Erin Meltzer: from stewardess to pilot

TL;DR

My sister Erin joins me to share her journey from freelancing in the yachting world to becoming a commercial seaplane pilot.

We compare how her experiences freelancing in hospitality were different from mine in digital marketing.

She opens up about managing emotions and mindset during career transitions and offers practical tips for breaking into yachting or aviation: network like a pro, build versatile skills, and always know your worth.

Takeaways:

• Freelancing requires networking and building relationships.
• Success comes from attention to detail and providing excellent service.
• Running a business is not for everyone
• Having emotional support and managing your emotions is crucial during career changes

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Transcript

So I'd love to start by talking about how you got into freelancing, I guess, because your freelance journey looks a lot different than mine and you're like, I didn't even realize that what you

Erin (00:35.746) I am! I'm the funniest person I know. Don't tell Casey.

Rachel Meltzer (00:59.687) do is freelancing until you told me that and that you worked with an agency and all of these things. But that looks very different in the marketing world than it does in your world. So tell me more about how freelancing works for you and what you do.

Erin (01:19.982) So I guess the freelancing that I'm in right now is the yachting industry.

I'm trying to make this short and sweet. So I started yachting right after college, but I was taking full -time jobs to gain experience and network and a lot of networking because like most places, yachting and freelancing is all about who you know. So I did like, I don't know, probably six years of full -time jobs, which

Rachel Meltzer (01:50.449) Mm

Erin (02:00.002) Also in yachting, like one year, that's longevity. If you stayed on a boat for one year, that's a long time. So,

Rachel Meltzer (02:05.196) Mmm.

Erin (02:09.902) kind of like in there somewhere I thought I was feeling burnt out. So I took a break and I became a flight attendant. Bad idea. And the money is really bad as a flight attendant. So to try to kind of supplement what I was making, I reached out to a bunch of people that I knew in yachting saying like, hey, if you need

Rachel Meltzer (02:18.31) Mm -hmm

Erin (02:38.732) a stewardess for a short period of time, I'm available. So, yachts will call in a freelance stewardess when either they don't have a full -time stewardess and they have their guests on board and like they're doing a trip, which could be like, I don't know, a weekend, a week, two weeks, a month. Or...

Rachel Meltzer (03:01.575) Mm

Erin (03:04.95) like one of their stewardesses is going on vacation, they need somebody to fill in, which I did that. Or they're like taking some guests out for the evening and doing like a sunset beverage cruise. So those are kind of like the times when I would freelance as well. And then what's the question?

Rachel Meltzer (03:26.183) Well, so who owns the yachts that you're working on? mean, some of them are privately owned by just like wealthy families, but others of them were like charter yachts too. So you're sort of working for both. I would say the charter yachts are like what freelance writers would consider like an agency. Like a company owns it, they deal with the clients, getting the clients on board and signing the contracts and all of that. And you're just providing the service.

Whereas like when you work for a full time, when you work for a family who owns a yacht, you created the systems, you interfaced with that client, you got hired by them, you signed the contract with them. So it's sort of for perspective, that's kind of like the two options you had with yachting, right?

Erin (04:12.728) Yeah, kind of. So yeah, like you said, the two options are private and charter. So private yacht is owned by a wealthy family and generally, I guess, kind of managed by that family or like somebody in the family. Whereas a charter yacht is owned by a private family, but they hire a management company to run it. So, yeah, like you said.

Rachel Meltzer (04:37.382) Mm

So the management company is like an agency and then the family is like the client essentially.

Erin (04:46.368) Yeah, so there's a couple different kind of agencies, if you will.

Rachel Meltzer (04:51.925) Mm

Erin (04:54.946) And like the bigger agencies do both where they'll manage a yacht program or they will find crew or they'll do both. So part of my networking was meeting with these agencies because when the boats that they manage come to them and say, hey, we need a girl, then they can be like, my gosh, we know the girl. So.

Rachel Meltzer (05:05.51) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (05:15.908) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (05:19.336) Mm How did you network? Did you just like go in person and give out business cards? You're doing like internet networking. How did that look?

Erin (05:27.78) Well, kinda. I printed up my resume and I did probably what just felt so...

Rachel Meltzer (05:32.144) and

Rachel Meltzer (05:41.115) Demoralizing?

Erin (05:43.02) I guess that's the word, but like you walk down the dock and to anybody who is on a yacht working, you go up to the boat. You don't go on the boat. You go up to the boat and you're like, hey, and they're like.

called dockwalking. So you say, hey, like, my name is Erin. I'm green to the industry. Just looking for a job or a day work.

Rachel Meltzer (06:10.545) So this is like what internet freelancers call cold pitching. Except you actually have to do it in person, which I find, I think that is way more uncomfortable than sending someone an email and being like, hey, I offer this service or like connecting with them on LinkedIn.

Erin (06:26.508) It's the worst because then they can look at you and be like, we're good.

Rachel Meltzer (06:31.047) I feel like.

Erin (06:33.112) or they'll be like, I'll pass it on.

Rachel Meltzer (06:35.623) A lot of it is looks too. Like people are judgmental of how you look in that industry. That sucks.

Erin (06:42.974) yeah, very much so. Like your picture has to be on your resume, which whatever. I don't put my size. I know some girls do. Some boats, like if they have a white interior, they'll hire only blonde stewardesses. So like when your hair sheds, the blonde hair doesn't show up. Yeah, that's a thing.

Rachel Meltzer (06:54.727) That's crazy.

Rachel Meltzer (07:05.764) What?

That's crazy. It's such a different industry.

Erin (07:10.658) Yeah. Yeah, I know. Because now I'm putting together a resume for my next job. And like, you don't put your picture, you don't make it fancy, like.

Rachel Meltzer (07:17.605) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (07:23.015) That's so weird. Why? What was your motivation behind like, let's actually let's go back a little bit further. You went to Johnson and Wales for hospitality for college.

Erin (07:24.11) So it's different.

Erin (07:38.03) Mm

Not cooking.

Rachel Meltzer (07:42.171) Thank you. Johnson and Wales is like known.

Erin (07:47.158) The biggest hospitality school in the world.

Rachel Meltzer (07:49.721) Erin, don't yell into the microphone. you're gonna yell, move your face back. You're gonna deafen these listeners. my God.

Erin (07:59.567) But their culinary program is rated above the Culinary Institute of America and don't let anybody from the CIA tell you otherwise because they suck.

Rachel Meltzer (08:01.671) So, shots.

Rachel Meltzer (08:09.657) It's true, in eighth grade I desperately thought that I wanted to become a famous Michelin star chef and I also applied to Johnson and Wales for cooking school and then Erin got accepted before I decided whether or not I was gonna go and then I decided I'm not going down that path anymore. But then we would have been in the same school again. Me and Erin have been in the same, we were in the same high school, we would have been in the same college.

Erin (08:29.988) feel like you should have, because you make really good food.

Erin (08:35.886) Yeah, but like maybe we would have gotten along better.

Rachel Meltzer (08:39.087) We got, we used to be so mean to each other in high school. Unless, unless someone was bullying one of us so we'd stick up for each other, but we weren't like friends in school, but we went to the same school. But we never got mistaken for each other because we don't really look alike and I had a very different school demeanor than you did. How did you feel about college and like,

Erin (08:42.968) Yeah, we weren't really friends.

Erin (09:01.729) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (09:07.259) taking classes and what you were actually going to school for. Like how did you decide that this was gonna be your career and how did you feel about it?

Erin (09:14.852) Well, I didn't know that I was going to yacht, I guess. I went to school for... that's a girl. That's a girl from 7 Heaven on TV. It's like a different show. Okay. Anyway. Sorry. What was the question? I went to Johnson and Wales for hospitality, but my minor was cruise line management. So I thought I wanted to be a cruise director. And...

Rachel Meltzer (09:21.221) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (09:31.161) Nice. Nice.

Erin (09:45.54) I don't know if like I feel like I've like, I've always worked for smaller companies or smaller businesses like throughout high school and college. like being on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean with like 5 ,000 people was a lot. And

Rachel Meltzer (10:06.577) Well, you went to, you did a semester at Johnson and Wales in Miami, right? And you didn't you work on cruise ships during that semester?

Erin (10:11.076) Yeah.

No, we just like saw every part of the operation. Yeah. And that's kind of where I was like, I like it, but not a lot. I think, but like everybody, when you graduate college, you're like, what am I going to do? So I kind of like took a break that summer and sailed in Newport, Rhode Island.

Rachel Meltzer (10:17.932) I got it.

Rachel Meltzer (10:23.931) Mm -hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (10:31.727) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (10:39.239) Erin was on the competitive sailing team at Johnson and Wales, so she had sailing skills that she then went and she did charter, what were they, tall ships? In 12 meter ships, yeah, in Newport. And you did like sunset sails and things like that, right? Yeah.

Erin (10:45.534) yeah.

Erin (10:51.3) No, the 12 meters.

Erin (10:58.136) Yeah, and like races and stuff like that. So yeah, I already knew how to sail. I had already been sailing for four years when I took this job sailing for the summer. And it was kind of like the summer to not really care much because student loans were kicking in in the fall. But I met a couple of people at a bar and this one girl, she was like, do you have...

Rachel Meltzer (11:14.457) Mm

Erin (11:28.292) Do you wanna make some extra cash tomorrow? Like, duh, who doesn't? And she's like, cool, meet me at the shipyard tomorrow at 8 a I was like, great. I don't know what I'm doing, but cool. So go to the shipyard, which by the way is the best breakfast sandwich I've ever had. And...

Rachel Meltzer (11:30.225) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (11:39.407) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (11:46.151) Mmm.

Erin (11:50.692) I did not fully hear the name of the boat that I was meeting her on, so I walked onto the wrong boat. Yeah, and it

Rachel Meltzer (11:59.095) It's a great start. Classic Erin always, we just spent the last 20 minutes just setting up her microphone and getting ready to do this podcast. is like classic Erin, go walking into the wrong room to start the day.

Erin (12:12.804) Yeah. I was like, I'm here for day work. And they were like, hmm, probably not with us. So turned around and found the girl I was looking for, Lisa. And I day worked on their boat, which means like you just do tasks that nobody wants to do. So like for those two weeks, I helped on the outside hand waxing the boat. I think it was like 140 foot.

Rachel Meltzer (12:17.319) I think so.

Erin (12:42.808) yacht. Yep, not my favorite. I don't even like to wash my car, so this task was very...

tasky, I guess. Yeah, that's the word. They also had me paint the bilges. So that's the space between the floor and the hole. So I'm under the floor in the hole, painting it white. Also not fun. But you're getting paid a day rate. like back then, was, yeah, I was brand new.

Rachel Meltzer (12:55.045) Yeah, tedious.

Rachel Meltzer (13:16.807) Do you have paid a flat rate for the whole day? Okay.

Erin (13:23.34) had no idea what I was doing. Obviously, this is my first experience with yachting and I was getting, think, a day.

So is that not a lot? I don't know. I didn't do that.

Rachel Meltzer (13:33.511) What does that work out to per hour? What does that, it's like $15 an hour.

Erin (13:41.048) Maybe, but like it's cash and you...

not that i want to say like you're

Rachel Meltzer (13:47.367) Probably should account for it on your taxes, we don't need to. Sorry, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

Erin (13:52.738) Not that I want to say like, you should work for a little money, but like I was gaining experience and I didn't know, like, I didn't know what I was doing, but throughout those two weeks, I found out like the benefits of yachting, the cool things, the nitty gritty, like what it is like to, like, it's a lifestyle also. It's not like a job. Like you live on the boat, you...

Rachel Meltzer (14:15.717) Mm -hmm.

Erin (14:21.314) work with your crew, you live with your crew, you hang out with your crew. So I thought it sounded pretty cool. And so when the summer ended, I packed one bag. Wait, let me rewind. Before that summer ended, I had to take a safety course, the STCW. So it's like a five day course and you go over like seamanship, emergencies at sea.

Rachel Meltzer (14:29.785) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (14:41.445) Mm

Erin (14:49.732) firefighting at sea.

Rachel Meltzer (14:52.647) Like all the people who work on yachts have to take this, this course. And also like, to be fair with your day rate as well, like I think if you're getting into freelancing and you have no experience, doesn't matter what industry you're in. Like I had no experience in digital marketing. And when I first started, I was charging like $99 a blog and I thought that was amazing. And I was just excited. Someone hired me and that I could learn how to do this and get paid to learn how to do this. And I was still learning about like, you set the benefits of freelancing and what it actually

Erin (14:55.744) Everybody has to do it. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (15:22.905) looked like and what digital marketing actually looked like, just like you're learning these skills on like how to, you know, work on a yacht. And I think a lot of people jump into it they want to make like, you know, there's, there's the people who are willing to learn and excited just to get a gig and get paid whatever they can get paid. And then there's the people who are like, I got to make all this money. And you kind of need both, but

Erin (15:47.34) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (15:49.925) the benefit of starting low and really learning is like, you made so many connections that summer and you learned a ton. And then you were able to build on that step by step every year. Like you worked your way through the ranks to become a head stewardess over time. And you have to have those experiences, Chief Stu, sorry. You wouldn't have gotten there without that, right?

Erin (15:57.134) Yeah.

Erin (16:06.595) It's dead.

Yeah. So,

Right, so at the end of that summer though, I packed a bag and Rachel and I road tripped to Florida, dropped her off in Orlando so she could fly home. And then I went down to Fort Lauderdale, stayed with a girl I met in college for a couple weeks. And then I got my first job by dock walking. So all of those handing out resumes, walking down the dock and getting denied left and right is actually how I got my first job.

Rachel Meltzer (16:36.356) Hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (16:44.348) Yeah.

Erin (16:44.832) And that was a full -time job. The pay was very low. I think I stayed on that boat for like four months before taking another one, which ended up being a nightmare. So I was only on it for three days. And then I came back, joined another boat for six months.

Maybe it was like four months. then the point is I moved on a lot, but by moving on to the different boats, there are different sizes, different kinds of programs, different destinations. So like I gained all of that experience. And then I think it was like five years into yachting, I was able to pay off all my student loans, which was $72 ,000 worth of debt. And

Rachel Meltzer (17:24.199) That's crazy. Would you say, as far as like, we talk about Money Mindset a lot on this podcast, and like, for paying off your debt, and at the speed at which you did, like I'm still paying off my debt, and I'm six years into freelancing. Would you say that was because Dad was helping you stay disciplined and like teaching you what it really meant, and you had that like...

structural support or were you like really gung -ho to pay off your student loans and you were like I'm gonna sacrifice anything to do it, you know?

Erin (17:56.824) Well, I wanted to pay them off for sure, but what they don't teach you in school is that there's interest or like how a student loan or a loan in general works. So thankfully we had mom and dad to kind of explain that to us. And then, yeah, it was.

Rachel Meltzer (17:59.089) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (18:02.384) Mm -hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (18:06.587) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (18:15.473) To be clear, Mom and Dad never explained any of that to me. I don't know why they taught you so much about money and I learned nothing from them.

Erin (18:26.516) I know, I asked a lot of questions though, because I was working so hard for my money that like, and now it's all gone. So,

Rachel Meltzer (18:32.333) Yeah, yeah. think also what you were making a lot less than me from the jump. Like my first job out of college was already making more than what you were making from your first job.

Erin (18:43.716) Yeah, my first was $2 ,500 a month, I think. Yeah. And then, yeah, mom would do our taxes and she'd be like, you got this much back, so you should probably put that to your student loans. I'm like, I hate when you're right. And then like birthday money, what else? Like everything. And then mom and dad would be like,

Rachel Meltzer (18:47.046) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (19:11.289) It's, I think also.

Erin (19:13.676) you should double down on what you're paying because I wasn't like on a yacht, you don't pay to live. Like you don't have rent, you don't pay for food. So like, what am I gonna spend it on? Might as well just pay them off.

Rachel Meltzer (19:19.162) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (19:25.167) Yeah, you also listen to mom and dad. Mom would be like, you should put this return on your student loans. And I'd be like, fuck that. But I did not do that. No.

Erin (19:36.962) That's like a secret bonus of money that you get to put onto something.

Rachel Meltzer (19:40.391) That's a secret bonus of money that I get to pay my rent with. Goodbye. I get to go on backpacking trip with. Goodbye. I was not as responsible with money as you were.

Erin (19:44.824) Yeah, so.

Erin (19:53.56) Yeah, it was hard. It still is hard. So my point is though, like I didn't pay that off with freelancing. Freelancing didn't come around for me until further into yachting because I didn't have that experience that's desirable to other boats. So.

Rachel Meltzer (20:16.673) Would you say freelancing is only possible after you have that full -time experience?

Erin (20:20.152) Yes, I would never hire a girl brand new as a freelance stew. So there's a difference between a freelance stew and a day worker, I feel like, in my mind. Like a day worker is a girl who's, or a stew, who's new to the industry, like trying to gain experience, like somebody that you can kind of show how things work and like the best way to do things.

Rachel Meltzer (20:23.312) Mmm.

Rachel Meltzer (20:29.052) Mm -hmm.

Erin (20:49.782) A freelance stew would be somebody who I could trust to replace me if I go on vacation or something like that.

Rachel Meltzer (20:55.776) It's crazy to me that families first of have enough money to have a yacht and then also have enough money to have full -time staff living on the yacht and paying them. Like you got paid like benefits like a normal employee, right? Like you were a full -time employee.

Erin (21:12.388) Well, yeah, but also no. Like, yes, I was a full -time employee, but I didn't find out until the other day that when, like, when you work for a real company that, like Casey works for Spirit, right? He has insurance through work.

Rachel Meltzer (21:29.381) Yeah, yeah.

legally in the United States you're supposed to be provided. Okay, okay, okay, yeah.

Erin (21:35.17) No, no, no, no. This is not my point.

My point is, I didn't know that while you're offered insurance, it's not free. Like you have to pay for that because in yachting, everything was covered. So like I got a kidney stone once a while ago, just one, went to the ER, thought I was dying. And I didn't pay a penny for that, like at all.

Rachel Meltzer (21:44.903) yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (21:53.935) Yeah. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (22:06.183) That's how your insurance was that good? That's crazy. That's so nice.

Erin (22:09.314) Yeah, that's like, that's the standard in yachting.

Erin (22:15.81) Yeah, well, that's how I thought like a normal company works. And then

Rachel Meltzer (22:17.955) Yeah. No, most employees in the US have PPOs. So you have to pay into a deductible and you have really high like co -insurance and you have to pay a premium every month. And then once you hit your deductible, you get coverage. That's like the majority of US employees have that kind of insurance.

Erin (22:38.475) Yeah, I found that out working at Cranmore. I went to the dermatologist for a spot on my leg. And then I had a $158 bill for the nurse to tell me it's not cancer.

Rachel Meltzer (22:43.239) Regrets.

Rachel Meltzer (22:48.199) Yeah, I paid $300 to find out I didn't have a strep one time.

Erin (22:52.846) So not super thrilled about that. But yeah, that's how, like, yachting has a lot of benefits. You miss a lot, like you're away from home a lot, of course, but if you're trying to pay off your student loans, that's the way to go.

Rachel Meltzer (22:53.657) It's crazy. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (23:01.851) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (23:06.149) Yeah. For sure. Why did you decide to keep going with yachting and like actually choose that lifestyle? I mean, you did it for a long time.

Erin (23:21.7) I know, I think I'm going into my 10th year. What is this 2024? Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (23:24.069) Yeah. And even on your breaks, were, you were working on, like you worked on that estate in Maine. That's basically yawning on land. Like you're still living at the estate. You're not going home that often.

Erin (23:36.748) Yeah, so here's the thing. I like being really, really, really good at something. And like, I am really good at yachting. I'm really good at running a boat. I'm really good with the clients, the owners, their kids. Like, I'm fricking good at it. And like all the tiny details from like a label on a turndown water to a little Sweet Dreams note card when you turn down their bed and then like in breakfast in the morning, the little flower on the side of the plate.

Rachel Meltzer (23:43.217) Yeah.

Erin (24:06.838) or making sure the coffee is exactly right on a nice napkin that has to do with the theme of the day to putting together itineraries for where we're going, what they should be doing and making reservations and then making sure they know how they're getting there. Like I'm good at it and I like being good at something. So.

Rachel Meltzer (24:12.273) Mm

Erin (24:29.06) The hard part about yachting is nobody tells you what to do after. So like, when I thought I was done yachting, which was 2020, I had a mental breakdown that I didn't know what I was gonna do, because I wanted to be home. And then one of the crew agents that I've been working with mentioned this estate in Maine. So it's a very large estate in Maine, obviously. Wow.

Rachel Meltzer (24:39.152) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (24:44.433) Mm

Erin (24:58.148) but yeah, essentially it's the same thing, but on land, but it was a lot bigger and there were a lot more people. but it also entailed the same types of things that I've done. So I know that I was going to be good at it. and that's why that's kind of why I took that job.

Rachel Meltzer (25:13.895) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (25:20.26) Yeah, you enjoy it. You'll enjoy being good at it and doing all those tiny details. It's like...

Erin (25:23.235) Yeah.

Plus like with yachting and the estate, like you could put together some like theme party or I don't know, or like something could happen. And then like you just magically pull something out of your bag of Stewie tricks and like just totally make their day. And they'd be like, how did this happen? I don't know. It's the magic of yachting. Like some people are like, every time I go to the bathroom, the toilet paper is folded like a sailboat.

Rachel Meltzer (25:34.214) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (25:40.775) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (25:54.317) Yeah. Yeah. And it just makes.

Erin (25:56.354) It's because every time somebody goes to bathroom, I rush in right behind them, wipe the sink down, wipe the hair off the floor, and fold the toilet paper. Like that's what you do. That's part of, that's those tiny details that like, people don't know that they need, slash want.

Rachel Meltzer (26:08.039) people care about. Yeah, yeah. You also are like a master deep cleaner. Like I've never seen some of the things that you've told me that you clean, I've started cleaning and I'm like, wow, I would never do this, but I'm glad I did.

Erin (26:24.396) It's a curse because since Casey and I have had the house for ourselves, like when the other people were here, he and I like purposely didn't clean anything because we're not wasting our time cleaning stuff that nobody else is going to keep clean. So now I'm detailing our house and.

Rachel Meltzer (26:40.305) Yeah.

It's classic roommate situation. You don't want to clean up after your roommates. Yeah. It's so hard. moved into, we should have gotten our house cleaned before we moved in, but our landlords did not clean it. And now I'm just like constantly cleaning stuff that I'm like, it's never ending and it's never going to go away. And it's an old house, but you can't win them all.

Erin (27:03.395) Yeah, so, yawning is super duper detailed, it has become a curse. Say hello, buddy. Hello, everybody. My name is Tessha.

Rachel Meltzer (27:08.847) doggie. Hi, Tesla.

Tesla's bigger than I thought.

Erin (27:19.51) she's bigger but she's fluffy. We haven't gotten her haircut in a while.

Rachel Meltzer (27:23.911) Luna's kind of hiding, I'll show you when she wakes up. She's so cute. Okay, I, what else was I gonna ask you? you have thought about or sort of dabbled in starting your own business. You were gonna start an events business at one point. I know you don't.

Erin (27:37.22) Hmm

Erin (27:47.684) Ugh.

Rachel Meltzer (27:50.223) really want to talk about it, but I think it's important to talk about failures and experiments because we all have them.

Erin (27:58.276) I don't even know if it was a failure, because I didn't get it off the ground at all.

Rachel Meltzer (28:02.703) Why did you decide not to pursue it? You thought about it, you talked about it, you looked into it. Why did you decide not to go after it?

Erin (28:11.95) So I like the... So yeah, it was gonna be an event planning company because I freaking love a theme party. Like everybody should be having theme parties. Who more perfect to plan it than me? But then I found out like all the business side of it that had to go into it, contracts, taking care of the money stuff and like...

Rachel Meltzer (28:19.419) You're good at the details. Yeah. You're really good at it. Yeah.

Right.

Erin (28:40.1) You have to spend a lot of money before you make money. like, just, didn't want to deal with that stuff. I just wanted to plan the party. If I had like a partner who was like, I love running a business and I, and you plan the party, then it would probably be something now, but.

Rachel Meltzer (28:51.611) Mm -hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (28:56.73) Yeah.

Erin (28:59.138) Yeah, I don't. That's not my thing.

Rachel Meltzer (29:02.791) Talk to me in 10 years, okay? For a stug.

Erin (29:04.612) So I like with yachting, could do that and not have to like, not have to worry about anything. And the things that I needed to buy for those parties, I'm putting it on some deals, it's credit card. So same for the estate, but yeah. And then like, no. And then not only that, like having to market myself and it's just,

Rachel Meltzer (29:18.575) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (29:27.719) It's not fun.

Erin (29:35.554) Well, it's a cool idea and like, you know, maybe one day I'll, go back to planning parties. I don't want to run a business.

Rachel Meltzer (29:43.547) Yeah, being a solepreneur is hard. It's a lot of work. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I'm like my marketing team. I am an accountant. I am doing the contracts. I'm getting the clients. I'm managing the money. It's a lot. And it's, can be, I like running a business, but it is not for everyone. That's for sure. But so as a freelancer,

Erin (29:47.585) Yeah.

Erin (29:58.52) Yeah.

Erin (30:06.851) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (30:09.815) on yachts, you're just like signing the contract they send your way, you're not making your own contract. Do you set your own rate? really?

Erin (30:15.716) Honestly, I'm not even signing a contract. Yeah. I do set my own rate. So now I won't accept anything less than $300 a day because of all the experience that I do have. Like, yes, I'm a stewardess, but you can also depend on me on deck with calling distances when we're docking so the captain knows how far they can move and what lines go on first and.

Rachel Meltzer (30:26.246) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (30:40.497) Mm

Erin (30:43.65) the safety aspect of everything. Not that I advertise this, but I can put together some pretty good appetizers if need be, that kind of stuff. yeah, my rate has definitely gone up for sure.

Rachel Meltzer (30:54.723) Mm -hmm. You can go above and beyond.

Erin (31:04.91) What was the question?

Rachel Meltzer (31:09.863) I was just asking if you set your own rates. I think, I guess the interesting part for me is like.

Erin (31:12.108) I got distracted by something outside.

Erin (31:19.234) Yes, I set my own rates. I don't sign a contract. But I also am super picky about who I work with now because like I've worked on some really bad crew. So there's like three captains that I'll work with. Bethany, my best friend, favorite captain Dave, and then my friend Hunter also. Or if it comes from there's a few people in the industry who like I get along with and like

Rachel Meltzer (31:25.713) Yeah, because you can't be.

Erin (31:48.524) And if they're like, hey, like, I know this boat that needs a stew, I like definitely consider it, but.

Rachel Meltzer (31:58.07) What's been the most surprising part of being a stewardess that you've had to, like challenges you've had to manage, whether that's like your emotions or your mindset or like a physical thing that you have to do?

Erin (32:14.372) I'll be above. Mentally, like with freelance, it's great because you're like, okay, in two weeks, like I'll be done. I can go home. As a full -time crew member, you'll be like, okay, like we can get through this charter. It's been a busy season, but we can get through it. It's exhausting, like very sleep depriving. So one of my boats, like I was up at 6 a and I didn't go to bed till 11 p every day for five weeks.

Rachel Meltzer (32:15.881) Ha ha ha!

Rachel Meltzer (32:23.836) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (32:36.817) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (32:42.257) Mm.

Erin (32:44.48) so that's a lot. And then the different personalities on board, like I'm pretty bubbly and outgoing, but it's also really easy to annoy me. Especially like now with knowing how everything works. I have to remind myself that not everybody knows how everything works all the time. that's a challenge personalities, especially chefs, like

Rachel Meltzer (32:52.839) Mm -hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (33:03.493) Yeah. Yeah.

Erin (33:13.484) relax, your ego's not that big and your food's not that good sometimes.

Rachel Meltzer (33:17.659) Yeah, I feel like you have, a lot of your job is working with other people and a lot of my job is not that. Like, I actually get lonely at work a lot.

Erin (33:28.45) Yeah. And like, you can't escape these people because like you're on a boat and you all live together and then you share like a room that has two bunk beds that's smaller than a twin. the other thing that's hard is I love gossip. I freaking love gossip. Like I don't spread it, but I love listening to it. Like I'll spread it to like Casey or Bethany, but

Rachel Meltzer (33:31.877) Yeah, you live with them.

Rachel Meltzer (33:47.065) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (33:52.315) same.

Erin (33:58.084) I bask in everybody's gossip that they share with me. I've always been like that. But on a boat, everything has ears. So like you have to be really careful about what you say and who you say it in front of. And even if you think you're alone in a room, you might not be because like somebody could be listening in or like one girl was sitting and her walkie talkie was pushed up against the wall. So the button was pushed in. like just stupid stuff like that.

Rachel Meltzer (34:03.579) Mm -hmm.

Rachel Meltzer (34:08.124) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (34:15.121) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (34:23.736) Yeah, yeah, and you also have to be careful of like whose gossip you listen to, because then they can be like, well I told Erin, you know? That's so hard, that's so hard.

Erin (34:33.869) Hmmmm

Also, people that you think are on your team might not be on your team. And that screwed me over at the estate. While some people will be like, you did wrong. Maybe so, but I did wrong trusting people. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (34:40.848) Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (34:44.485) Yeah, you had a lot of.

Rachel Meltzer (34:53.241) It's the politics. Yeah, that's annoying. So we always talk about adventure on here. Normally we talk about adventure at beginning, but we really just like dove into the career conversation. What do you do for adventure? What are you doing right now? I already know, obviously, because I talk to you every week, but like for our listeners, what are you working on right now? What are you excited about?

Erin (35:18.66) I am working on a career switch. This will be number four, I think, or five, 32. 32.

Rachel Meltzer (35:22.585) Again!

Rachel Meltzer (35:26.055) I wanna point out, wait, how old are you? Why do I have to ask you? I don't even know, I just asked that, I know old you are. I always get confused if you're 32 or 33. I can't believe I'm turning 30 in January, dude.

Erin (35:40.824) I know, are we having a party?

Rachel Meltzer (35:42.567) I, everybody keeps asking me that and I was like, I don't even know. Cause last year I had like the best ski trip for my birthday. I don't know. Anyways, real tangent here, but, I just want to point out how normal it is that at 32 you're changing careers for the fourth time. Like mom and dad did the same thing. They had like five careers by the time they were 32. I've had multiple careers and I'm almost 30. I have a lot of.

Erin (35:50.016) That's right.

Erin (36:04.302) Okay.

Rachel Meltzer (36:09.911) listeners who are a little bit older than me, like in their forties or fifties, who are switching to freelance writing or freelance digital marketing, who are like, just scared that they're too old for this or that they're really struggling with it. And it's, I just, every time someone's talking about how squiggly their career path is or how they're changing their careers again. And I'm just like, guys, it's normal. Let's just normalize changing careers. Okay. Let's be happy in life. Let's enjoy it.

Erin (36:36.482) Yeah, it's totally normal. And not only that, but I have a mental breakdown probably every two years when I decide to change because I don't know what I want to do next because I feel like I'm only good at one thing.

Rachel Meltzer (36:46.733) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what's your career change? What are you doing?

Erin (36:53.589) I have two ratings left to finish before I become a commercial seaplane pilot. So that is what I'm working on. I'm working on my commercial rating right now, which hopefully I'll be taking my check ride and.

the next two weeks before we go up to Maine for the international seaplane fly -in because then we're doing our seaplane ratings and then I'll be applying to my new dream job which is caravans, Cessna caravans on floats to the Bahamas.

Rachel Meltzer (37:30.631) Hell yeah. What made you want to get into being a commercial pilot?

Erin (37:37.438) I remember that time I became a flight attendant. We had a delay one day and I was just getting screamed at. Like I made friends with the pilots who are obviously behind a door and they don't have to deal with the passengers. And I was like, I'm just as smart, if not smarter than these guys behind the door. So I should be on that side.

Rachel Meltzer (37:41.287) Remember that?

Erin (38:03.876) And that's when I started my ground school for private, which is a whole adventure in itself. We don't have enough time to talk about it. But I just did it for fun. And it wasn't until January when Casey and I were having a conversation about like the possibilities for me, because I don't want to fly for the airlines. But like a lot of people think that aviation, that's the only job that there is, but there's a lot more. So

Rachel Meltzer (38:09.581) Mm -hmm

Rachel Meltzer (38:20.103) Mm.

Erin (38:32.156) And when he mentioned that I could fly seaplanes, I was like, well, that might be up my alley. So I thought about it for a little bit. And then I quit my job, moved down here to Florida, took the plane with me. And I did my instrument rating down here, which was so hard and so stressful and so not fun.

Rachel Meltzer (38:39.131) be cool. I belong on the ocean.

Erin (39:02.083) but necessary. So now I'm working on commercial which is just a bunch of requirements which I've already gotten done and excuse me a bunch of different maneuvers and then

Rachel Meltzer (39:04.455) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (39:12.155) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (39:20.977) How long have you been pursuing your commercial pilot's license? Well, you've been pursuing your pilot's license for a few years, right?

Erin (39:29.188) Yeah, private. I started private in 2020.

Rachel Meltzer (39:32.185) Yeah. And also for the listener, our dad is a private pilot and he's had, at first he had a share in a plane, so he owned a plane with four other people and then he got his own plane recently, a few years ago. And then Erin commandeered the plane. Well, dad.

Erin (39:47.652) which I took with me to Florida. I'm the captain now.

Rachel Meltzer (39:56.167) Dad willingly is allowing Erin to use it to get her license, which is really helpful. Makes it a little more cost effective.

Erin (40:03.563) Yeah, so.

A lot easier too, because we have a couple of friends that are volunteering their time to teach me. Casey's volunteering his time to teach me. yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (40:08.645) It's...

Rachel Meltzer (40:18.439) Casey Hazarin's boyfriend, who is also a pilot. And also a flight instructor for pilots. I think it's also, right, an examiner, right? But he can't do your exam, right? Does he do your exam? Is it? okay. No conflict of interest.

Erin (40:26.348) Yeah, and he's an examiner.

Erin (40:35.562) He could. He's not going to, but he could.

Erin (40:44.504) I mean, I don't know. guess it depends on who you ask, really. Like, if you were to do it, do my ex Yeah. Legally.

Rachel Meltzer (40:44.711) Yeah, mean legally he can't.

Yeah, okay. Okay, cool. That's what I was asking.

Erin (40:56.628) like if you were to do my exam, I think I go like sleep at Bethany's house and then meet at the airport in the morning and treat it like it's somebody else doing the exam. That way I still feel like I put in the work and I was responsible.

Rachel Meltzer (40:57.927) I didn't know.

Rachel Meltzer (41:12.153) Yeah, you need a little separation. Little, yeah, that makes sense. I think it's helpful to clarify too. People are always like, my God, your dad's a pilot and he owns a plane. Like our parents are not, they choose what they invested and they're not, we did not grow up rich or anything like that. I think it's just such a common misconception. But then once you like get into the aviation community, there's like all these levels of.

like how people are able to pursue such an expensive hobby or career.

Erin (41:45.826) Yeah, a lot of people don't talk about the money part of it. So like, there's a woman who wrote a book and that's one of dad's comments is, where did she come up with the money? So for my money portion of this adventure, I'm freelancing on both to pay for it because that's part of what's helping me. But then Casey's also supporting me and us and.

Rachel Meltzer (42:01.084) you

Rachel Meltzer (42:05.414) Yeah.

Erin (42:13.048) my living expenses right now because I can't afford it. And then mom and dad are there for support.

Rachel Meltzer (42:16.081) Yeah, yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (42:24.037) Mm -hmm. I think it's so important to talk about these things because like people want to change their careers, but you cannot expect to do it all on your own. You can't expect to do anything in life on your own, really. I mean, most things you'll at least need emotional support from another person. And I think that's something that we don't really talk

Erin (42:25.828) close.

Erin (42:48.312) Yeah, I have a lot of emotional support. Casey deals with my crying a lot.

Rachel Meltzer (42:49.584) it helps.

Rachel Meltzer (42:53.287) Erin's a crier. Erin loves to cry. You love to cry.

Erin (42:58.916) don't love to, it just happens. No, I don't. But yeah, this adventure, I've had a lot of people helping me, our friends that are volunteering their time. Like that would never happen. Like I would never work on a yacht for free. So these people volunteering their time to instruct me, I'm super thankful for that. And then...

Rachel Meltzer (43:04.884) You gotta let it out.

Rachel Meltzer (43:15.143) Mm

Erin (43:29.346) Yeah, Casey supporting us, that's huge. Like, because if not, it would take longer than it is taking now. I would have to be working a lot more to be able to do that.

Rachel Meltzer (43:38.523) Yeah, totally. How do you manage your emotions through all of this? You don't have any mindset tools, you don't manage your emotions at all.

Erin (43:44.823) I don't.

Erin (43:49.364) No, like I am terrible. No, instrument was the absolute worst. Like, if Casey were to break up with me, it would have been through that rating for sure. Part of it, I guess, is sometimes I have to have a breakdown to have a breakthrough. That's helpful for me.

Rachel Meltzer (44:06.662) Yeah.

Erin (44:12.002) At the moment, I am tired of not having a job and not being able to support myself. So I have to constantly remind myself that this is a transition phase and it's supposed to be fun. And while I love learning, I'm...

Rachel Meltzer (44:21.989) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (44:27.889) You like being the best at things too. Yeah, yeah, you get so frustrated when you're not good at things.

Erin (44:29.47) over not being good at something. Yeah.

Erin (44:37.122) I just want to be the best. And like I put in so much work and I'm still not the best.

Rachel Meltzer (44:42.489) Yeah, you're not even close.

Erin (44:45.102) Wow, thanks!

Rachel Meltzer (44:45.881) What? You're just started. You're new. You're still like getting your ratings. Even after that, you're still going to learn things. That's just how it works.

Erin (44:53.762) I know, because so after, yeah, I know. So I don't, I'm not very good at handling my emotions. I try to hold in the crying, but when I do that, I cry harder.

Rachel Meltzer (45:06.481) I don't think it's worthwhile to hold in crying. I have learned that if I feel like I need to just fucking let it out, man, it's not helpful to hold it in.

Erin (45:15.544) Yeah, I don't know that that is a good idea when you're up in the sky in charge of an airplane.

Rachel Meltzer (45:19.025) Okay, that's fair, that is dangerous. Yeah, you're not allowed.

Erin (45:27.726) Casey grounds me when I need to get stuff done. So like I had to take a written exam for this and he basically grounded me from flying until I took the exam. So I had like this online course I was just trying to get through for studying. my God. Yeah. I think a little bit for stress because right now I'm getting stressed out pretty easily.

Rachel Meltzer (45:34.897) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (45:41.659) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (45:45.209) external accountability.

Because the flying's the fun part.

Erin (45:56.824) which sucks also, part of learning, I guess. We go to the gym a lot. So both he and I do CrossFit and I try to go at least three times a week. So that helps too. Sleep is good. I'm not doing it a lot, but yesterday I slept a lot.

Rachel Meltzer (45:58.672) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (46:15.323) Mm -hmm.

Do you have any tips for, do you have any tips for other people who want to become a pilot or become a stewardess on a yacht or do the things you're doing?

Erin (47:48.61) Yes. I really love handing down my knowledge and being a mentor for somebody. So, God, I have so many tips and tricks. Hang on a second.

Rachel Meltzer (48:06.715) Are you still doing that template?

Erin (48:09.602) Yeah, I just haven't had time.

Rachel Meltzer (48:11.405) Erin's making a template, like handbook for like a customizable handbook template for yacht stewardesses. So you can put like all the details of your yacht and the people you work for so that you don't have to remember them off the top of your head. And you can hand them down to other people when you leave and create systems to make your life easier, checklists and things like that. So if you

know anyone who's in yachting or you are in yachting, definitely send them Erin's way because she's working on getting that out for people. It's something that she created after years on yachts that was very helpful for her and the people who she left them with.

Erin (48:53.988) Yeah, apparently. So I left a bow in 2020 and they've been through multiple stewardesses. And they still use my My handover book. Tips and tricks. There's so many.

Rachel Meltzer (49:04.199) Pretty cool.

Erin (49:13.092) For, I guess for both, like if you wanna do it, you just need to do it. Like, I know one of these days my bank account is gonna read zero because of costs for flying, but then like I'll get a job and it'll all be coming back.

Rachel Meltzer (49:30.001) Mm

Erin (49:33.208) but just do it and then network.

This is hard for me to pass on because like I don't really follow it but at the beginning even if you don't like somebody but you know that they can provide you with a great network don't burn the bridge I guess.

Rachel Meltzer (49:50.535) Erin's burned a lot of bridges just out of frustration.

Erin (49:57.828) I don't know if I would say a lot, but I can tell you there's things I won't go back to.

Rachel Meltzer (50:00.454) Okay.

Erin doesn't put up with bullshit is what it really boils down to. It's not necessarily that you burned a lot of bridges. You just don't put up with people treating you poorly. And I think that that's fine, but I'm sure there are times when you can benefit from sucking up to people who don't necessarily treat you the best.

Erin (50:23.14) Yeah. And then like further in, well that wouldn't be really for anybody getting into it, like further in just know that you're worth not $150 a day.

Rachel Meltzer (50:26.044) But no.

Rachel Meltzer (50:36.642) Yeah, yeah.

Raising your rates and catching up mentally to your worth can be.

mentally challenging and scary.

Erin (50:51.49) Yeah, even if you have to like turn people down because you're, I guess, not in their budget. It's okay, because the right clients will come along. Like that's how I have my tiny network of yacht people. Like,

Rachel Meltzer (51:05.285) You wouldn't have it if you weren't turning people down.

Erin (51:07.958) Yeah, what was the other one? I just was thinking of it. I guess for well, I don't know so much for aviation. Well, maybe even so it might still work, but. Be good at more than one thing like for for yachting like. Yeah, OK, I'm really good at detailing, but I'm also really good at keeping inventory and I'm really good at service and I'm really good at setting a table and I'm really good at throwing a party because.

Rachel Meltzer (51:20.911) Mm.

Rachel Meltzer (51:30.406) Mm

Erin (51:34.934) All of those traits can actually be passed over to other jobs or other things, or that might be why somebody else wants you over a different candidate. The other thing with like stewardesses, guess, like some are massage therapists or they have like a certification to teach some kind of exercise class or something like that just makes you a little more desirable for people.

And then for like for the job that I'll be applying to they do a lot of charter flights where like a family will charter the plane to fly them to their yacht. So and I don't know yet because I haven't done enough research. So maybe I could be just talking out of my butt here, but because I have the yachting experience and then I'll have like my passion for flying and

than all of my, some of my experience to go with that. I feel like the yawning bit and the working for private families will help me stand out a little more against other people. I don't know. Could be just assuming and hopeful thinking here, but.

Rachel Meltzer (52:45.435) Yeah. Yeah.

Rachel Meltzer (52:50.344) I think that's applicable to like that. All of that advice is applicable to any career where you are sort of paving your own path. Like networking is important. Having multiple skills that are transferable is important. Knowing your worth, being willing to raise your rates and say no to clients once you get further in, but also being willing to do a little bit of low paying work to get experience. Like these are all things that I talk to freelancers about too.

freelance writers, digital entrepreneurs.

Erin (53:20.035) Yeah.

Erin (53:23.652) Plus like with yachting, feel like you could...

open -minded, be open -minded. Like, I don't cook, but if you pay me the right amount, I'll happily try.

Rachel Meltzer (53:30.812) Mm

Rachel Meltzer (53:36.903) Put a couple things in the effort for you, you betcha. Yeah. Nice. Well, where can people find you on the internet?

Erin (53:40.611) I guess.

Erin (53:48.348) On the interwebs, you can find me at Erin Kayla on Instagram and LinkedIn