In Episode 56 of the Aviation Mentors Podcast 🎙️, Brandon Martini celebrates being named one of NBAA’s 2025 “40 Under 40” award recipients, an incredible milestone for Brandon and the Stratus Financial team!

Brandon and Carson reflect on the journey to this recognition, the importance of networking and mentorship, and exciting opportunities at NBAA-BACE 2025. They also highlight Stratus Financial’s continued growth and the role of persistence and connections in building a successful aviation career.

👏Huge congratulations to Brandon and all the 2025 NBAA “40 Under 40” honorees shaping the future of business aviation! This year’s honorees include, Stephanie Alexander, Lance Bagnoff, Joshua Bell, Kody Bjork, Mike Bradfield, Kyle Canna, Mikael Cardinal, Cynthia Comer, Sierra Marie Curtis, Theresa Daly, Rachel Douglass, Antonio Ferrara, Jamie Harder, Cole Hartfiel, Emily Herron, Nikki Higgins, Joseph “Jesse” Hipp, Michael James, Tom Lelyo, Linda Li, Shawna Livingston, Kyle Long, Steve Loree, John Markoski, Brandon Martini, Jacob Mergler, Patrick O’Brien, Ryan O’Rear, Amanda Ochs, Myles Parris, Mitch Patterson, Maria “Majo” Perdomo Cuevas, Kelly Pryor, Josh Reckley, Brandi Rector, Christian Schuster, Miller Stallings, Andrew Stylianou, Joseph Michael Toomey, and Kara Wolf. Congratulations to all for shaping the future of business aviation!

🚀 We are the Aviation Mentors, a podcast dedicated to creating an amazing space where aviators can hang out and talk all things aviation. We’re aviators, mentors, and entrepreneurs. Whether you’re a student pilot, professional pilot, general aviation enthusiast, or just an AvGeek like us, this is the podcast for you!

🌎 New episodes drop every Friday, join us and be part of the journey.

#aviationmentors #NBAA #pilotnetworking #aviationpodcast #studentpilot #businessaviation #aviationcareers #pilotmentorship #aviationcommunity #stratusfinancial #aviationleaders #pilotgrowth

In this episode of the Aviation Mentors Podcast 🎙️, Brandon and Carson share their recent flying adventures and the lessons that came with them. From splash-and-go landings in an Icon A5 near Long Beach Harbor to touch-and-gos at Chino and Riverside, they dive into what it really means to be a current—and proficient—pilot.

This isn’t just about logging the FAA’s minimums. Brandon and Carson explore the real difference between currency and proficiency, and why staying sharp with regular practice is essential for safe, confident flying.

Along the way, they discuss: How getting current again builds both skill and confidence The joy of flying as a “happy place” Digitizing logbooks for modern pilots Brandon’s goal of earning his ATP multi rating Carson’s anticipation (and nerves!) about getting back to flying

And to top it off, we’re celebrating a huge milestone: 100,000 downloads of the Aviation Mentors podcast! 🎉 Thank you for flying with us every week.

🚀 We are the Aviation Mentors, a podcast dedicated to creating an amazing space where aviators can hang out and talk all things aviation. We’re aviators, we’re mentors, and we’re entrepreneurs. Whether you’re a student pilot, professional pilot, general aviation enthusiast, or just an AvGeek like us, this is the podcast for you!

🌎 New episodes drop every Friday—join us and be part of the journey.

🔗 www.aviationmentors.com

Sponsored by Stratus Financial

💻 www.stratus.finance

🎙️ From humble beginnings to milestone moments.

We’re proud to announce Sean Galloway as the winner of our $10,000 Stratus Fly to Success Scholarship. His passion and creativity reminded us why we love supporting the next generation of aviators.

In this episode, Brandon reflects on his first podcast recording at Oshkosh in 2016, the same year he also started his flight school. What began under the wing of a Cessna has grown into nearly 200 episodes of Aviation Mentors.

In these simple moments, we’re reminded why we do this: to give back to the aviation community. As we always say, "by pilots, for pilots". You are the reason we keep going, and we hope this story inspires you as much as it inspires us.

Catch the latest episode of Aviation Mentors on every podcast platform, and be part of the journey with us.

🚀 We are the Aviation Mentors, a podcast dedicated to creating an amazing space where we aviators can hang out and enjoy a wide range of conversations about anything aviation. We're aviators, we're mentors, and we're entrepreneurs. Whether you're a student pilot, professional pilot, general aviation enthusiast, or just an AV Geek like us, this is the podcast for you!

🌎 Join us every Friday as we share our passion for flying!

www.aviationmentors.com

Sponsored by Stratus Financial

www.stratus.finance

#AviationMentors #Aviation #StratusFinancial #AviationCommunity #AVGeek #AviationPodcast #GeneralAviation #PilotLife #PilotTraining #StudentPilot #CFI #Podcasts #GAPilots #FuturePilot