Women Fly High on Opportunities to Build Self-Esteem

“I know I don’t look like a jet pilot,” keynote speaker Brooke Knapp told guests at UC Irvine’s Women’s Opportunities Center benefit last week.

“But I am. I hold over 100 aviation world speed records. I mention this not because it’s a big deal . . . but because 15 years ago I was scared of everything. (I) wouldn’t have flown from John Wayne Airport to El Toro!”

Blame it on low self-esteem. Knapp’s was so low she didn’t think she had the “right to occupy 108 pounds on this planet,” she told members of the 600-strong crowd at the Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach--many of whom have received help at the Women’s Opportunities Center. The center provides career counseling and personal development workshops.

“I knew if I didn’t get my act together I wasn’t going to live through it. No one likes the limitations that come with fear,” Knapp said.

So, in 1978, she devised a game. She called it “No Guts, No Glory.” She made a list of her fears and prioritized them. At the top: fear of flying.

She signed up for flying lessons (she was in her 30s at the time), soloed after 60 hours (“I was someone who loved ground school,” she deadpanned) and founded an aircraft management company.

She said she soon learned that aircraft management is a male-dominated industry. And she found she didn’t have the respect of her peers. “I knew I would have to do something remarkable to get it. So I chose to attempt to break an aviation speed record around the world.”

Risk your life to earn credibility?

Why not?

“I shot off my mouth to the press so I couldn’t chicken out,” she said.

Next thing she knew it was 1983 and she was sitting in a Lear jet on the runway of San Francisco Airport, asking herself, “What am I doing here?”

It was the moment all risk-takers experience. The am-I-out-of-my-mind? moment.

“The fear was there, but the answer was there, too,” Knapp said. “I was going for it .” And feeling great about herself.

“In one magical moment . . . throttle full bore, turbines screaming in my ears, the fear turned to raw excitement.

“We landed 50 (air) hours, 22 minutes later, breaking the existing Lear jet record by 15 hours.”

Triumph. The ballroom rang with applause.

Earlier in the event, center volunteers privately shared their own stories of risk-taking.

“In 1979 I attended a seminar at the Women’s Opportunities Center,” said Kathy Murphy, founder of K.P. & Co. catering in Santa Ana. “I had five children, was thinking of starting my own business and lacking confidence.

“The center helped me discover my strengths and introduced me to a therapist who helped me with my low self-esteem.

“Now I employ eight employees full time and 50 part time. It makes me feel good when they can go out and buy a car on what I pay them.”

Wendy Weber, once press secretary to Nancy Reagan, sought out the center when she needed help with interviewing skills after she left the White House. “I was a teacher in Anaheim when I was interviewed for the press secretary job,” she said. She is now director of public relations for Golden West College in Huntington Beach.

Nancy DiGiorgio was a vice president with the Boston Stock Exchange when she was involved in a serious automobile accident. After five years of recovery, she came to California looking for a job. “The center’s Job Seekers Clinic helped me enormously,” she said. They discerned her interests and strengths and advised her to start her own business.

Now DiGiorgio heads up a nonprofit company devoted to educating the public about alternative methods of health care.

During the festivities, Harriett M. Wieder, chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, received the center’s Amelia Earhart award.

“Harriett has indeed inspired women to break through barriers and soar to new heights,” said Judith Rosener, the UCI professor who won last year’s award. “And that is the inscription on the award she receives.”

Said Wieder, smiling: “What do I say? . . . That I don’t have to declare you because this lunch is not excessive?”

The crowd roared.

“I am privileged and honored to receive this award,” she continued. “I think we are all good examples of people who know how to amiably agree and disagree. . . . We know how to roast, boast, toast and support each other.”

Proceeds from the event were $45,000. Lydia Wang Himes and Julie Newcomb were co-chairwomen. Guests included Melvin E. Hall, dean of UCI’s University Extension; Kathy Jones, vice chancellor of University Advancement; center director Linda White-Peters; Judie Argyros; Peggy Goldwater Clay; Mary Moore Young; Elizabeth Tierney; Elaine Redfield; Mary Roosevelt; Mary Jones; Betty Belden Palmer; Hyla Bertea; Joan Beall; Joanne Halvajian; Gloria Osbrink; Mary Lou Hornsby; Jo Caines and Donna Shannon.