Meet Kayla Layton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Layton.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Kayla. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was first introduced to aviation by my uncle shortly after graduating high school. He is a private pilot and took me for a ride in his Experimental Cozy. I knew becoming a pilot was something I wanted to accomplish from our first flight. I started taking lessons but had to put them off because I didn’t have enough time or money at the time. I went on to college at Arizona State University and graduated with degrees in Accounting and Finance.

During my time at school, I was fortunate enough to have an accounting internship, and while I loved accounting, I couldn’t let aviation go. Shortly before graduating from ASU, I began taking flying lessons again. It was at this time that I felt most lost in my life. I spent all this time in school and worked so hard to get through college. I applied to nearly 30 accounting positions across the country and I hadn’t heard anything from anyone in weeks. I remember being so frustrated.

During a flight lesson, my instructor could tell something was wrong. Maneuvers felt extra hard that flight; I felt really defeated. And I remember him telling me to forget the lesson; let’s just spend the time flying and remember why I was there in the first place – because I had a love for aviation and I’d set my goal at becoming a private pilot. Little did I know at the time that this flight would change my life forever. He asked me what was wrong and I gave him my woes of going to school my WHOLE life to not be called back for even one interview. I told him I was ready to give up on accounting completely. I would quit my office job and try to get a job serving at the airport restaurant just to be on the airport and meet fellow aviators. I told him I wanted to be young and free to travel the world and be immersed in aviation! What a crazy thing to tell someone, right?

And then he said – “I know someone you should meet. He’s a Red Bull pilot, he travels the world, and a while back he was looking to fill a position. It might already be filled and I can’t promise anything, but I think it might be what you’re looking for”. Fast forward two weeks. I’m sitting at my office desk and receive a phone call from my instructor. “He’s still looking to fill the position. I’ve already passed on your name and they are expecting a call from you.”

Fast forward to the present – I’m now in my fourth year as the Team Communications Coordinator for 5x U.S. National Aerobatic Champion and 2x Red Bull Air Race World Champion, Kirby Chambliss. I’m already on my second passport and I’ve traveled to more places than I could have ever dreamed of going to in a lifetime!

I always tell people to never be afraid to share your wildest, craziest dreams, because you never know whose listening.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest struggle was spending all that time in college to get degrees in accounting and finance. I had my eyes set on becoming an auditor to prepare for a future in forensic accounting. I applied to nearly 30+ jobs across the country to not get one call back. It was a hopeless feeling, like I’d spent all this time focusing for nothing.

Funny note – the day I accepted my new role with Team Chambliss, I received two calls from different accounting firms asking me to interview for the positions I’d applied for. I received several calls in the following weeks. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is!

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Layton LLC / Employed by Chambliss Aerobatics story. Tell us more about the business.
I own my own company but am contracted full time by Chambliss Aerobatics – more popularly known as Team Chambliss. We provide global entertainment in two key markets – performing in air shows across the United States, Mexico, and China, and competing in the international Red Bull Air Races.

Our team consists of three full time members:
Kirby Chambliss – Owner of Chambliss Aerobatics and Athlete/Pilot. Kirby is a 5x U.S. National Aerobatic Champion and 2x Red Bull Air Race World Champion.
Jason Resop – Lead Technician and Ferry Pilot – Jason’s in his 15th year working for Kirby.
Myself – My official title is Team Communication’s Coordinator

Paulo Iscold is our team tactician and works with us solely on the racing circuit.
We also have some additional members that assist us in ferrying aircrafts around and maintenance when available.

MY ROLE: For being a team that travels globally, we’re quite small as you can see. If a task doesn’t involve flying the airplanes or fixing them, it probably falls under my to-do list.

Duties that one might expect to fall under my title: I oversee all team branding and marketing materials. I handle all sponsor and media relations, I’m responsible for all social media channels, I handle all team press releases, I manage and maintain our team website, including all written content. I handle all logistics regarding our team travel – from team member’s hotel rooms, rental cars, and catering, to shipping our aircraft across the globe. I’m also responsible for keeping track of the team’s schedule. I handle various events that our team has, from planning through implementation – examples are Meet and Greets with local college students, We also taught 5th grade students from McCartney Ranch Elementary School in Casa Grande about aerodynamics at the Sky Venture Arizona Wind Tunnel at Skydive Arizona this past school year.

And then I handle other things that one might not expect: I assist our mechanic in assembling and disassembling our race plane at the Red Bull Air Races. I help keep all the aircraft clean. I’m responsible for all of our team photos and videos – we utilize GoPro’s almost every flight, so sorting through video and images and knowing what good/not is very time consuming!

I’m kind of the team “gopher”. I have my list of responsibilities, but I take care of anything else that needs assistance.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t know if I would call it “good luck”, but it was definitely being in the right place at the right time and not being shy about sharing my wildest, craziest dreams. If I wouldn’t have shared exactly what I wanted with my flight instructor, no matter how silly or crazy I thought it sounded when I actually said it out loud, I don’t think I’d have been given the opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.teamchambliss.com
• Instagram: @KirbyChambliss
• Facebook: @KirbyChambliss
• Twitter: @KirbyChambliss

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