ABOUT DENISE
Life Experiences
My career has taken me from professional music to commercial aviation, from building aviation companies to helping aircraft owners navigate complex transactions.
Today, I’m the founder and president of The Jet Agent, where I specialize in aircraft acquisitions and sales. My work draws on more than two decades of professional flying experience, approximately 9,000 flight hours, eight aircraft type ratings, and the experience of building and leading aviation businesses.
But aviation wasn’t where my professional life began.
I started as a professional oboist and music educator before pursuing a career as a pilot. I went on to fly for airlines, corporate flight departments, and charter operators, eventually serving as a captain, chief pilot, and check airman.
In 2007, I founded Desert Jet, building a group of businesses spanning aircraft charter and management, maintenance, and FBO services. That experience gave me an owner’s perspective on the operational, financial, and organizational decisions involved in business aviation.
Today, I bring those experiences together at The Jet Agent, advising clients through the acquisition and sale of private aircraft.
I’m also the author of The Insider’s Guide to Buying and Selling Jets and a contributing author to The Business Aviation Book: Achieving Operational Excellence.
My career has never followed a conventional path, but the common thread has been a willingness to learn, build, and pursue work that matters to me.
Personal Achievement Highlights
I feel lucky every day that I have enjoyed so many diverse pursuits over the span of my career. Here are some of the achievements I’m most proud of;
- I was the first woman pilot in the United States to found and build three integrated aviation businesses from the ground up: Desert Jet, an FAA Part 135 aircraft charter and management company; Desert Jet Maintenance, an FAA Part 145 repair station; and Desert Jet Center, a full-service fixed-base operation (FBO). I developed Desert Jet Center as an entirely new FBO, rather than acquiring or taking over an existing facility—an especially challenging undertaking given the significant capital requirements, airport development constraints, regulatory complexities, and political barriers to entry associated with establishing a new FBO.
- I was named one of “Ten Top Women CEOs on the Inc. 500 List” by Inc. Magazine in 2012.
- I was chosen as a winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women Program in 2013.
- I was one of six participants globally in EY’s Ready, Set, Grow Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program in 2014.
- I was a recipient of WBENC’s Dorothy B. Brothers Leadership Award in 2012.
- I’m the author of the 2023 Amazon #1 Best Seller The Insider’s Guide to Buying and Selling Jets and The Definitive Guide to Supplement Lift, and a contributing author to The Business Aviation Book: Achieving Operational Excellence, for which I wrote Chapter 19, “Aircraft Transactions.”
- I was the keynote speaker at events including American Express CEO Bootcamp, National Business Aviation Association Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference, Women in Aviation International Conference and presenter on the topic of vetting business jet providers at the National Business Aviation Association’s Annual Conference.
- I have been featured, published, and quoted in publications such as Inc. Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Business Jet Traveler, Forbes, Fox Business, CNBC, Palm Springs Life, MSNBC, Barron’s, the Wall Street Journal, and Aviation for Women Magazine.
- I earned my NBAA Certified Aviation Manager (CAM) designation in 2008 and have maintained that credential throughout my aviation career. I am currently a Gold Level CAM. I previously served on the NBAA CAM Governing Board and have contributed to professional development through CAM study groups and aviation industry leadership. Other board experience includes the Enterprising Women Advisory Board, Angel Flight West, Desert Jet’s board, the Alpine Airpark board and MusicaNova Orchestra board. I am currently the President of the board of the Scottsdale Symphonic Orchestra.
- I have over 9000 hours of flight experience with 8 type ratings and am a former airline/corporate/charter pilot. I first upgraded to airline captain in September of 2001 and earned my first jet type rating, in the Citation CJ, in November 2001.
PRESS
Throughout my aviation career, I’ve shared perspectives on business aviation, entrepreneurship, aircraft ownership, and the challenges and opportunities facing women in traditionally male-dominated industries.
My work and experience have been featured in publications and media outlets including Inc. Magazine, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, CNBC, Fox Business, and Business Jet Traveler.
Today, I continue to contribute to discussions about aircraft acquisitions and sales, Citation aircraft, and the business aviation marketplace.
Explore my published interviews, articles, and media appearances below.