She was the first of her family to earn her pilot's licence, with her first solo flight taking place in a Piper J-3 Cub.

[3] After attending Arundel High School, she went to the University of Maryland, where she studied home economics at the suggestion of her mother.

[3][4] Afterwards, she began working as a teacher but decided to pursue flying as a career, joining the US Navy in 1974 for flight training.

[2] Her admittance, and her swearing in by Tuskegee Airman Spann Watson was heavily covered in the African-American media.

[3] She left Texas after a year, joining the cargo carrier Zantop International Airlines, and worked there until 1985.