QUARANTINE CALL FROM Connecticut
Melanie Folcik Barillaro, Pilot, Aviation Safety Inspector, Adventure Junkie and future Astronaut (No...Really!)
In this episode of Adventure Calls, I talk to Melanie Folcik Barillaro from her quarantine in Connecticut. Melanie is a commercial pilot, a helicopter pilot, an Emergency Medical Technician, a certified flight instructor, a PADI rescue SCUBA diver, a certified Class A skydiver, and a travel addict recently made the transition to a role as an FAA Aviation Safety Inspector.
In this episode, we talk about the success of corporate and private air travel during the pandemic, startups focused on contactless unmanned planes of the future, plus the rise of the road trip, a hiking app that keeps you on the trail, and how to travel with your family post-pandemic. If you’re not inspired by Melanie’s adventurous enthusiasm and pragmatic optimism by then, stick around until the end for her story about her application to join NASA’s next generation of astronauts in 2021.
Note: the snoring sound you hear is my little pug, who insisted on sleeping at my feet. #homestudio #quarantine
episode highlights
3:15 Melanie describes her most recent role as an FAA Aviation Safety Instructor.
5:10 A look at many of Melanie’s impressive certifications and licenses that make her the ultimate adventure junkie.
8:00 Why doesn’t Melanie just tinker? Why does she get certified in everything?.
9:30 Melanie talks about her most adventurous undertaking to date: aerobatics. These are feats of spectacular flying performed in one or more aircraft to entertain an audience on the ground.
11:50 When talking about private air travel, there’s always a little celebrity gossip. Find out how a certain celebrity prepares to look good for paparazzi when he deplanes her flights.
12:50 The increase of corporate and private travel during the pandemic.
14:10 We talk WheelsUp and other private jet charter membership companies.
16:30 Hear about the epic road trip Melanie took with her husband and two kids, ages 2-4.
18:30 Travel trend predictions for the near and medium term.
20:05 Family travel resources, and the most important thing you can do as a traveler.
22:15 Melanie tells her story about how she decided to apply to become a NASA astronaut in 2021 (her son played a big role).
27:25 We end with a look to the future of air travel: unmanned airplanes that both Uber and Boeing are exploring.
Links mentioned in this episodE
Wheels Up private jet charters
NASA opens astronaut applications
Roadtrippers
All Trails
Uber Air
Kittyhawk ‘flying cars’
You can find Melanie on Instagram at @gearisup
About Adventure Calls
From her quarantine to theirs, world-traveler and author of How To Move Abroad And Why It’s The Best Thing You’ll Do, Jessica Drucker, calls up travel experts to find out what they envision for the future of travel in a post-pandemic world.
Full episode transcript
Jessica Drucker: Hi, Melanie. Thank you so much for taking my call.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: How low? How are you, Jessica?
Jessica Drucker: I'm doing well. I think that's actually the most important question we can ask each other right now. So how are you feeling? Is your family well? Are you healthy?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yeah, so far we're doing well. We're cooped up at home. I do go to work two days a week, but that's just me and four other people in the office, and we're staying as the safest We can't.
Jessica Drucker: Right. So you're okay? So good. Everyone's healthy. And where are you quarantined right now? I guess you're going into work. But technically, sort of Where you experiencing this quarantine? I have a
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: little bit more of a rural area. You know, Connecticut's. It's just east of New York. So right now we're seeing what New York is going through. Its trickling in more in the southern part of the state. But I'm hunkered down in East Hampton. So right in the center of the state. If you were to drop a pin, that's where I am is a little bit more rural.
Jessica Drucker: Your day job. Right now you work as an FAA aviation safety inspector, okay? No, I do. I love he. I have never met someone who does this job. This is such an important job. Um, you are a travel expert in a totally different way right now. And so I would love to hear what a normal day is like for you before Corona virus.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Absolutely. So when I first got hired for this job, I did not even know what I was applying for. Strangely, and, uh, it was offered to me. And when I finally accepted the job, um, I was still curious. What am I doing? So over the day is in the weeks working here, I have learned, Ah, lot of different skills, mostly what I do. Now. One of my favorite parts of the job is accident investigation. I love incidents and helping pilots that may have had in a current or a deviation. So we start looking at the root cause of this event starting to find out where the problem actually existed. So we do help, Airman, we do work accidents and investigations. And we also help establish different schools that may be trying to start their own flight school and operations that are private 1 35 which is charter operations. So we do have some larger companies in Connecticut that we work with, and we help kind of establish their programs and then their safety platforms.
Jessica Drucker: So where do you work? Where is your office?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yeah, So our office is right outside Bradley International. So that's in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Jessica Drucker: And what? How? When you do these investigations, like, where where do you go to do them? So you go to the plane itself to do the investigation. How did these things work?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yes, you definitely can. So you could do surveillance, which is on sites. You can travel to any of the airports within our region, and you can go on site, do ramp checks. We do mostly the bigger airports, but we can travel to the smaller ones. And some of the work is done just right in our office. So if it has to do with the online portion of it or any of the phone calls, interviews with the pilot.
Jessica Drucker: So you mentioned. So we first connected many years ago. I interviewed you in 2013 7 years ago for another website I had co founded back then. I don't know how old you were, but I know you were very young and you had already become I'm going to do this. I'm going to list everything You had to come all that. You were an airline transport pilot. You had a helicopter pilot license. You were already a flight instructor for single engine multiengine seaplanes and tail wheel aircraft. You were already a rescue diver, A certified class a sky diver, an e m t. With the state of Connecticut. An American Heart Association instructor in Moshe. I'm running out of breath and compliance contractor and then, of course, travel addict and an adventure junkie. Now I can't wait to get to where you are going now with yourself. But first, let's go all the way back that that's a lot of adventurous stuff. When when did this start for you? When did you know you had this? This thirst for adventure, wanderlust that you love to travel? And then how did you become interested in becoming a pilot?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Great questions. So this started, I would say, right out of the gate. I have always loved travel Ever since I was younger, my parents were really free range the middle of the night. Sometimes you say, Hey, it's hot, Let's get in the car and they drive us to the beach for a week. So I think that I've always had a taste for it. But once I got my own legs there on 18 that's when I just started going out and doing the adventures by myself. So I did spend a lot of my twenties just traveling across the country and having such an amazing time. There's nothing that I didn't want to dio. And I know sometimes people hear that list and Inglewood, Why did you do all this stuff? And is it because I just can't get enough of life? I love learning everything that I possibly can. So when I finally came up, Teoh working with medicine and all, I had the experience in the opportunity to fly in the back of our emergency helicopter and in the state. And from there I was working on a patient and I thought, I don't want to be back here. I want to be him upfront as a pilot. So I put myself through flight school and as I was working full time in an ambulance and just made my ratings happen really fast. So within the period of 12 months, I was already a flight instructor, and then I was able to get paid. So that's where my love of aviation kind of started, and it just took off from there.
Jessica Drucker: And how long were you and E. M. T before you became a pilot?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yeah. So I started volunteering at around 15 years old. You can't really get certified until you're 17 So I did the training at 16. And around 17. I got certified. So I have been in E m s. I can't believe I can say this 26 years.
Jessica Drucker: You don't tinker at anything. You basically get certified, you get sort certificates. You are very official urine instructor. What? Where does this need for or this like thirst for excellence come from? Because a lot of people tinker with things, they'll skydive one time. But you're a certified class, a skydiver with a U S. P A. I mean, where does that come from? This thirst for excellence that you have?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: I think it is truly just my soul. I cannot explain it. It's a drive that I have always had. I don't just do things. Ah, you know, halfway I just have to go to the top. And the reason that I do it is because I feel that I haven't learned enough. If I just tinker with it, I want to be able to know all the nuts and bolts. I want to know how it works. And there's things that I will not return to. So, for example, you mentioned skydiving. I'm a mom now, So since we talked last, I have become a mom times two. And my safety has definitely gone up in my threshold, so I will probably never jump out of an airplane again. But I understand it. And that skill now that I'm working with the FAA is very important because part of my job is to approve skydivers when they want to do jumps into parades or into parks or for air shows. And I understand what the needs are for those people to jump out of the plane. So what kind of classification of a rating they need? What kind of ours?
Jessica Drucker: I'm gonna ask a question. I bet you've been asked a 1,000,000 times. But what is sort of the scariest or the most adventurous thing that you've done
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: who? Okay, so skydiving, you would think would be it. But for me aerobatics, uh, having the opportunity. I had a very good friend that took me, um, really under his wing. And I started very early on. I don't remember how old I was. 23 maybe. And we had flown together for years, even up to last year, he came up here. We do spins and lump ship box and loops and just taking yourself and throwing yourself around the sky. I just think that is the coolest thing to be able to defeat. Gravity
Jessica Drucker: weight. Like what you see in the air shows like when you stall out and then Oh, you can do all that
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: stuff. Yes. So this gentleman, he had a couple different planes that we flew. We started out in a hits. It's an S two Bravo. It's gorgeous biplane. Kind of a tight, fast little plane. And that's where we did all lot of the aggressive maneuvers. And now the work that we had done had been in a sotto brio. So again, it's a tail dragging kind of beautiful aircraft, but really good for your loops and your spins and your wing overs. Yeah, but you know what I can do? Go on a roller coaster. Really? Me neither at
Jessica Drucker: why that makes me feel better. Why? It's
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: that feeling of loss of control when you lose your stomach when you get on the hills. I cannot handle that.
Jessica Drucker: What? What is the biggest plane you've ever flown? Have you flown like an actual commercial jet? Yep.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: So when you get up to airline transport pilot, it kind of has a pivot in the road. You can either go to what we call 1 21 which would be the larger commercial planes that are all your international airport. So the ones that we fly in to travel or you can take the other bend in the road, which we know is 1 35 or charter private jets and I decided to take that road for a couple different reasons. The flexibility and the money was much higher, and you got into it quicker with the room for advancement. So I went the 1 35 route and I flew planes. One is a falcon. It's a triple engine plane. Another one is known as a hawker. So they're just bigger passenger planes that yeah, people privately travel in. Could I fly in the 7 37? Yes, I would just need to get type rated, and that's some time in a simulator.
Jessica Drucker: Got it? So do you also meet famous people and celebrities there in those planes? Can you talk about any of them, or do you have to keep it a secret? Some I can talk
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: about, Um, I will say that I proud. Let's traffic. Which one would not get me in trouble? Um, let's see. He may have been married to Katie Holmes.
Jessica Drucker: Interesting s so he could jump out of the plane and it wouldn't even matter because he can just hold on to the side.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Exactly. I fear that he has quite the adventure movies. Better out there is a fun gentleman. Before we land, he gets up in the back, jumps around, it claps his hands, and it keeps cheering. So by the time he gets off the plane, he is rosy faced, and he has great color, and the paparazzi can snap some really bold pictures of him. So that's what you always looks great when he steps out
Jessica Drucker: of a plate. That's how this stuff works. You know? Everything fascinating. Um okay. So I won't make you dish, even though I want to know all the celebrity gossip about what? You know. But I won't make a dish. I want to come back, to the like the current day, how does how is corporate travel being affect? Did by the Corona virus? Are private jets still flying our corporate jets flying in a pandemic like this,
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yes, and more than ever that were seen. So we're actually seeing an increase. And if you look at the industry, private is a little bit more. I would say there's more flights that are happening because you don't have to be around all of the people that are on an airline. So in my agency here in Connecticut, we do still have folks that work around me, other safety inspectors, and they are dedicated to the 1 21 the airline industry. So we all use interdependence and talk to each other and kind of learn about what's going on across the field. One gentleman I worked with today was just telling me how travel is down 90% out of New York. So they've closed out 90% of the flights entering and departing New York. Where is we're seeing in our 1 35 industry and increase in flights so people are spending the extra money because they still need to travel for business and for family and private reasons. But they just can't get on the airline because there's either no tickets or they risk getting sick on the plane,
Jessica Drucker: Right, So and so they must be flying private, Private. But there are these semi private like what are they, like fly jets or
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: what are There's a couple, one of the biggest ones, and we actually are. One of theirs is wheels up. So wheels up is ah, one of the companies that eyes almost like a sky Uber, and they have the ability for people to buy shares in the plane and fly when they need to. So depending on how much have been adventure junkie somebody is, these aircraft can travel not only across the country, but they can fly across the pond and get to Europe as well. This particular company is based all over the country, even though they're held is here. So they do have aircraft placed all over the country. And that's, you know, just like the other fractional is that we do see. So companies like your net jets are still out there actively working and flying with very little furlough of the pilots. You know, everybody is just holding on for dear life at this point, because when is the other shoe going to drop? I mean, at any point travel restriction can happen, anything can happen. And I think that these companies are taking what they can, which is smart, and they're holding out until the very end. Some of the airlines right now, even though there's pilots furloughed, they're still paying them. They're still trying to hold on to the staff that they have in hopes that a cure or this peaks and kind of mellows out so people can get back back into the air.
Jessica Drucker: And is there talk of a stimulus package for the airlines? Because I know in Canada, for example, some of the smaller airlines have been saved through stimulus packages and subsidizing at this time. But I'm not sure if that's something that's being talked about in the US right now.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: It definitely is. Yeah, United has already been in talks with that, so I think that the government is trying to help because it is such an important part of our. It's definitely part of our country, but it's a part of the infrastructure that we have as well. It's very important to get it back up there and I truly feel it's going to turn back around, but we're gonna have a big pause and people questioning Hey, should I be the 1st 1 back on the plane to go travel across the country to see this instagram herbal shot? Right, If you want to be the first,
Jessica Drucker: how important is it to do that? And I noticed, though, in your own in your own bio that you sent me recently you said that you're into road trips right now, and I think a lot of people are gonna be into road trips right now. But is that something that you were into a little bit before? Because you have a family? Or is that coming up for you because of the Corona virus and changing the way you travel
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: a little bit? I think that I've always loved it most of the time when I would fly out to a destination, it would just be to get to that part of the country. And then we would rent a car and just drive as far as we could get and turn back around and spend weeks doing that. On this past summer, my family and I, we started in Connecticut and we did a full round trip to South Dakota and then right back to Connecticut, and we hit Niagara Falls, Lake, Michigan, Wisconsin. We did everything in between, and I found that we just experienced the culture deeper than if I just flew over eight States toe land in South Dakota. So I really have been enjoying road trips.
Jessica Drucker: I hear you and I'm amazed, and I want to ask you other questions, but I can't get past the idea that you are talking about doing that with a two year old and a four year old at that time, probably. And that just worked. And you drove for days and days in the car.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yes, days, and it would. It was so easy. They were very good. And, you know, my three year olds now my three year old is a very difficult child. Second child syndrome. But we packed everything correctly. I had the car seats with their tablets and snacks, and they had naptime, and we made sure that we planned everything no more than a six hour drive. So we did wonderful little cave that was in Minnesota who would and only had caves in Minnesota, and we stopped there. We did a picnic lunch and it was really fun. I enjoyed just seeing things that I probably never would have stopped in Minnesota to see caves had I flown to South Dakota.
Jessica Drucker: And where's the first place you want to go Once this all kind of subsides?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yes, I want to go up to Bam Park. So Jasper, British Columbia I have been wanting to go there for no kidding. 10 plus years and there's always just another trip that Trump's it. But I turned 40 last November and my trip was supposed to be there. But unfortunately, it's kind of just on hold. So maybe when I'm 41
Jessica Drucker: Do you think that people are going to start road tripping or traveling more locally in the future or in the near future after the Corona virus subsides?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: I do. I think people are going to stay close to home just because it's becoming a safe zone. Until again, we can feel out what other communities air doing. You know, social media is helping us take a peek at what other areas look like, but it's not the same until you walk into their grocery stores and see their people with masks on their face. So I think it's really gonna, you know, take a big pause. And for these larger locations, like folks that always go to Disney or always flap to New York City, will they stop and think before they go, or are they gonna try local, maybe parks or mobile? You know, local amusement areas. Um, you know, something that just kind of popped in my mind is what we've been doing is we hike on the weekends at local parks. I have never seen the park so full in all my life living in Connecticut as I do now.
Jessica Drucker: So I You know, I I wanted to talk to you about all these, like, big, adventurous things that you have done. And I have a question for what? Your big, adventurous thing you're going to do in the future. But I'd wanna because you're also a parent and family travel is now such a big part of your life. And you're such a new experience traveler. What resources do you use in case anyone listening is, you know, is interested in family travel and finds the whole thing really stressful? Um, who do you look to when you're looking for that information. Like, where did you find the caves in Minnesota? How did you find that? Whatever resource is that used to plan for family travel.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yeah, absolutely. So the one that I use for that road trip was actually called a road trip app. It was. This is random app that I had picked out, I think so called road trip. And actually, I can send you it when I figure out what the real name of it was. But when you plug it in, you picked your start and your end destination, and then it kind of says, Hey, are you interested in this or that? And as I started clicking on the links, I said, Oh, my, I never knew half the stuff existed across the country, so I would take it out of that app. And then I would plug it back into our friend Google, um, and then use things like Trip Advisor Yelp Ratings. So I kind of use a multitude of app tools and I love reviews. I think the best thing that a good traveler can do is leave an honest review because it tells so much about the area the way the roads may be set up. Communications, you know, even things about how clean a hotel I do. Yeah. So that's called all trails. So all trails is one of my favorite APS to use. Not only will it give you local trails around the area, but you can hit live on the map, and it will basically track you through a GPS pass so you can get lost, and you can make your own map. So if you just want to take some side trips or try other parts of the trail, it will record it. And you can upload pictures and thoughts on the trail itself and that I also used to plan for hiking with Children because I'm still carrying my three year old.
Jessica Drucker: So are you saying I can't get lost cause I get lost? I love hiking, but I'm always afraid. I didn't know it was so advanced. All trails. That's wonder
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: it is. Yeah, yeah, and you could download the map, but it will still show a little gps dot on it. So that is one of my favorite APS. And there so many trails around you. If you just you just drive out to any city and hit it. It will show you kind of just hidden areas. Great landmarks. I really recommend that out.
Jessica Drucker: OK, so from rural local road trips, I would like to go to space because I don't want anyone to leave this without knowing this thing about you, which I think is fascinating. Okay, let's talk about your future. We've already talked about your adventure junkie past. Um, recently you applied to become an astronaut. Want to talk about that a little bit? What's going?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: I so ah, Recently, NASA just opened up a new applicant program and they only opened it up for about 28 days. And it was for an astronaut candidate. And when I saw this kind of pop up in my feed at work, I said, No, I have to do this And I never really considered being an astronaut. But my five year old son is enamored with space, and we read space books and his room is decorated completely in space, and I thought I could do this. So I pulled up the application. I started going line by line and I said, I do that. I could do that and I have my diving and you do a lot of work under scuba like underwater to be able to like weld underwater. It's his master divers that Oh my goodness, I do that too. So I said, You know, a lot of people say they want to be an astronaut, but they don't apply, so I'm going to apply. So I spent Ah, nice quiet day filling out the entire application. I submitted it, and then I got accepted to take Part two of the applicant process. So that was a lot of like psychological questions, questions that had to pertain with Could I handle confined spaces or G forces being underwater for extended periods of time? And I passed. So I'm currently waiting in Stage two. There's 12,000 people that applied. But you know what? I have a one and 12,000 chance that I could be an astronaut. And if I don't that I try again next year
Jessica Drucker: and you know when you go through, your whole list of accomplishments and certifications and experience is it's like of course, you should try to be a national. You really do have all of these skills
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: I love it. And I think if they could just give me the interview, I know that I have the spirit that they need. I know because I always drive for perfection, Dio And so if I even get the chance, even if I don't end up in space, I would think that and I would make a really good candidate for the ground support crew. I would love to support other astronauts as they made their way to Mars or the moon, or even work with private industry. Because if this doesn't pan out, I'm gonna keep my eyes on commercial space travel. And that has a lot to do with this commercial space entering and exiting our airspace as well as the unmanned airships. So I think that maybe that will be my next direction.
Jessica Drucker: You were one in 12,000. But not everyone gets chosen to do like you said the round to psychological testing. So you're probably not one in 12,000. What? What? How many people get that far as far as you are now? Do you know that?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yeah. I think there's probably at least I'm probably at least one in 8000. I would say right off the bat, 1/3 of them wouldn't qualify. I'm guessing with that for health reasons or medical reasons. Or maybe just not having the correct qualifications. So I'm gonna say 1/3 off the top is clicked off. So maybe 8001 in 1000.
Jessica Drucker: How long does it take them to interview 8000 people?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: They're gonna have to go through just a rigger auras picking through all of the candidates on seeing who matches their needs because they do pick out specialties. They are looking for people that are physicians or scientists or garden, you know, people who could deal with botany. But they're also looking for flight crew. And that's the one that I put in for would be the like a commander position or a flight crew because I have the aviation experience.
Jessica Drucker: A commander Look at you. That is so exciting. I was looking this up a little bit before we talked, and it said after you do the training, if you were to become an ash, not you could launch American rockets and spacecraft to live and work aboard the International Space station 250 miles above earth. Would you do that?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yes. It'll heart. Yes. I would love to spend time up there. Now, would I go to Mars six months away? Probably not because I really love my Children, but I would definitely be the greatest support crew that they could ask for.
Jessica Drucker: You are You are really something. It is so good to talk to you. And really, really exciting. I I want to talk to people like you in these phone calls, because I want everyone to keep their wander lost their curiosity, their excitement for exploring not only your hikes on the weekends, you know things like that. But I mean, someone like you exploring the moon. What do you think about how people maybe with a little bit less of an adventurous spirit than you have. How do you think people will travel on? What would you want to say to them or encourage people? Um, in the in the coming, you know, year to after this virus, I
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: mean, I would say, Don't be afraid. Definitely travel to the places that are local first. And as your comfort grows, go to places that are maybe a little less explored. We see a lot of these very popular destinations popping up on social media. I promise you, for every one of those that are out there, there are 10 more to everyone that are these underground mines in Minnesota. Or, you know, a small beach in Patoski, where there's Patoski, Stones in Michigan. Those are the places that will not have an abundance of people. But they bring such an amazing adventure that's new for the picking. You never know what you're gonna find, so I don't think people should be afraid of that. And with the new and upcoming unmanned, um, basically travel, it's we have drones that uber is applying for right now, So they are no pilots. Basically, you could get into an uber taxi that flies. So these are now in the testing phase, and that really does eliminate getting into a large commercial airline. So things will change. And weird interview 40 to 50 years from now that we would be amazed at what is happening to the travel industry. Whoa, Hold
Jessica Drucker: on. We cannot just and that was a great place to end. But I am not going to stop talking. Are you saying you can. Just what? You're just gonna get into, like, an uber plane pod and get flown somewhere?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yes. Yes. So there is currently one that's underway that they're working with. It's a company called Kitty Hawk. And if you're just kind of Google Kitty Hawk drone, their single passenger, small taxis and their drones that can pick up single people and deliver them from an airport to a small destination, it's a need for not getting into an Uber taxi. They're actually unmanned, and they're in the testing phase right now.
Jessica Drucker: How far can you fly in them?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Um, well, the sky is the limit, but right now, they're currently doing testings for small local areas, like within a 25 mile range.
Jessica Drucker: Fascinating. Well, this guy's not the limit for you. You're gonna burst through this guy and into space, and I can't wait. Teoh, find out that you made it. So you have to make sure, toe. Let us all know that you got through and that you became an astronaut after this. Of course
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: I will. Of course I will.
Jessica Drucker: Um, but thank you. I really appreciate you taking this call and with me and I and I hope that this inspires people to keep traveling. Um not fear travel.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Definitely. And I hope that through spirit, if they find me somehow I would love to inspire many people around me because that is my favorite thing to Dio. I don't want anybody be sitting on their couch up for this podcast. They need toe t to get up in travel.
Jessica Drucker: A men I'm And speaking of which, where can people find you? Do you have a website or social media that's open for people to follow you?
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: Yeah, absolutely. If they just head over to Instagram, it's gear is up, So just like gear on the plane gear is up. They can hit me up there it is, private, but just click a request and I'll let you.
Jessica Drucker: Great. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for talking to me today. Mountie.
Melanie Folcik Barillaro: It was wonderful talking to you.
*transcription via Buzzsprout’s AI transcription service. Please excuse any errors.