After working on a fishing boat, Shawn Jenkins set his sights on flying. He got his pilot’s license at 17, achieved an instrument rating, added a multi-engine rating, and then became a flight instructor at 19. “I could get in a plane by myself and fly to other locations. I loved the freedom and independence of that,” Jenkins says. He spent about a year working as a flight instructor, and some of the training has influenced the way he runs a company. “Our managers go through a manager certification program, and it’s patterned after aviation pilots,” Jenkins says. “You have to go through classes and stay current to keep your certification. It’s a direct rip-off from how I learned to fly.”
