Second Acts: How Captain Carole Hopson Found Her ‘One True Thing’

Carole Hopson is a Boeing 737 captain for United Airlines and the author of ‘A Pair of Wings,’ a historical fiction novel about Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to get her pilot license. After a successful twenty-year career working for iconic brands like the National Football League, Foot Locker and L’Oréal, Carole quit her job to pursue her lifelong dream of flying planes. 

On today’s episode, Carole tells the story of how she turned her childhood dream into a second-act career. She outlines the five-step plan she created for making a major career pivot, and shares tips on how to balance work with family responsibilities. She also discusses her next big dream – to send 100 Black women to flight school by 2035 – and how she’s going to make it happen.

Follow Carole Hopson on LinkedIn and follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn.

If you liked this episode, your next listen should be this one: Redefine Your Relationship to Work with Writer Jennifer Romolini