Patrick: What advice would you give to kids who dream of being a pilot?

Nick Carden: One piece of advice. Never accept “You’re not good enough.” I’ll go back to the story I told you about the first time I flew. I was overwhelmed.

Patrick: I can imagine.

Nick Carden: I did not think I was ever going to be capable of flying a plane. I didn’t think I had the talent. I didn’t think I had perception, ability to fly a plane. I wasn’t smart enough. I didn’t know what was going on. It seemed like everything was just flying by me, and I was just hanging on by the tail of the plane. But it took persistence. I don’t go to work right now. I don’t work. I do what I love. And I think that’s… If you really love aviation, if you really want to be a pilot, if you really want to do it, you stay persistent to it. You do what it takes. You make friends, and you get mentors that can help you along the way. I am here today, not of my own accord, but because of the community I’ve built around me that has helped me get to where I am today. I don’t think any pilot gets to be a pilot by themselves.

Patrick: Right. What advice would you give to the Autism News NetWORK as we’re trying to get everything off the ground?

Nick Carden: Go learn from the experts. If you’re starting something new, and it’s like… I think most businesses will tell you. Most entrepreneurs will tell you, if you start something new, go do the research. Go learn from the experts. Go get smart about the things that do work, the lessons learned from those ahead of you. Learn from the mentors. And then, after you’ve learned as much as you can, go reinvent it. Do something new. I’ll tell you the one way to be obsolete is to not accept change. So that’s my advice to the program would be, one, go learn from those who’ve done it before you, and then, two, go do something new. Do something cool. Do something innovative.

Patrick: I’m Patrick with the Autism News NetWORK, here with Nick Harden. Thanks for watching.