Six years, $8.5M dollars, more stress than I could possibly imagine, and more fun than anyone could possibly ask for in a lifetime.
I started thinking about leaving my regular old job at a Silicon Valley high tech company after 7 layoff rounds. OK, looking back, maybe I was a little slow. I was thinking about what else I could possibly do, a restaurant? marketing consulting? may-be-not... Instead I took the family to a cheap vacation in Florida to de-stress a little. I had seen indoor skydiving when I was out in Orlando for some trade shows but never had a chance to fly. Saturday afternoon, 2pm, 5 tickets please...."I'm sorry sir but we are booked for the next three days and our first flight is at 10pm". OK, when I go on vacation, whip out the credit card, I want service.... but we waited, and it was incredible.
Two days later, our second indoor skydive. A sixty year old lady did it with us because her six year old grandson did it at a birthday party. She said, "I will never jump out of an airplane, but I have always dreamt of flying". My brain, and adrenal gland were out of control. 6 to 60? Indoor Skydiving? Not risking your life? Pretty much addicted from the start.
Sounds like bull but it is the absolute truth, two days later on the same vacation, my boss called and told me that there was ANOTHER layoff round. He would not be there when I got back on Monday.
Things started to, well, not fall into place, but connect to each other. Facing a high tech layoff....or building a vertical windtunnel in California? Steady income from a billion dollar company every two weeks or the stress (and joy) of owning my own company, driving my own destiny? "Showing up to my cube" 5 days a week 8-5pm, or living my work all the time?
I don't exactly exactly remember my thoughts but one feeling was clear and strong. I absolutely knew that if I did not try, take the chance, bring tunnel flight to the SF Bay area, I would hate myself forever.
Fast forward six years. Now two tunnels Hollywood and SF Bay area. 40 people trying their best to fly customers from all over the world in a safe, fun, amazing machine, invented in America, designed by NASA engineers, all to fly humans.
We have flown grandparents with their grandkids, loads of skydivers, birthday boys and girls, moms, dads, and OK even the occasional dog, bird, frozen turkey (for Thanksgiving!), rubber chickens, and robotic dinosaurs.
The economy is terrible now. People suffering all over the world. We are all doing what we can to survive. I have the privelege of leading an amazing group of people in building a completely new industry in these difficult times. So much work to do: Improve the customer experience, build our team, delight and surprise our guests.
I feel so incredibly grateful for this opportunity. I hope that this blog can be a place for our team to dialog with the world of indoor skydiving enthousiasts. Any ideas about how we can make it better, please let us know.
Kent Sessions
iFly California
