
You're shaping your road and pivoting and like eventually you'll find the right way. And I see your posts all the time. I see you climbing some like huge mountain and all kind of different spots in the world. And I think every time is a different path. You discover new things when you climb, you learn, you fall, you fail, but you continue.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
So I think this is the first thing that is very important that people that will take from today. And the second thing that I always talk about that is don't listen to what other people have to say. You can come to like someone you think that is your friend and share with them your idea and they will oh, there's no way you're going to do that.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Not because they're bad friends, but just because they didn't experience themselves or they truly don't believe. And they're guarding you. Like they're really guarding you.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
It's from the right reasons, but they have no idea what you're capable of and you're the only one who knows it. So if there is something you believe in it or you're passionate about, go and do it and try it. And okay, if you fail,
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
You can't be loved by anyone. And if you're doing an extraordinary thing, there will be people that want to see that. And I think a good example I have from actually from the surfing world is that I went surfing. It was maybe like two weeks ago. And I'm going out with a friend and, you know, it's Hawaii. Everyone is talking to each other, especially if you see you're holding a surfboard.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
It was a big setback. I almost couldn't resist. I appeal and appeal and I really wanted to do it. And I was like, no way, I'm not going to be a pilot in the military. There's no way. But when I'm looking at it from today and I did something completely different in the military, I'm happy. I'm happy that the things worked the way they did.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And as we were going to the spot, there were three people, different people with a surfboard going out back to their car. And, you know, we're doing this small talk. We're like, how was it? How's the waves? So first person said, it was fun, fun waves. The second person said, okay. Oh, not a good day. So much wind. I couldn't catch any wave.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And the third person, you know, said something like, it's fine. And we got there and we had the most amazing day. So... It also depends on the experience of the person and, you know, the board, which can be the resource of the person.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
It's a lot of ingredients and the background and the experience that engraved into one thing that eventually you will decide if you're having fun or not having fun or if the waves are good and not good.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I think it's all eventually in the state of mind. Sometimes we can convince ourselves to think other ways. Sometimes we can't. And it's just part of it.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Well, this is very cliche, Alana, but we live once, right? If you have a dream, I believe you should go and try for it. And with determination and the right mindset and perseverance and integrity and all of these qualities, you'll be able to achieve whatever you want. you want and whatever you set your mind to. It might not be the thing that you started that you wanted at the beginning.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
It might change on the way, but it's an amazing feeling when you get to the point where you saw yourself and you vision yourself over there. It's an amazing feeling, but I think the important thing is also enjoy the journey on the way. And I had to learn it the hard way because all of us were always in a race. We want to achieve that and that and that and that and that.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
But I think also enjoying every step of the way and taking the most out of it is important. It's hard to do, but very important.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
At the time, it was really, really hard for 18 years old at VATU. First time, it was like a big failure for me. It's like they don't want me. But I think everything worked out the way it should and made me happy. go and achieve my dream in a different way.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Yeah, just get yourself outside of comfort zone. This is where you grow. This is where you learn. It's not easy to be there.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Yeah, but hopefully I'll be able to surf at 97.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I don't know if you remember, we met long time ago, long, long time ago, eight or 10 years ago, I was volunteering for an organization and they did a hackathon in Los Angeles and you were one of the judges. Now you reminded me. I forgot that. Yes, I missed that. Oh my God. And I remember, this is the first I heard about you, but this was the first time that I actually saw you in person.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And there were like four judges and it was a teen hackathon. So every company and group of teens, they built a product and showed it to you guys eventually. And then like, you know, there was a big audience and it was really, really fun and amazing event what those little teenagers can do. And I remember hearing you talking to them and giving them feedback.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And I was just so intrigued and amazed by how you talk to them and how you encourage them. And after that, I really wanted to meet you because I heard you were an F-16 flight instructor. So one of my friends, Anad, she introduced me to you. And I remember, you know, I was a... 22, maybe 23. And I was so amazed by you.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And then she made the introduction and you heard about my journey and like me wanting to be a pilot and you encouraged me and gave me, you know, a lot of blessing and motivation with your big smile. And, you know, we were talking about sometimes you need this little encouragement from someone and especially when I was like, I'm still looking up to you and everything you're doing.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
So ever since, every time you're like motivating me and when you see my posts, you're like saying all these kind words. It's amazing to see that and amazing to feel that, especially from someone like you. So I just want to say thank you. And I feel like closing a circle in a way.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I'm so happy you invited me here. Really. I'm grateful. Thank you so much.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
you
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And exactly as you said, as also the thought that they're taking the best of the best and all of a sudden you feel like, oh, so I'm not the best of the best. This was really hard to recover from. And I think it took me a long time. But as I started my position in the military, everything went away. And I said, OK, this is my journey now. I choose this. I enjoy this.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
If you have a dream, you can go and do that. There will be challenges, but it's possible.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I loved what I was doing in the military and I wouldn't replace it with anything else.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
So I was a civil coordination officer in the IDF. I was working a lot coordinating activities between the Palestinian Authority and the IDF.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I think the first thing is that I learned to put the people first. I wasn't like this in the beginning, you know, as you were in the military too, an F-16 instructor, that sometimes it can be like really busy. You have a lot of things to do and overachievers, we want to achieve everything and be good at everything. And sometimes we forget the people.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And I had a big department of 16 soldiers and I, now know that I need to put the people first because eventually they are the one that will make my department fulfilled and better. Yeah, exactly.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Yeah.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
It's crazy.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I think my personality that I was always a rebel helped me. go and pursue this dream again. It took me a long time. I already applied for university and I was supposed to start studying at a university. And then it was really 50-50 till I sat down with myself and it was a long time, two months. I was writing the benefits and the disadvantages. Like the pros and cons and all that.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Yeah, pros and cons, like really doing this list. Yeah. That it wasn't like I'm going to do the flight school in my home country. I had to move to the U.S. to do that. So it was a big, big decision. And I remember coming to my parents and tell them one day they were just sitting in the living room and I was like, hey, I think I want to become a pilot.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And I got this look. I remember my dad saying, okay, go and check it. You know, like it was very abnormal for a 21 years old girl to go and say, I want to be a pilot in my home country. Normally people just become pilots after the military, of course, in civil way, but they really accepted it calmly and relaxed, which made me relaxed. I was like, okay, it's possible. It's
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I wanted to become a military pilot, but it didn't work out for me. It was a big setback. The first time that I actually saw you in person, you heard about my journey and me wanting to be a pilot, and you encouraged me and gave me a lot of blessing motivation with your big smile.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Oh, so many naysayers. So many. I got a lot, a lot of comments when I just started. I got so many of them that I didn't want to say I'm going to become a pilot. I almost kept it as a secret. Like one day I just disappeared from Israel. I went to the U.S. Wow. My friends were wondering, where did I go? And I said, at the beginning, I remember I was so scared.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I was just saying, I'm going to study aviation. You know, that could be a lot of things.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
That was still in my head. I think this was part of the reason that I didn't say anything because... I like to first show the results and then talk about it. It's not the opposite for me. And I think for a lot of people too, especially women, we want to prove ourselves first before we talk about it. But there were a lot of people who told me, how are you going to do that? You're female.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
You're too young for that. There's no chance you're going to be a pilot if you weren't a pilot in the military. It's a long way. So all the fear, again, also from my military time, It rose up to the surface. And I was like, maybe I'm not going to be good enough again. But this time it worked out, Ilana.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
It wasn't simple at all, especially the language. Of course, I learned English during school, but when you come to the U.S. and everyone is speaking English, all of a sudden, I remember I was in the supermarket just buying groceries, and then they asked me if I want the receipt. This is not a normal question where I come from. So I was like, excuse me. And they're like, do you want the receipt?
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Like three times just to understand if I want the receipt. And then there is this English part, the mentality part, the new country part. And there's also the aviation English, which is very different from English. Wow. So I had a lot of struggles, but I think I also love challenges and I learned that I grow from them.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
So I took all of the things that happened to me as a challenge, but it was tough. I think especially the English part. Now everything is in English. My studies are in English and everyone talking to me in English and I need to do tests in English.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
But there were a lot of people who told me, you're female, you're too young for that, there's no chance you're going to be a pilot if you weren't a pilot in the military. So I finished training, I become a first officer, and then I got upgraded to a captain. If there is something you believe in it or you're passionate about, go and try for it.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I think this moment came later. I was a flight instructor. And in order to work for the airlines, you need to build about 1,500 hours, which is a lot. So you finish your studies with 250 hours, and then you need to build a lot of hours. And being a flight instructor, when you're trying to get as many hours as possible, you're kind of in a race for that. It was difficult.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I remember I came back home for a visit during my school and And all of a sudden I felt everything. And it was very, very difficult to, as a flight instructor and being like sometimes seven, eight hours in the air, it was very taking a lot of your energy. And I was like, there's no way I can do so many hours. There's no way I'm going to survive this.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
But this was like almost a point I was in Israel and I didn't want to go back.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
This was around 23.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
Yeah, the normal university or traveling the world. And the one thing that I felt also that there is no promises, even if I get to 1500 hours, there's no promises someone will get me to the airlines to make my dream come true. So It was really hard to keep believing in the idea of maybe. And at that time, all the negative comments affected me. Now I know better, but it really added.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
really, really hard. And I think what helped me at that time, sometimes your supportive environment, this is what you need. You need a good word from someone close to you or a little encouragement. And this is all you need. And this is what I got from my family at the time, which was exactly what I needed to go back and continue my journey.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
I think I did a mindset shift. I went back to the beginning when my vision was so clear to me. I went back to that. And sometimes it's like a roller coaster, especially in this kind of a journey. And sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down, sometimes you don't believe.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
And I think at this moment I decided I'm believing no matter what people tells me, I'm putting everything in the background and I'm just continuing. And I put myself on autopilot. I was taking the most out of it. I started to actually enjoy. And I think also when you're a new flight instructor, it's really hard.
Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How Adva Amir Became One of the Few Female Airline Captains | E108
There's a lot of things, new things, like everything you start for the first time, it's hard. And you're not always, you know, the best of it in the beginning and you have so much to learn. And I think me as wanting to be the best at everything I do was difficult. But once you pass this barrier, I think things open up. I started to enjoy it. I was better.