A Chick in the Cockpit by Erika Armstrong

Author:Erika Armstrong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Behler Publications, LLC

After being away from Lindsey for five days for the first time, I gladly volunteered for nighttime baby duties. It was during those lonely hours that I projected how a new plan could make it all work. I looked into my child’s eyes and it truly didn’t matter what I wanted anymore. I would gladly give up everything to make sure she was safe and loved. I was done leaning in.

During one of my furloughs after 9/11, I had casually thought about starting a side business that might help me during the ups and downs of the airline economy. Never thinking I’d make a living from any other source, I just thought a side business might generate a little fun money or gap money should I get furloughed again.

During my perusal, I’d found one particular business that wasn’t retail and had low overhead. The owner was selling his business plan structure like a franchise, so I pulled out the information again and reviewed it with the idea that it was going to be my one and only source of income. I called the owner and after a lengthy conversation, I knew we could make this work.

I presented the whole idea and plan to Brad, and we were both ecstatic at the idea of controlling our own schedule and our own lives. In the back of my mind, I was still clinging to the hope that Brad would come around and say that he thought we could still start this business while he took care of Lindsey, just while I was on my trips. The last of that hope was severed when Brad firmly explained that there was no way he was going to work on starting up a business while watching a newborn. It couldn’t be done. If we were going to do this, we were going to do it right and put everything into it—which meant he needed me to stay at home and be a mom and support him.

In exchange for me being the stay-at-home parent and taking every penny I had in my savings and retirement accounts to buy a construction warranty management business, Brad said he would run the day to day operations of our new company. I would work behind the scenes doing business development, getting the office together and finding leads on new home builders. I could work from the home office and Brad would run the office in Evergreen. He promised if I left my career, he would take care of us, forever. He would build the business, and I would build our family.

Still nervous about just quitting, I secretly called the chief pilot’s office and repeatedly left messages, asking for a meeting or a phone conversation. Days passed with no response, so I wrote my company a letter asking for an unpaid leave of absence for just a few more months. I didn’t want anything from them except to hold my seniority number. They wouldn’t have to pay insurance and I even said if there was an expense associated with holding my slot, I’d pay them for it.

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