Prior to becoming a leading drone pilot who oversees one of the most successful and informative academy’s in the state of Georgia — Unmanned Academy and Kidz Drone Zone (kidsdronezone.org) — Jacquene Curlee was a forensic accountant who specialized in fraud investigation. Her most recent calling came when her son suggested they do away with the cable bill, as they did not watch much television. Her desire for entertainment then shifted to the internet and YouTube specifically, where she was intrigued by a TED Talks episode about the growing tech sensation.
“I went back a couple of months later and this guy was flying six drones,” she said. “Then I went back and [watched] the drones … building a house and I was like, ‘Whoa, how [are] drones building a house?’ And that’s when I decided I wanted to actually get into drones.”
Curlee, who uses the drone pilot name, “UAV Girl,” explained that and more, opining in her session at RIDECON 2019, that drones should be considered by every media outlet for content creation. She also explained the three biggest misperceptions of drones during an exclusive conversation with rolling out.
Did you ever, at any point, have any in any reticence about getting into this industry?
Yes, once. I was looking at … schools and they were [like] $9,000 to actually attend the classes.
And I was like, ‘Do you want to do this? ‘Cause once you cross over that line, [and] you[‘ve] spent the money, you have to be committed to this.’ And I decided, yes. I consider myself a trailblazer because … there weren’t [any] African American women at all. After I bought my first drone, I realized I definitely wanted to be in this space. Click here to continue
