TheGrio's 100: Jamail Larkins, going to new heights for students
TheGrio's 100 - Six years ago most people had never heard of Jamail Larkins, one of the youngest Americans to fly solo. Not for long...
When Jamail Larkins appeared on the David Letterman show in 2004, most viewers had never heard of the then 20-year-old aircraft pilot.
The ease with which Larkins handled Letterman’s questions was impressive. The fact that the young aerobatic performer answered the talk-show host’s questions while flying his airplane upside down was even more astonishing.
Yet Larkins, now 26, takes his accomplishments in stride, perhaps because he has been flying since age 12. At age 14, he went to Canada to fly solo because the practice wasn’t allowed in the United States. In Canada, he became one of the youngest American pilots to solo a powered aircraft.
“The experience opened a lot of new doors that I wasn’t expecting,” said Larkins. “It allowed me to work with the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles Program and become a national spokesman of its Vision of Eagles Program.”
Larkins’ work with the program, a youth education initiative of the EAA Aviation Foundation, not only allowed him to meet celebrities and world leaders, but it also enabled him to focus on his other passions which include business and politics.
At age 15, he founded Larkins Enterprises, Inc., an aviation sales and advertising company.
WATCH JAMAIL LARKINS DISCUSS THE PRIVATE AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY ON CNBC
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His alma mater, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the top aviation school in the country, later recruited Larkins to help found the Dream Launch Tour, a national tour designed to educate students about career opportunities in the aviation industry. And in 2005, the FAA signed Jamail as the First Ambassador for Aviation and Space Education. He advises young African Americans to determine their passions and make them a reality.
“Once they have figured out a game plan, do everything that you possibly can to make it become a reality,” he said. “Never be afraid to ask for advice from others, and always be willing to have an open mind about how you might need to modify the objective. The biggest thing though, is there will likely be tough times. Just make sure you never give up!”
WATCH JAMAIL LARKINS ADVISE TEENS TO FOLLOW THEIR DREAMS ON THE NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
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Today, Larkins is as comfortable running his Augusta-based aviation company, Ascension Aircraft Inc., as he is flying. The company, which grossed $5.8 million in sales in 2008, buys, sells and leases aircraft, and also has an aviation consulting arm. He explains his fascination this way:
“I truly enjoy a challenge,” he says. “Taking a business idea from a concept into a successful company is an extreme challenge. I think that’s a significant motivation for a lot of the things I do. I like to try to make the impossible become possible.”
Larkins also sits on the board of two large aviation nonprofit organizations and is the chairman of the board for Careers in Aviation.
His plans include growing Ascension to make it the leading source for private aircraft, not so much to build the biggest aviation company, he says, but “to build one of the most prominent brands in aviation. “There are a lot of people that need to own, buy, sell, or operate private aircraft,” Larkins said. “I want to create the company that people think about first, when any of those things come to their mind.”
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