Helen Seymour. Typhoon Fighter Pilot Turned Speaker Shares Her Personal Brand Story

In this episode:

Part of my series: ‘Real life Personal Brand Examples’.

I chat to Former Typhoon Fighter Pilot Helen Seymour, who comes on the show to share a small part of career journey and in starting her own business and how she has navigated her way to learning to market herself.

For more than 20 years Helen was actively encouraged NOT to share what her job was and what she did on a day-to-day basis. One because of the confidential nature of the work she was doing in the RAF and also from a personal safety perspective.

In this conversation you’ll get to hear how she had to get her head around actually sharing what she does and also standing up on stages and talking about what it was like being a Typhoon Fighter Pilot.

Her business today – which she started with her friend Rosie who was a navigator on some of her early missions – has managed to transfer their learning from their RAF days and bringing them into to the corporate world.

Do come listen and hear how even Helen, after flying countless dangerous missions through international skies at 9Gs… has experienced imposter syndrome.

- - -

𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Helen Seymour is the first female Eurofighter Typhoon pilot, with more than 20 years of fighter pilot experience in the RAF.

She’s been involved in delivering air defence in the form of Quick Reaction Alert to the UK, Falklands and for NATO in the Baltic States. She has served on operations as part of the liberation of Libya, as well as taken part in, and held, the role of Mission Commander in many multi-national exercises world-wide.

Before she retired from the RAF her final role was as an Evaluator Pilot on the Typhoon Test Squadron; responsible for the safe and effective introduction of new equipment and capability to the war fighter on the Typhoon Force.

This included missile firing, weapon dropping and many complex and highly pressured radar, avionic and test profiles. She was the lead pilot for the Typhoon defensive aids system.

Today, after retiring from the RAF, Helen runs a business with her friend Nic “Rosie” Steevenson who was a navigator on some of her early missions. They deliver high impact keynote talks and workshop training for businesses in safety -critical, high performance industries.

𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗥𝗢̈𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗢:

Shelley is a systems-led personal brand strategist working with knowledge experts…those who teach, educate, consult, advise or mentor others. Her specialism is in helping her clients to uncover their genius gifts which the world needs and translate that into something that can be marketed and communicated in a way that’s comfortable for them.

South African born and British-grown, Shelley has worked with 150+ brands across 30+ industries through her consultancy and agency work. She runs her specialist marketing agency Harbour 32, with her magically gifted friends, where they focus on personal brand strategy and podcast show positioning.

==================

All episodes are video recorded and can be watched in the website show notes at shelleyrostlund.com/podcast, or on YouTube. (Click here for the full audio transcribed version).