Meet Anthony Hicks

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anthony Hicks a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Anthony, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Well, this is a very real thing despite education and experience. I endeavor to work on improving my knowledge, skills, and abilities continuously. I also have many years of experience as well as education and appropriate certifications for the tasks that I conduct. Still, I have to remind myself about these facts from time to time.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Sure. My business is Deep Blue Adventure&Aviation LLC. I offer services as a contract pilot (mentor pilot, instructor pilot, or just general pilot duties) as well as storm chase trips on the Great Plains. Soon I will be offering SCUBA trips and other adventures. I find that doing what I want to do for a living is motivation all in itself. The trick is staying busy. The greatest satisfaction I receive from this is when a client properly learns to operate around inclement weather in their aircraft (when they take my “Navigating Convective Weather Course”) or when they see a supercell thunderstorm (and perhaps a tornado) for the first time.
I am currently co-developing a course (with a renown sports psychologist) that helps pilots train themselves to focus under duress. This is something that has been proven successful in sports and other endeavors that can have stressful situations, so now we are going to offer that for aviation.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I have recently truly learned the difference between motivation and discipline. Discipline is what gets you up on that cold morning when your body says “no” and there exists no motivation to do so. I would say that discipline has been something that has been important to me.
Blending science with my flying has also been something that has helped me do the things that I do as well as remain proficient in them. Geology, meteorology, and aerodynamics have been quite intertwined for the the past several years, through University education as well as practical application.
Finally, I believe that perseverance has been (and likely will continue to be) a key facet of my business endeavor. There are always people who are happy to say what one cannot do. Listening to that, however, is optional.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

My ideal client is either a veteran who has experienced a huge let-down in adrenaline in their lives;. That happened to me. Coming from Naval Aviation to civilian life was certainly a change in adrenaline level. The adventure side of my business exists, in part, to offer veterans productive ways to satisfy the need for adrenaline as well as to learn something new. Another client that I seek for the adventure side of my business is a person with a thirst to learn dynamic science in action. Forecasting where to be in order to observe supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes requires a lot of planning and logistics. it is quite rewarding when it all comes together, I lead smaller groups of people who become more and more involved in the planning and execution of the storm chases as the week progresses.
As for the flying side of my business, my ideal clients are those pilots who want to improve their performance. This can be in regards to their “stick and rudder skills” , their use of onboard weather radar, or (coming soon) their ability to respond calmly to any adverse condition that they might encounter.

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