BORN TO FLY: BREAKING BARRIERS IN AVIATION AND BUSINESS || ROBIN PETGRAVE || EPISODE 076

What this episode is about

Robin Petgrave shares his inspiring journey from a curious fifth grader exploring Boston’s transit system to becoming a helicopter flight instructor in Los Angeles, highlighting the importance of pursuing one’s passions and breaking barriers in both aviation and business. His story emphasizes the idea that determination and taking actionable steps can lead to fulfilling your dreams, regardless of background or circumstances.

Key takeaways

• Saving lunch money for exploration taught me: curiosity often leads to extraordinary opportunities, not just empty stomachs.
• Witnessing a helicopter fueled my dream; sometimes, all it takes is one moment to spark a lifelong passion.
• If one pilot can do it, so can I—understanding potential often starts with audacity over extensive planning.
• Overconfidence is a pilot's greatest enemy; humility keeps ambition grounded while soaring to new heights.
• Chasing the American dream means navigating your unique path; sometimes, it leads you from Jamaica to Hollywood.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Robin Petgrave (Host) · 49 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Boston, Jamaica, Robin Petgrave, Celebrity Helicopter
2. 5:00 – 10:00: University of Connecticut
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum, Black Enterprise, Essence, Jamaica
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Tuskegee Airman, Essence
5. 30:00 – 35:00: Andre (Dre), Rihanna
6. 45:00 – 50:00: Michael Jackson, Magic Johnson, John Travolta
7. 50:00 – 55:00: Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum

Notable quotes from "BORN TO FLY: BREAKING BARRIERS IN AVIATION AND BUSINESS || ROBIN PETGRAVE || EPISODE 076"

• And then after school, I'd get on the buses to see where they went. And I explored the whole Boston transit system. One day, I wound up at Logan Airport and I'm seeing…

  about Boston · at 0:04

• We have a gentleman who is the founder of Celebrity Helicopter out here in Los Angeles, ranked number one helicopter tour by National Geographic.

  about Robin Petgrave · at 2:49

• I made records there that are still there. and so after I got out of college, I was pursuing acting because I was acting already in high school. I was doing commercials and.

  about University of Connecticut · at 7:11

• Was a huge I had 22 full-time pilots working for me. I was on Oprah, I was on Black Enterprise, Ebony, Essence magazines. They even wrote a book called The New Color of Success. They call me the fly guy.

  about Essence · at 10:48

• Company and formed a museum called Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum at the Compton Airport. And that thing, we've had eight kids set 15 aviation world records because I thought…

  about Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum · at 14:29

• Yeah, she had a Tuskegee Airman in the back. All of our airplanes are painted red taileds because I wanted to let people know about the Tuskiggee Airman because most people had…

  about Tuskegee Airman · at 16:01

• Really have to concentrate. But things that are like really rewarding like I'm flying Janet Jackson out to Michael's ranch and landing there and every time I land the SUV pulls up, Michael's in the back. He winds down the window.

  about Michael Jackson · at 45:22

• What's it? Nick Cannon's DJing. All everybody's there. everybody thinks they're cool. And then Magic Johnson gets off the elevator and everybody goes, Whoa, that Magic Johnson…

  about Magic Johnson · at 48:06

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Robin Petgrave — Person · Main guest · 1 mention · first at 3:09
  Interview subject describing his path from Jamaica/Boston to becoming a helicopter pilot and aviation entrepreneur, including founding helicopter businesses and mentoring youth through aviation programs.
• Michael Jackson — Person · Referenced celebrity client / story subject · 3 mentions · first at 45:28
  Central to a vivid story about flying Janet Jackson to Michael’s ranch and interacting with him, underscoring the guest’s career reach and memorable experiences.
• Tuskegee Airman — Person · Referenced historical figure/group (mis-typed as singular person) · 1 mention · first at 16:01
  Mentioned in a story about a 15-year-old flying cross-country with a Tuskegee Airman aboard, connecting the museum’s mission to Black aviation history.
• Magic Johnson — Person · Referenced celebrity client / networking example · 3 mentions · first at 47:56
  Used as an anecdote illustrating Robin’s celebrity clientele and how reputation/word-of-mouth creates high-status connections.
• John Travolta — Person · Referenced celebrity collaborator/client · 1 mention · first at 47:03
  Mentioned as someone Robin worked around in film contexts, reinforcing his production/celebrity aviation work.
  John Travolta and stuff, they're when the shooting day is over, they're Hey, Robin, can you fly us to Vegas? And I'm yeah, Mr. Travolta. Yeah. it's it's just so weird where when you're doing movies, I've met people that I have no.
• Rihanna — Person · Referenced celebrity client · 1 mention · first at 34:44
  Listed among high-profile passengers to support claims about service quality and reputation.
  Consider the people that are saying that is I fly Janet Jackson, I fly Rihanna, I fly I mean I fly Rody Rich, YG, Dr. Dre, I fly all of these people. And time again, those are the comments that we get. And even with our.
• Andre (Dre) — Person · Referenced celebrity client · 1 mention · first at 34:49
  Named as part of the guest’s celebrity clientele list, used to validate credibility and experience.
  Mean I fly Rody Rich, YG, Dr. Dre, I fly all of these people. And time again, those are the comments that we get. And even with our tours, our average customer will fly with us four times. They'll do four different tours. I countless times.

Companies & orgs

• Celebrity Helicopter — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at 2:51
  Robin Petgrave's helicopter tour company, ranked number one by National Geographic, offering unique aerial experiences in Los Angeles.
  We have a gentleman who is the founder of Celebrity Helicopter out here in Los Angeles, ranked number one helicopter tour by National Geographic.
• Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at 14:31
  A museum founded by Robin Petgrave to inspire and educate kids about aviation, particularly focusing on underprivileged communities.
• University of Connecticut — Company · Affiliation · 1 mention · first at 7:07
  Where Robin Petgrave attended college on a scholarship, setting records in track and field.

Places & events

• Boston — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at 0:07
  Where Robin Petgrave grew up after moving from Jamaica, and where his initial fascination with aviation began.
• Jamaica — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at 3:29
  Robin Petgrave's birthplace, providing context to his early life and background.
  More about your background as well if it's well I was originally born in Jamaica. I lived there until I was 10 and then I moved to Boston, Massachusetts. I grew up there. and then after that, I went.
• Cedar Sinai Hospital — Place · Setting · 2 mentions
  Where a student mentored by Robin Petgrave is pursuing her residency to become a neurosurgeon.

Media & podcasts

• Essence — Media · Referenced expert · 2 mentions · first at 10:54
  Featured Robin Petgrave, recognizing his impact and contributions to aviation and the African-American community.
• Ebony — Media · Referenced expert · 2 mentions
  Featured Robin Petgrave, showcasing his influence and success in aviation.
• Black Enterprise — Media · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at 10:51
  Featured Robin Petgrave, highlighting his achievements in aviation and entrepreneurship within the African-American community.
  Cars, I owned three houses. I mean it was a huge I had 22 full-time pilots working for me. I was on Oprah, I was on Black Enterprise, Ebony, Essence magazines. They even wrote…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 In fifth grade, instead of spending my lunch money on lunch, I would save it. And then after school, I'd get on the buses to see where they went. And I explored the whole Boston transit system. One day, I wound up at Logan Airport and I'm seeing airplanes take off and land. And I thought that was the coolest thing ever. And then one day, I saw a helicopter and the helicopter came in, hovered above the ground, floated around the airport. So you see this little black kid running through the airport. went to college, got out of college, went to New York just to act. And then all the good jobs, all the big parts, I was getting little parts and commercials and TV shows and stuff, but all the big parts were here in LA. They were all casted in Hollywood. So I'm like, I'm in the wrong place. So I moved out here to LA. And then when I was out here, I went on a sightseeing flight and the pilot was a

0:43 guy that was about my age. And I was like, man, you must have joined the army when you were young cuz like you you my age. I I thought I'd be old when I could fly. And the guy's like, no, you just paid and took lessons. I was like, "You can do that?" He said, "Yeah." I'm like, "Okay, well, hell, if you can do it, I can do it." And I opened up the phone books, right? Phone books. That was a long time ago. Like, you know, phone book. Yeah. That was before like cell phones and stuff. And I saw flight schools. And I went there and I was like, "So, I could just pay and take lessons?" And they said, "Yeah." And I was like, "Well, let's go." I had $2,000 credit on a credit card. I whacked that thing down like I was in Vegas. I'm like, "Rack them up. Let's go." A mantra for an entrepreneur. If you got something you love and you want to do it, you just start taking steps in that direction and things will fall

1:29 into place. And sure enough, a year later, I was teaching people to fly helicopters.

1:33 When you have that mindset that if somebody can do it, we have the capability and we have unlimited potential to reach our full potential. If we can dream and execute the dream as well. And I want to know in the business side of things when you were running all these companies, how did you acquire your first helicopter? Where was the financing and backing behind that? Well, see that's the thing. A lot of people get stuck when they're, you know, going to pursue an entrepreneurial goal, right? They think, "Where do I get the financing? How do I how do I how do I how do I, like I said, like when I want to be a pilot, the guy was telling me, do you know how much it's going to cost?" And I'm like, "Whatever." I mean, I it's nice to have an idea.

2:10 How many hours would I need if I want a helicopter license or like a qualification to fly?

2:15 The minimum you'd need to get a private pilot's license is about 40 hours. Most people doing about 54 to 65 hours.

2:22 Would you say because you've flown for so long that sometimes it may bring an level of too much confidence?

2:30 Overconfidence is one of the biggest killers of all pilots, right? And that's the thing that you have to look for at the level of

2:38 the code to winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Uh today we have a very unique guest. It's going to be a very exciting interview. Uh we have a gentleman who is the founder of Celebrity Helicopter out here in Los Angeles, ranked number one helicopter tour by National Geographic. We're going to find out a bit more about the industry. We're going to find out a lot about like what he does. Um like I said again, this is this a podcast for business and entrepreneurship. So we are excited to actually learn a bit more with Robin Petgrave. Welcome to the studio sir.

3:14 Ah, thank you for having me. Awesome stuff. I like I like stories. I like journeys. Um obviously you and I are both um pursuing our own version of like the American dream coming out the country as well. Can you tell us a bit more about your background as well if it's

3:29 um well I was originally born in Jamaica. Um I lived there until I was 10 and then I moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Um I grew up there. Um and uh then after that, you know, I went to to college in Connecticut and everything. Um, but there's a whole there's a whole bunch of stories with me. It's not quite that simple. We were very poor in Jamaica.

3:53 Okay. Right. We came to um uh Belmont. Uh we're the only black t black people in the whole town. Right.

4:01 And in the mornings I used to see buses that we have trackless trolleys, you know, electric buses. And I used to see them go that way and this way. And I was I always wondered how do they turn around? You can't just bust a U-turn. So, in fifth grade, instead of spending my lunch money on lunch, I would save it and then after school, I'd get on the buses to see where they went. And I explored the whole Boston transit system. Um, one day I wound up at Logan Airport. Um, and I'm seeing airplanes take off and land. And I thought that was the coolest thing ever. And then one day I saw a helicopter. And the helicopter came in, hovered above the ground, floated around the airport. So you see this little black kid running through the airport to see where this thing was going. It landed, and then a blonde gets out. I'm like, and it's got a blonde, and then she gets into the building, the guy gets back in the

4:56 helicopter, floats up in the air again, and just flies off like Superman. And I thought that was the coolest thing I ever saw.

5:03 Wow. Yeah. And is that what sparked up your interest and to pursue uh this specific career path for yourself?

5:09 Yeah. So I you know of course you know you go to school and um you get into middle school and then you get in high school and career days and hey so what do you want to what do you want to do? And I'm like well you know I don't want a job where I have to sit inside all day. I want a job where you got to go do stuff you know. So I'm like and I'm thinking about all the cool jobs right? I'm like oh being a cop would be kind of cool. I'm like wait no they get shot. And I'm like, "Oo, firemen. That would be No, they get burnt up." I'm like, "All the cool jobs are dangerous." So they were like, "Yeah, but you know, if you could do anything, what would you want to do?" And I'm like, "You know, when I was in fifth grade, I went to this airport and I saw this helicopter and that was really, really cool. How how can I do that?" And they all told me you had to join the military and you had to do ROC and then four years of college

5:56 and then officer training school and then uh flight training school and you can wash out at any time if you you know don't pass all the tests and stuff and then you owe the military four years. They told me all this stuff and I was like, "Oh, no, no, that's not going to work." Because, you know, I question authority. Like, if you telling me to do something, you know, I'll say, "Why?"

6:17 To make sure it's a good reason, you know, and if it's not a good reason, I'm not going to do it.

6:21 Um, that doesn't work in the military. When they tell you to march, you march, you know.

6:26 So, I said, "Well, then, you know, I can't do that. So, forget about that." So, I decided, you know, well, I'm going to go to college, so I got to get a scholarship. And um I could run fast, but other kids could run faster. So I'm like, hm, okay, so what am I going to do? How am I going to get a scholarship to college? Cuz my family is very poor. So I'm like, well, I got to get a scholarship, so I got to be better than everybody. So if some people are naturally born stronger than you or faster than you, you just make yourself stronger. So I just trained like crazy.

6:57 And I tore up the track and field world. I was uh I have records that I made in high school that are still there in 1979 and 8081. Um I got a scholarship. I went to the University of Connecticut.

7:11 Um I made records there that are still there. Um and you know, so after I got out of college, I was pursuing acting because I was acting already in in high school. I was doing commercials and modeling and I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I was just did everything right. um went to college, got out of college, went to New York to to act and then all the good jobs, all the big parts, I was getting little parts and commercials and TV shows and stuff, but all the big parts were here in LA. They were all casted in Hollywood. So, I'm like, I'm in the wrong place. So, I moved out here to LA. And then when I was out here, I went on a sightseeing flight and the pilot was a guy that was about my age. And I was like, man, you must have joined the army when you were young cuz like you you my age. I thought I'd be old when I could fly. And the guy's like, "No, you just paid and took lessons." I was like, "You can do that?"

8:01 He said, "Yeah." I'm like, "Okay, well, hell, if you can do it, I can do it." And I opened up the phone books, right? Phone books. That was a long time ago. Like, you know, phone book. Yeah. That was before like cell phones and stuff. And I saw flight schools and I went there and I was like, "So, I could just pay and take lessons?" And they said, "Yeah." And I was like, "Well, let's go." I had $2,000 credit on a credit card. I whacked that thing down like I was in Vegas. I'm like, rack them up. Let's go. And the guy was like, you know, it's going to cost way more than that. And I said to him, okay, look, do you know how many things in my life I've done just because? I went to college because everybody else is going to college. I graduated high school because everybody else is graduate graduating high school. I've done all these things just because. Now I have something that I want to do. I said, 'I have no idea

8:49 how I'm going to pay for it. I just know I'm going to pay for it. And I mean, that's like um a mantra for an entrepreneur. If you got something you love and you want to do it, you just start taking steps in that direction and things will fall into place. And sure enough, a year later, I was teaching people to fly helicopters and I was working as a full-time flight instructor.

9:12 Awesome. And do you kind of do you balance that with running your business right now or are you completely shifted into running your business as a helicopter pilot?

9:20 Oh no. So like I said, there's stories. Well, I was working as a flight instructor and the guy that I was working for wanted me to fly a helicopter that didn't have the right maintenance. So I said, "No, I'm not going to do that.

9:31 Too risky." Questioning authority. And he told his mechanic, "Take your time doing it because I know he needs money. So we'll punish him for not breaking the law like we asked him to." Wow.

9:40 I was like, "Oh." So, I started a helicopter company right next to him. I went to a company that I knew that had brand new helicopters that they were looking for leases for and they were going to make all this money off of them. And I said to him, you know, while you're waiting for these leases, I could take one of those helicopters down to the airport that I work at and I could start teaching the rest of my students to fly and then I'll pay you more money per hour than you know your lease will. And when someone decides they want this helicopter for a lease, you could take it back anytime you want.

10:11 And they were like, "Well, while it's sitting out there, it's not making us any money. So, all right. Yeah, you can do that."

10:17 They agreed to let me use one of their helicopters. And that's how it all started. I kept flying it. I kept making money. I kept paying them a lot of money. Um, and my first flight school was started. It was called Bravo Helicopters on Wing. It was in Torrance. and it grew to be the largest African-American aviation company in North America. I was rocking 16 helicopters, 12 airplanes, uh five stretch limousine, uh 20 exotic rena cars, I owned three houses. I I mean it was a huge I had 22 full-time pilots working for me. Um I was on uh Oprah, I was on Black Enterprise, Ebony, Essence magazines. They even wrote a book called The New Color of Success. They call me the fly guy.

11:02 Let's go. So, it was really huge, right? And um because I was on all these things, teachers would see it and say, "Hey, you know, um can you come to our school for career day?" And I'm like, "Uh, the first school that asked me was the 96th Street School." And they're like, "Uh, yeah, we're in Watts." I'm like, "Watt? Yes." And they're like, "It's it's really bad part of town." I'm like, "Dude, I came from Jamaica. Are you talking about bad parts of town?" I was like, "Yeah, okay. What time do you want me to come there?" And they're like, "Well, school starts at 8." And I was like, "8 in the morning." And I'm like, "Traffic that I'm thinking traffic." You know, they're thinking I think it's dangerous. And so I'm like, "How big is your playground?" And they said, "Well, it's pretty big." I'm like, "Okay, I'll come." And so I made arrangements with Calrans, got all the permits, and 8:00 in the morning, they brought the whole

11:54 school out and all these kids sitting around and this helicopter comes flying by. First, you know, the the gates open up, all these stretch limousines pull in, and the kids like, "Oh, is PD coming? What's what's going on?" The the limos pull in, these exotic cars pull in, all these guys get out, and then this helicopter goes flying by. Only this time, it comes and it lands in the schoolyard. When it lands in the schoolyard, I get out of the helicopter. I shut off the helicopter, get out, I walk to the stage, and I get on the mic.

12:20 I'm like, "Hey, it's great to be here." And the kids are still looking at the helicopter. And finally, this one little kid raises his hand and I go, "Yes." And he goes, "Um, uh, when's the pilot getting out?" And I was like, "I am the pilot." And the kids are looking at me like they just saw a unicorn. They're like, "You the pilot?" I said, "Yeah, not only am I the pilot, I own the helicopter and those limos and all these guys work for me." And and they were like, "Well," and they were just like, "That's the coolest thing we ever seen." And I said, "Wait, do you guys think I'm telling you this because I think I'm cool?" No, I'm telling you this because I didn't even think or figure out that I could do any of this until I was 27 after I got out of college. That's when I decided to follow my my real dream, right?

13:04 And I said to him, if you guys start right now while you're in elementary school,

13:09 don't think about what job you want when you get out of school. Think about what you like to do. Whatever it is you like to do, your most favorite thing you could do. Like if you won the lottery, what would you do? And make that your job. Make that your career because whatever it is you like to do, somebody will pay you to do it. If you like ride, you know the kids, I like riding roller coasters. I'm like, I did the Magic Mountain commercial. All those people riding that roller coaster for what, two hours, they got paid 750 bucks each.

13:38 I'm flying a helicopter over there do doing what I like. And they're all getting paid doing what they like, riding a roller coaster. Whatever it is you like to do, whether it's sleeping, eating shopping traveling doing podcasts, doing whatever it is you like to do, there's a way to get paid to do it. That's an entrepreneur. Forget about what job you want. Think about, you know, you ask me, "When do you have a day off?" And I'm like, "Uh, my job is my day off."

14:04 I love that. Like, if I if I won the lottery, I'd be doing the same I was doing yesterday. I'd be doing I just have more helicopters and more stuff and be be able to help more people. Um, so yeah. So anyways, I I decided wouldn't ultimate entrepreneur be a person that is making other people entrepreneur. Make that your job. So I got rid of my company and formed a museum called Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum at the Compton Airport. And that thing, we've had eight kids set 15 aviation world records because I thought about all those kids at that school, right? They had no idea that school is actually practice for the future. You know, going to class on time, why? Well, like for example, if I didn't come here on time, would I be on on your podcast? No.

14:54 Right. So, kids like, oh, I'm like, it's it's practice for the future. And once you put things in that kind of perspective for kids, the grades went through the roof. attendance, perfect attendance, the fighting, the black on brown fighting, all that stuff. Stop. Because I explained it to kids in a way they understood. So I said, "Okay, well, I'm gonna make that my job." And so my museum, kids from all over LA would come to the airport and I make them do homework. I make them wash airplanes. I make them sweep, handle, do customer service things, you know, show people around the museum. And for that, I taught them to fly

15:29 starting at eight. So, I had eight-year-old kids that could actually fly an airplane better than most adults. And I had kids fly airplanes around the country. I had um a little 15-year-old girl uh she came to us when she was 12. Uh wanted to be a a cardiovascular surgeon. I was like, "What the hell is that?" And um she wound up flying when she was 15 one of our airplanes from Compton all the way across the country to Newport News, Virginia, where we had

15:58 Where was she? She was 15. She flew that far. Yeah, she had a Tuskegee Airman in the back. All of our airplanes are painted red taileds because I wanted to let people know about the Tuskiggee Airman because most people had no idea. I met him in an airfare. All right. And I I didn't even know their history. Um, and so I I I wanted to bring that to light. Everywhere she stopped, Tuskegee Airman came and met her, autographed the airplane. It made every news market in in the country, if not the world. Um, Essence [clears throat] magazine labeled her one of the top 25 most influential African-Americans because of that trip.

16:33 That is so powerful. Yeah. What's powerful now she's doing her residency at Cedar Cyanide Hospital to be a neurosurgeon.

16:41 So, she's still fulfilling her dream. Yeah. She's she decided being a neurosurgeon would be more difficult than being a cardiovascular surgeon. So, she's now uh pursuing a career of being a neurosurgeon.

16:54 It's all in the mind. She believes she can literally achieve her dreams and get what she wants as well. And I'm so grateful you shared that that that beautiful story. It's it's just so powerful because when you have that mindset that if somebody can do it, we have the capability and we have unlimited potential to reach our full potential if we can dream and execute the dream as well. And I want to know in the business side of things when you were running all these companies, how did you acquire your first helicopter?

17:22 Where was the financing and backing behind that? Well, see that's the thing. A lot of people get stuck when they're, you know, going to pursue an entrepreneurial goal, right? They think, where do I get the financing? How do I how do I how do I how do I um like I said, like when I wanted to be a pilot, the guy was telling me, do you know how much it's going to cost? And I'm like, whatever. I mean, I it's nice to have an idea, but I just know one foot in front of the other. Just, you know, every time you get an opportunity, take it and keep moving in that direction, and sooner or later, you'll get there. And like the kids that that come to the museum, we've we've mentored and trained thousands of kids.

18:04 I mean, we've exposed hundreds of thousands of kids to aviation through airfares um outreach um programs that we've done. Um, uh, you know, I ran that museum for 24 years, right? So, we had a a huge impact. In fact, when you go to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, they have a display called Black Wings. It's about African-Americans achievement in aviation. And the last two entries, that girl that I was talking to you about and me for the present, a pinnacle of achievement of African-Americans in aviation and for the future because of what I've done and how many kids I've impacted. But when these kids, a lot of them decide, almost all of them decide to be an entrepreneur. That doesn't mean working for yourself. It just means finding what you like to do and getting paid to do it. It could be working for somebody else doing it. That's perfectly fine.

18:55 Exactly. But [clears throat] the one thing that I I tell them is, you know, there are so many people with resources that are apathetic, lazy, don't know what to do, or looking for an opportunity to expand those resources. And all of these people are looking for somebody who's hungry, who's got the legs, who's got the youth, and the ability to make those people money. And they will let you use their resources to make you both money. So you don't necessar ne necessarily have to have a lot of money. You just have to find and associate with people with that money.

19:31 You have to find and associate with people that want to do those things, you know. So let's say you like aviation, hang around with aviation people, you know. Um and there are people like you want to you want to be a pilot or you want to learn to fly. Um there's people who have airplanes that are just sitting in their hanger. Um aircraft when they're just sitting They um deg they devolve. They they airplanes break just from sitting there. You need to exercise them. You got to take them out and you got to fly them to keep all the the the seals lubricated and everything moving so rust doesn't happen and all those things, right? So there are people that have airplanes that, you know, after a while it's a pain in the butt to go all the way down the airport, pull it out, clean it, check it, fly it, put it away, and all that stuff, but that airplane still needs to be exercised. There's your opportunity. So if you meet one of

20:29 these people and say, "Well, can I exercise your airplane?" Yeah. Even though you're getting the flight time and the training and all that stuff, you're doing them a favor. And if you're telling them, well, I can start flying other people and I can charge those people and give you some of that money. Well, that's how you get your first airplane. And so now you're both making money. And then once you're paying them and and doing the regular thing, like with my first company, uh, the lease payments that I was paying that guy, I had no problems paying him more than he would get on a normal lease because I didn't have to give him deposit, down payment, one month you I didn't have to do any of that stuff. He just let me use it. So, I paid them a lot. Well, when the bank saw how much I was paying them, they're like, you know, if you own that helicopter, your payments would be a fifth of that. And I'm like, really?

21:19 So, then they say, well, we see your history. You've been paying this guy this much for this many years. Why don't you pay it to us and then you wind up owning the helicopter? I'm like, hm, that's a great idea. I never even thought of that. And then that's how I started owning helicopters.

21:33 And how much was your first one? Um, the f actually the first helicopter was a a Robinson R22. It was at the time they were selling for 116,000.

21:44 Now that same helicopter is like 250,000. Okay. Because I've never really like figured the pricing for what helicopter is. Obviously you see like sometimes private jets and so forth. So I was just trying to figure out like that that amount for that. What would you say is like a good range for a helicopter if somebody wants to start like a good cheap one?

22:03 Um again you could buy a helicopter. Um, a good Okay, there's there's two place helicopter. Those are good for flight training and for like maybe aerial photography where you take one person and you fly. It's limited, right? But they're not as expensive as something that's more useful like a fourplace helicopter, a helicopter with four seats. Um, that can carry a pilot plus three people and then you have a lot more uses you can do with it. You could do sightseeing flights, you could do the same aerial photography, you can still do the same flight training, but you charge more per hour. you get more per hour. It costs you more per hour, but the the margin from what it costs you to what you can make on it is significantly higher than the two seat. The two seat is a lot less expensive to get into. So, you could buy a good two seat helicopter with maybe half time left on it for probably about maybe 150 180,000 now. Um

23:01 because uh new there are about 250 maybe 280,000 um and then you know uh in 2200 hours you overhaul it and then it's good for another $2,200 and so forth and so on. But again, if you're starting a business, it's not a good idea to buy them right away because you're tying up a lot of capital. you're using a lot of money with um um uh credit that you could be using for working capital to to purchase the equipment. So, in the beginning for almost any company, it's easier just to lease the the equipment than it is to buy it. Once you start establishing your customers, you start establishing your cash flow, so you can see what kind of money is coming in, now you can budget and decide to go ahead and start purchasing things. And plus, it it usually takes you a little while.

23:53 By the time you figure that out, you will have had enough track record to actually develop some credit to where you can um finance it. And then there's lots of people that'll finance um based on what your credit is, based on what kind of assets you have as collateral, but they'll also finance you based on your cash flow. um if you have a lot of receivables where you know you got a certain amount of money coming in well they figure well you know there's a certain amount that they're willing to risk because you have receivables that they can attach if you decide you're not going to pay them. So when you're starting a business, don't think I'm going to go buy a helicopter. Just think, okay, let's find um the least expensive helicopter or airplane that we can lease and lease that and use that as your stepping stone towards purchase. So obviously the concept of arbitrage which I I kind of like what you touched on and

24:44 um you obviously touched on on the funding portion as well but you also stressed on the importance of to summarize it networking because you're finding out the people that have hang hangers that that that need to get their equipment out there and you can end up trying to negotiate and leverage and try and like you know add value by paying them and so forth as well. For those people that may be watching, a young young person, young male or man or woman, whatever it may be, they feel inadequate, shy, they getting out their comfort zone is such a stretch. What advice would you give them? Because like I just asked you three questions and it's already such a fun podcast because you just have the natural contagious and exciting personality that I'm like, let's just shut this down laptop down. Let's have a conversation because I've hardly lost anything here.

25:34 But for advice for those, what would you say they should do because you've achieved so much success, but what advice would you give for them if they don't have the same personality trait that you have?

25:43 Well, it's not necessarily a personality trait and it's not necessarily a a trick, but um people like to be around people that they wish they were or people that are kind. Um, if you go around being abusive, abrasive, um, just obnoxious, and annoying, nobody wants to to hang around with you,

26:12 right? Um, I've found that people, especially people who've achieved success where they own a lot of assets or own things that you might need, um, they get inspired and they respond when they see that you're kind. Um, if you are just I mean some people call it being nice, but if you're just nice to other people and just kind to other people, it's contagious. That stuff comes back to you. So, um, when I got my flight instructor certificate, um, I wanted to go and, you know, work and the first few people I talked to, they were like, "No, we don't have any spots open for flight instructors." And I was like, "Okay, all right, cool." And then I went down to Torrance and I went to a place and um you know I looked out there. They had two helicopters. I said, "How many flight instructors you have?"

27:05 And they said, "We have two flight instructors." And I said, "Oh, okay, cool." And um uh they were like, "Well, we don't have many students." And I go, "Oh, okay. But um is there a possibility that maybe like I could uh come and maybe just, you know, hang out and see if I can find some students?" And they said, 'Well, but yeah, sure, but there's no students. So, yeah, but you can come and hang out and, you know, we'll let you use the helicopter if you can find some students. And I said, okay, great. And so next morning, 8:00 in the morning, I'm there. And they were like, why are you here at 8:00 in the morning?

27:42 And I said, well, because I'm here to work. They said, but there's no students. And I said, "Well, okay, but you know, I could be home watching TV and there's no way I'm going to fly with somebody that day, but if I'm here at 8 o'clock in the morning, I might fly with somebody this day. And even if there's no students, at least I can help you guys out. So, you know, if you guys need some sweeping, I could do that because I could be home watching TV, not doing anything, but there's no opportunities there. But if I'm here, I'll help you out." and then you know it'll give me something to do while I'm waiting to meet some students. And so I'm [clears throat] like I want to learn everything. So um let me go down and help the mechanics with whatever they need. You don't you're not a mechanic.

28:27 How can you help us? Well, let me clean up your shop. Let me like sweep some stuff around. Do you need some tools? What? And I was just like I was the obnoxious person that wanted to help everybody. And they're like who the hell is this guy? And I'm like hi. And then so, you know, the people at the time, most of the people that were there were flying airplanes,

28:45 and they would see me helping out, answering, you know, answering the phones, um, helping people with their bringing stuff to their car, whatever. And they're like, "What? What is with you? What do you do?" And I'm like, "I fly helicopters." And they're like, "Well, what's that like?" And I'm like, "Oh, well, helicopters are really really cool. I mean, airplanes are cool, but you haven't seen cool till you've been in a helicopter. And actually, if you want to check it out, I tell you what. Um, you don't even have to pay for me.

29:14 If you just pay for the helicopter, I'll take you for a little spin in it. And I bet you I bet you money when we land, you'll think it's cool, too. And they're like, I don't know about that, but come on, man. You're not even paying for me. Just pay for the helicopter. I bet you money. Almost 90% of those people wound up being my students. At the time they had two instructors, two helicopters sitting there.

29:37 By the time I was done that first year, I gave 1,400 hours of flight instruction, which is unheard of. Unbelievable.

29:45 I mean, I was literally giving instruction eight hours a day. I mean, that's how many students I had. Their helicopters was flying like crazy. They're like, "How how are you doing this?" I'm like, "It's easy." I'm like, "I like flying and people want to know why I'm so happy about it." I'm like, "Well, come on. I'll show you." They take him flying and that's so in other words, if you're at an airport and there's a guy there and he's got an airplane and if you go up to them and say, "Hey man, can I fly your airplane?"

30:13 That's never going to happen because that's everybody hitting up because they want stuff. But if you're like, "Hey, um, when you wash your airplane, is there any way I can come and help you dry it off or clean it or whatever? I just want to know everything about it." That's that's your way in because they're like, "Well, that's kind of nice. Yeah, sure. Come on. you can help me. People respond and will give to you if you're giving to them. You know what I mean? And when you don't have money, you have the ability to do work. You can give your time, you can give your attention, you can give your labor. And if you do that, it usually comes back to you twofold or tfold or more.

30:48 That's such an important lesson because often people feel like you need to have money to start something, but you you have a talent and that's that's the beginning. You can always give a service as well. And and I often believe in that concept as well. It's there's uh there's a phrase in in African language that um just by translating it in other words just give freely without expecting anything and then you would get blessed by whatever you may believe in a higher power something tfold as well and I couldn't agree more with that without the expectation of that of course in business aspect you have to make it profitable in in some way or another but there's always ways where you can give without expecting and so I completely agree with that

31:27 um which kind of goes now to um upscaling. Now, now uh before we even touch on upscaling, what's the how many hours would I need if I want a helicopter license or or like qualification to fly?

31:41 Uh the minimum you'd need to get a private pilot's license is about 40 hours. Most people doing about 54 to 65 hours. Um that's to get a license to fly around people, your friends, whatever, but you can't really get paid to do it. They can share your expenses, but you can't really get paid to do it.

31:56 And to fly people. Yeah. to to what that's with your private pilot's license. Okay?

32:00 Once you get a total of 150 hours worth of flight time, then you can get your commercial license. And when you get your commercial license, now you can get paid to be a pilot. So, you can do things like aerial photography. You can do things like survey. You can fly and look for, you know, you can do those kinds of things. You can um flight instruct, you can get a flight instructor certificate when you get your commercials license. And so now you can get paid to teach other people to fly, which is really good because when you're teaching people to fly, it's not that they're trying to kill you, it's just that they're trying to kill you. So you get really, really good at flying a helicopter really, really, really quick. And so it builds up your skill level in a very short period of time. But you know, one of the things that that that I include in everything, um, people ask, well, I tell people I'm

32:55 kind of a perfectionist. And I'm not a perfectionist, meaning that, um, you know, everything has to be absolutely perfect. But it's like when I'm a pilot, whatever it is I'm doing, track and field, whatever, I have to make sure that I can do it as best as possible that I could do it right. And um my goal is always to be better than everybody else, which is my philosophy. A lot of people think, well, you know, there's competition, there's other companies, and you know, if we could get rid of all the other helicopter companies, then you'd be making so much more money. And I'm like, no, the competition is good, and it doesn't matter how many of them there are out there, you have to be the best one. You have to be the best at it because people will go to them, they'll find you, and they'll keep coming back to you. And it's like with my company now, I I teach that to all of our pilots. And I've taught that to

33:51 everybody that I've trained to fly. And um uh the safety record is incredible. Uh I've been flying for 36 years. No incidents, never injured anybody in 36 years. I have over 26,000 hours of flying. Um, most guys when they retire from the airline, they have about 20,000 hours. I have over 26,000 hours.

34:13 No injuries, no no nothing, right? Um, because when I fly, it's a whole different experience flying with me. And that's what you hear if you if you go online and and look at the Google reviews and and whatever. Um, you'll find time and time and time again, um, people keep saying that flying with me is the best experience they've had in their life. And that's, you know, okay, but when you consider the people that are saying that is like, you know, I fly I fly Janet Jackson, I fly uh Rihanna, I fly um uh I mean I fly uh Rody Rich, YG, Dr. Dre, I fly all of these people. And um time and time and time again, those are the comments that we get. And even with our tours, our average customer will fly with us four times. They'll do four different tours. I countless times people like, "Man, I flew with you like 10 years ago for my wedding." Just on the way over here, I stopped at to see our accountant and she's like, "Hey,

35:16 this we just had our 15 year anniversary. You flew us down to to um uh uh Anaheim Hills and we were flying between the canyons and all that stuff. We never forgot that." And we did that on our right after. I was like, "Wow." And we leave a vivid memory in people's minds and the the word of mouth referrals. Like when I started flight instructor, most of the students I got was from the other students telling them how cool everything was and what it was like getting trained by this guy. Cuz I'm like, you know, here's the thing. uh when I train you, uh you're going to be flying better than me because I've learned a whole bunch of lot a bunch of things during this journey. And I'm starting you off by teaching you those things right from the get-go. So, however good you think I fly, you're going to actually be able to fly better because you're you're starting off from where I am right now. So, you're going

36:11 to be trained as best as you could fly because whatever it is you got in you, I'mma bring it out. And so people really responded to that.

36:20 You know, when you speak about experience, when you say the 26,000 hours, I can't remember obviously it wasn't a helicopter pilot, but there was a commercial pilot um that landed in Hudson. Is it Captain Phillips?

36:31 Um Sully, Captain Sully. Captain Sully, sorry. Yeah. So um obviously I watched that and often and my dad and I we re my parents and I recently watched the uh when they came over to visit me like for the first time in a year, we watched the one for Denzel Washington. Yeah. Yeah.

36:47 And so in both cases um experience ended up coming more into play rather than like the handbook because many people try to do exactly what they did and things actually you know end up becoming a failure. Would you say because you've flown for so long that sometimes it may bring an level of too much confidence?

37:10 Oh yeah. So overconfidence is one of the biggest killers of all pilots, right? Um, and that's the thing that you have to look for. Um, uh, at the level of of proficiency that I have, um, paramount when I first started training is that's one of the things that you're taught right from the get-go is about being overconfident. Um there's a saying that they have, you know, you talk about your South African saying, we have one. There's old pilots and there's bold pilots, but there's no old bold pilots

37:44 because you're overconfident, it's going to bite you, right? Um and that's the thing that you have to look for all the time. So, uh when I fly, um you have to constantly monitor not only the aircraft but yourself, right? Um, most places that you're flying for will have a chief pilot or director of operations that monitors the pilots and if a pilot starts doing stuff, you know, that's that's um reckless or things like that, they'll, you know, sit down and talk with them or, you know, things like that. But when you own a company, you have to self monitor all the time. And before with my my first company, um uh it the atmosphere working there, the pilots loved it, right? And they would literally work seven days a week. And I had to make a company rule that they had to take off at least one day a week. And um they would take off the day a week and they'd still come to the office and hang out. And I'm like cuz it it was

38:46 just such an environment that they love being in. They love flying, right? And so they get to go down the airport and hang out and and be with their friends and the other flight instructors and students and it was like a big family. And I was just like that was one of the ways that I had to monitor them. But with me um I have to definitely watch myself. And um I've had a a whole life of being able to do things um that other people think are impossible or or they think that I'm better than other people. Like for example, when I was in college, right, I used to do every event in track and field. The only event that I never did in track and field was a two-mile run because I hated running the distance. But, you know, when I did the the Kathlon, I'd have to do the mile and I'd be complaining the whole time. Like literally in the race, my team used to run up to the track to listen to me as I ran by because I'd be

39:38 cussing the whole way. I'd be beating everybody, but I'd be cussing because I hated that race, right? Um, and so when I'd go to track meets, my coach would never let me know what events I was going to do. And when you're in college, you're not limited like in high school where you can only do three events in a meet. In college, you can do as many events as you can do, right? So when I'd go, I'd show up at the track meet in the morning having no idea what events I was going to do. And the coach would never tell me because eventually I would tell one of my teammates and eventually the other team would find out and then they try and take whoever their best athlete, they'd take him out of that race because they knew if they left them in the race, I would destroy him.

40:18 So my coach would never tell me what event. So I would be there and he'd say, "Hey, you're doing the hurdles." Okay, great. I'd go in the hurdles and I'd run it. Trials. So we'd have competitions in in like there was a Connecticut inter intercolgic championship. I remember this one. um vividly and um I wound up doing seven events. Normally at all the big championship meets I would do seven events. When you think about it, trials, quarters semis finals that's like the all the sprint have that the jumps and and I would do seven events and literally in the Connecticut Intercolgic Championships, the only team that scored more points than I did was my team because I was on it and Yale University. Those are the only two teams that scored more points than me. me personally beat every other team that showed up at this big championship.

41:15 And it was like and I was mad at the end because I was like, you know, I should have gotten I know I got a second in that one and I got like uh four first places, like two seconds and I was mad because I I thought I should have gotten all all of them should have been first place and I was mad the whole time and they're like, "What are you doing?" So my point is I've done things that other people have watched and they think, "Wow, that's that's so good." And me, I never get a chance to to gloat or to think I'm good because I know what I was shooting for. I'm like, you might think that that was good, but I wanted to beat all of the colleges there. And because I didn't beat all of the colleges, I didn't live up to my expectations. So although you think it's good, I am not overconfident because I didn't get as far as I wanted to to get. You know what I mean? So thank you very much. But I live me. I know me. I'm not doing what I

42:10 need to do yet. I got to work even harder. That's powerful. So now so you were the Jesse Owens of of high school.

42:17 Pretty much. Pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. No. What has been the most rewarding um experience or rewarding thing that's happened for you being a helicopter pilot in Los Angeles and your career so far? Um pro well okay there's been a lot of different things that are rewarding things that I like to do right um when I'm doing production work movies uh that's like that's my thing because that's when my workload is to the point of where I actually feel like I I have to concentrate you know what I mean because other stuff is is so easy for me um just because I've been doing it for so so And um I'm really adept at multitasking.

43:05 Like for example um the the US Bank Tower, I've done movies where I've landed on top of there. There's a movie called Dragon Dragon Wars

43:14 and when we did the movie the SA winds are blowing and it was literally 70 miles an hour of winds going through LA. So not many helicopters were flying that day, period. and I'm on top of that building doing a movie, doing these maneuvers with the helicopter and but but I know what the conditions are. I know what the helicopter's capable of. So, for me, it was like child's play. But that was

43:41 it was really good because I had another production pilot that was with me and he was looking at me like, I can't believe you are able to do that. And I'm just like, you know, so that's that's a compliment. Even though they didn't even know they were giving me a compliment. Um right over there, the building that says ION.

44:00 Yeah. Yeah. Um I've literally landed in the streets doing a movie with Chico Dearge. Um where I had to fly down the streets between the stop lightss and the light poles, bank a 90 degree turn to go down another street with an AAR helicopter, really big helicopter. Um literally right over there. we got permits and did everything and it was all I mean like that was really cool when you get Chico Debarge and the directors saying you know they said we couldn't do it but you're doing it. Um so those things are really rewarding when I do production work because you know you're you're not only dealing with the helicopter you're dealing with the actors. You're dealing with the whoever it is you're interacting with on the ground. You're dealing with the director who wants a certain thing. You want the director of photography who wants a certain look or certain angle that the helicopter has to be in. you're dealing with, you know,

44:47 the FA or other aircraft that are flying with you. Um, if you have to interact with a vehicle or something, you're you're doing all of those things at the same time. And to me, I'm like, I'm still playing my music and having a good time. And that's my my workload. Those things are tremendously rewarding for me because those I feel that they're a test of my my skill set because it's not just flying a helicopter, it's flying a helicopter and interacting and coordinating with all of those other elements and that's when I really have to concentrate. But things that are like really rewarding like I'm flying Janet Jackson out to Michael's ranch and landing there and and every time I land the SUV pulls up, Michael's in the back. He winds down the window.

45:38 He's like, "Hey, what's it like flying in the helicopter?" I'm like, he asked me this every time I come out here, you know? And he's like, "Come on, let's go inside." And so we go inside the house. We're sitting there with Michael and his kids and stuff and we're talking and and and joking around about stuff. And you're like going, "When I was a kid, I used to watch you on TV." And you know, when I was a kid, I used to think that to myself, you know, I bet you he doesn't have a whole lot of friends cuz he's Michael Jackson.

46:07 I mean, he's so famous. I mean, how does he go to a like a a movie or to a a department store? Um, I bet you when he walks into like a Walmart, everybody goes nuts because he's Michael Jackson. How How does he do anything? I bet you he has a hard time finding friends. This is what me at like 12, 13 years old saying, you know, if I bet Michael Jackson, I would be his friend. And so you think things like that when you're a kid, right? It's

46:33 true. And it's so weird when you're flying a helicopter and especially when you have the level of proficiency that I do and the the recognition and the um the word of mouth that I do. I find myself in these positions where I'm like there's no re no way no reason why I'm supposed to be here. I'm hanging out with Michael Jackson, a guy who I said if I met him I would be his friend and I'm now in his house and he's thinking I'm cool. I was like what? you know, when I'm doing movies with uh you know, John Travolta and stuff, they're when the when the shooting day is over, they're like, "Hey, Robin, can you fly us to Vegas?" And I'm like, "Uh, yeah, Mr. Travolta." Yeah. I mean, it's it's just so weird where when you're doing movies, I've met people that I have no business meeting and um I've gotten respect from people that are I mean, incredible people and they think I'm cool because I can do stuff that

47:31 they can't, right? So rewarding is to me is just like um I I I'll show you some videos on my phone and stuff, but when you see the people that I hang out with, I mean, okay, so Ebony magazine, they selected me as the the power 100,

47:48 the 100 most influential African-Americans, right? So I go to this thing and um I'm in there and when I'm sitting there, um Magic Johnson, everybody thinks that they're really cool, right? Al Sharpton's there. All these people are there. Um, uh, uh, what's it? Nick Cannon's DJing. All everybody's there. Um, everybody thinks they're cool. And then Magic Johnson gets off the elevator and everybody goes, "Whoa, that Magic Johnson man, man." And then I was there with my wife and my wife said to me, she goes, "Um, don't you fly him?" And I said, "Yeah."

48:23 And she goes, "Well, shouldn't you go over there and try and say hi to him like everybody else is?" And I'm I mean that wasn't being a smartass, but I kind of am always being a smartass. So I'm like, "Nah, just wait till he sees me." And then right after I say that, all the way across the room, Magic Johnson looks up and he sees me and he goes, "Hey, Robin. Hey man, come here." And I'm like, so I go walking over to Magic Johnson and the crowd is moving apart. And in the beginning when I was there, they're all looking at me like, "Who is this guy?" And now they see me walking over to Magic Johnson and they're all like, "Who is this guy?" I get over to Magic Johnson and Magic goes, "Cookie, this is my pilot, Robin." And Cookie goes, "Oh yeah, he talks about you all the time." And I'm sitting here going, "Okay." And then the the show starts going and the Jackson 5 come out on stage and they start performing and then

49:15 I'm looking around the room and I keep seeing all these people and I was like, you know, I could take out my phone and I could blow up all these people's cell phones cuz I have their phone numbers.

49:26 That is and I'm sitting there going, "How does this happen?" Well, it happens because when you have something that you like to do and you're determined to be the best at it, that kind of work ethic turns into success. It turns into money. It turns into fame and it's contagious for everybody around to want to get with you. You know what I mean?

49:50 I love that. I, you know, with that whole story because I usually ask people towards the end, what does winning mean to them? And I think you just tied it up by just talking about the happiness there, which I want to skip that question now, but I know people have listened to this uh for like about 50 minutes or so. And I want to make this actually the the new last question. Now that you obviously engaged with all these different people, um what was the secret to that networking and and how did that help you build leverage to try and get their business? Um well, so okay, once you decide that you want to be an entrepreneur and once you decide that you want to do something, right, you could be the best at whatever it is you do, but if nobody knows about it, how do you get them to use your service?

50:43 So, you have to advertise. You have to advertise. And that doesn't mean just buying a ad in a magazine. It means you have to let people know you exist, what you do, and how to find you. And you have to figure out, you know, before it was just like, let's put an ad in the paper. And then it was like, uh, so it's changed now with the internet and social media and all of that. Now it's I don't want to say it's easier, it's just different, right? because there's ways to get your your product and your information out there. Um, so again, if people can find you, they're looking for you. They just don't know you exist. So, how do you network? Well, um, you got to word of mouth is really, really good.

51:35 Getting on the internet, um, uh, posting things about what you do. Um uh if you're going to do advertisements, there's bunch of different ways you could do that. You can make flyers, you can get in get in newspapers, magazines, whatever it is that your niche market is, you want to make sure that you're present in those uh spheres so people who are looking for that can find it. um you know there's there's uh uh Postmates there um there's there's uh Yelp there's um all of these other uh uh social media and all these other information search engine type things that are out there that you can for a modest amount of money you can have a presence in there so people can find you. um adjusting your website. First of all, you got to make a website. Um adjusting your website. And now with chat GPT and all that stuff, you could start asking chat GPT those questions like how do I get this to be ranking number one in search

52:34 engines because now you can have a IT technological answer to how to be ranking number one or number two or number three in the in the things. Before you had to figure that out and pay some guy a whole bunch of money to tell you, oh, you got to do metatags, you got to do this, you got to do that. Um, you got to, you know, put your stuff out there so the the bots can find you and and rank you up or you got to pay for advertisements. And now you can use chat GBT to ask those types of questions. For example, um, we have a Tik Tok, we have an Instagram, right? My Instagram is Robin period the word at A period. and the museum I built, Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum, TAM, right? That's my Instagram. Um, well, you go on there and you can you can put ads, you can do all this stuff, right?

53:22 Well, people will see um a post, they'll see an ad, and they'll send you a a response like, "Hey, can I have more information on this?" And I'm like, "Oh, man." Then you got to type all that stuff out, right? And you you type it out. You try and tell them, "Well, you know, we have different tours. They start at different prices. They We have tours that start $129 in the helicopter. Um you can live that lifestyle and you know um um experience what celebrities or people with a lot of money experience without breaking your bank, you know. So you could say that and type it out over and over and over again. Or what I did was I just said, "Hey, Chad GPT, go online, look at my reviews, look at our website, find all the information about us and and find a compelling way to respond to tell people to make them want to book a tour."

54:14 And so ChatGBT wrote my response for us and we looked at it and it was pretty dead on. And so now I send that to people and it the conversion rate is crazy. It's like, you know, the computer, the the artificial intelligence knows us better than we know us. Like, I could guess and say, "What what are the things that'll make you turn this into an action item and actually call me or actually go on the website and book it?" But AI can give better insight into that than most people can. So, what I'm saying is those people that are out there, they're looking for you. They just don't know where to find you. And so if you are not, it's not that you have to be social and you have to go out, but word of mouth works great. It works better than any ad that you could put. So if you're social and you're letting people know about what it is you do and you're having a way to expose yourself to a lot of

55:10 people, they will then tell their friends and their friends and their friends have vetted them so they know that what they're saying is legit. So, if you can convince them that your stuff is cool and they tell their friend, your friend automatically that they come to you knowing that you're cool because you already been vouched for by this person that told them about you.

55:28 Wow. Wow. Well, Robert, if you could let our viewers know where they could get a hold of you, if they want to try and go on a helicopter tour or if they want to try and get some form of like um lessons and stuff, can you let the people know about?

55:40 Sure. Well, the thing about our company is is we really pride ourselves on being the best at it. So, when people fly with us, more than often they'll say, "This is the best experience I've had in my life." Because it's all the little things that you're not expecting that we do. People who are scared to fly, they want to fly with us and they want to fly with us again and again. People are really terrified to fly, by the time we land, they're already planning their next trip. To reach us, you can go on our website, which is uh www.sleb, which is short for celebrity. ce and heli hi short for helicopter celebheli.com.

56:16 That's you can how you can find us on our website. Our Instagram is Robin period at the word at a t period tam tam tango alphaamic. Um that's how you can reach us. We have an Instagram. It's called celebrity helicopters. Um I mean I said Instagram, I meant Tik Tok. It's celebrity helicopters. Um, you can also find us Facebook and and YouTube. We do a lot of YouTube short uh posts. Um, but yeah, you can reach us. We're open eight days a week from 8 to 8. Um, and uh, be prepared to have a great time.

56:54 The code to winning insights you need today to seize the world tomorrow. Robin Pitgrave, thank you. Great honor, sir. Appreciate that.

57:02 My pleasure.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "BORN TO FLY: BREAKING BARRIERS IN AVIATION AND BUSINESS || ROBIN PETGRAVE || EPISODE 076"?

Robin Petgrave (Host).

What is "BORN TO FLY: BREAKING BARRIERS IN AVIATION AND BUSINESS || ROBIN PETGRAVE || EPISODE 076" about?

Robin Petgrave shares his inspiring journey from a curious fifth grader exploring Boston’s transit system to becoming a helicopter flight instructor in Los Angeles, highlighting the importance of pursuing one’s passions and breaking barriers in both aviation and business. His story emphasizes the idea that determination and taking actionable steps can lead to fulfilling your dreams, regardless…

What is mentioned in this Code To Winning episode?

16 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Robin Petgrave, Celebrity Helicopter, Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum, Boston, Michael Jackson, Tuskegee Airman. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "BORN TO FLY: BREAKING BARRIERS IN AVIATION AND BUSINESS || ROBIN PETGRAVE || EPISODE 076"?

The episode runs 57 min; the transcript is about 11,312 words in 112 timestamped sections.

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