In male-dominated fields like aviation and aerospace, women face a unique challenge: the constant need to prove their worth. Whether we’re engineers, pilots, executives, or technicians, we often find ourselves in roles where we’re the only woman at the table or one of a few in the room. In these spaces, there’s an unspoken expectation that we must be exceptional—not only to excel in our jobs but to “justify” our place. For women, this often translates into bending over backwards, making sacrifices, and putting personal needs on hold just to keep up.

I was several decades into my career—eight years at the company I had been working at, and I still had never received a promotion. Meanwhile, men with less experience were being promoted around me. It was frustrating, but I pushed forward, committed to my work and to making a difference.

Then, a leadership role opened up—a role I believed I was the perfect fit for. The leader who was retiring had worked closely with me and his team for the entire time I’d been at the company. I understood their processes inside and out, had built strong relationships with the team, and had earned their respect. I felt I had interviewed well and was hopeful this would finally be my chance to step into a well-deserved leadership position.

But despite all of that, the job went to someone else—a man hired from outside the company with zero experience in aviation. He was a complete unknown quantity, yet somehow, the decision-makers felt he was a better fit than me. I wasn’t even informed that I hadn’t gotten the job. Instead, I found out when I was introduced to him on his first day at work. No feedback, no explanation, no communication at all.