JetSuite’s Chung covers Aviation for Women’s September issue

JetSuite’s president is featured on the magazine’s cover tracking her career from ramp agent to Mary Kay sales star before entering private aviation, and leadership lessons learned

“Stephanie, often the only woman and minority in the room, is the first African American president of a private aviation company in an industry in which black people remain an infinitesimal percentage of the aviation workforce.”

The September issue of Aviation for Women, the official publication of Women in Aviation International, features Dallas-based charter operator’s president on its cover with a feature story, “Just Do It: Leadership Lessons from JetSuite’s Stephanie Chung.”

Among the pearls of wisdom, applicable to anyone, Chung tells reporter Kathryn Creedy, “When you’re coaching and developing people— women in particular—one of the most important things is teaching them how to say no and not feel guilty about it.”

Chung, the daughter of an Air Force sergeant says she knew early on she was destined for a career in aviation, and started in Boston on the ramp with Piedmont Airlines before following the advice of a manager who recognized her “bubbly” personality and making the transition into sales.

When you’re coaching and developing people— women in particular—one of the most important things is teaching them how to say no and not feel guilty about it.

– Stephanie Chung, president, JetSuite

Describing herself as a “terrible” stay at home mom, she took a job with Mary Kay hoping to win a car so she could eliminate car payments. Five weeks later she won her first of five cars.

Read: If You Think You Know JetSuite, You Don’t Know JetSuite

Author of multiple books, including Profit Like a Girl, A Woman’s Guide; Kicking Butt in Sales and Leadership of High Ticket Selling Made Simple, Neuroscience Selling, and Conversational Intelligence, traces her move into business aviation with then Bombardier owned Skyjet and later Flexjet before launching her own create her own executive coaching and consulting business specializing in selling to high net-worth individuals.

She also discusses obstacles in business aviation, including not being a pilot, as well as her entry into JetSuite, and taking the company into its second decade, as well as sharing lots of lessons and insights, including what she terms developing the skills to “healthy confrontations.”