The First Step: From Hollywood to Aviation

This article is the first in a continuing series
A Career Change: Learning the Aircraft Brokerage Business

I am Adam Mesinger, son of Jay and Sandra and brother of Josh and I am one of the newest additions to the aviation industry and proudly and happily to my family’s business.  I am coming to this business after a 12-year pursuit of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, CA, beginning with 4 years of college at NYU’s TISCH School of the Arts.  It was definitely not the most direct path to the airplane business, but I believe the skills I learned in Hollywood are in many ways directly relatable to the skills needed to buy and sell aircraft and I’m glad I can bring those to J. Mesinger.   

I had a goal to be a movie producer, which is something that took time, patience and constant effort.  I also always had a day job working in post production as a Post Production Supervisor on TV shows such as Entourage and Ghost Whisperer.  It amounted to two full-time jobs.  However, the entertainment industry has changed so much in the last ten years, with reality television, the economic downturn, the studios being taken over by major corporations, the writer’s strike and the almost actor’s strike, that the ability for a newcomer like me to get the attention and finances needed to complete a project had become an almost impossible task.  But the pursuit of producing a movie taught me skills and lessons that I know will help me and J. Mesinger grow together.  They involved confidence, organizational skills and the ability to strategize and solve problems.  In addition, in television, like the airplane business, there were many episodes happening at one time, in various stages of completion.  I was able to track and manage those in much the same way I will track and manage various transactions.  I helped to produce over 100 hours of television with budgets of almost 3 million dollars per episode.  It’s big money and there is tremendous pressure to succeed.  I know, even coming from a different background than some in this industry, that I will fully understand and appreciate the scope of the transactions and the importance to the people involved. 

Thankfully throughout my pursuit in film I had a family that supported me and urged me to keep at it, which I did for many years.  Also, thankfully, I had a family with a long-standing successful business.  And, although I had never intended to join it, when I did ask, they graciously and enthusiastically accepted me.  My wonderful wife, Ayeisha, who is from Los Angeles, with her own career in the fashion industry, made the leap with me.  We loaded up a 27ft U-haul and our two cars and headed to Colorado.  My blogs will be from the perspective of a newcomer to the industry.  I switched industries, because I believe my skills began to outgrow my position and I wanted to work harder and accomplish more than I could do in television.  I know there are many others of you out there who are interested in becoming a broker.  I hope my insights and experiences can shed light on what that career choice may look like.  I am 30 years old, and I am changing the course of my life, in career, location and social network.  There will be good times and bad, frustrations and accomplishments, and I will try to share everything honestly.  Stay tuned.  Thanks to the aviation industry for accepting me and my family for their trust and a job.  I am really looking forward to this future!