Susan O’Hara began her career at the Aeronautical Center in May of 1995, right after the Murrah bombing, and before there was even a fence around the Center. "I remember sitting at my desk and literally having pilots come in from the outside, looking for their records," said O’Hara. She was a contractor for a few years, but became a federal employee in 1998, making this her 25th year as an FAA employee.
"I got my first contract job out here literally because I could type 110 words per minute," she said. O’Hara scanned in all of the accident reports for the country back then and says that she had enough time to read every report and look at all the pictures while the scanner slowly did its thing. She worked in the Spokane, WA Flight Standards office for a year, and since then has added degrees, certifications and experience, moving her from her contract position to a GS-5, and now all the way to having been in management for fourteen years.
When Susan decided to earn her Project Management Professional certification on her own, it changed her life by opening so many new doors. She went from a computer Super-User to an Admin, a Project Manager, then manager of managers, and up and up. She grew in Flight Standards and the Office of Information Technology (AIT), and then moved into group level management in the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) a few years back. She is now a group manager in (ATO) Technical Training, with her primary office being in Washington, D.C.; although her family and "true home" are here in Oklahoma.
When asked what work experience that she is most proud of in her career, she loved working on a project supporting the AVIATOR program a few years back - when trying to hire thousands of controllers using the AVIATOR program to apply. While there were tens of thousands of applicants in two weeks’ time, O’Hara was responsible for reporting to the FAA Administrator every four hours. "I was on Center 24/7 for two weeks straight running the war room for the program," O’Hara said. She earned not only an award from the Administrator but got to speak with the FAA Deputy Administrator to present her team with awards here at the Aeronautical Center.
O’Hara was the technical evaluation lead on a billion-dollar contract, which was the biggest challenge that she has faced in her career. It took two years to read all of the proposals, interview bidders, and then meticulously write and rewrite the technical evaluation report with Legal requiring more than ten rounds of review. She expressed that it was painstaking and very long hours, often putting in 18-hour days as they reached the deadlines that had been set, but she gained very valuable experience in Contracting that she was able to carry forward into the rest of her career with the FAA.
When asked what traits O’Hara admires most in others, she said that she is inspired by people who take on big challenges and face them with courage. O’Hara explained, "I love it when someone puts themselves out there to write a book, take a big solo trip, or volunteer in a challenging situation. These folks inspire me to do similarly and live a big life – these are my people."
Outside of work, O’Hara enjoys volunteering as a Girl Scouts leader, and she is an International Travel Patrol leader and Gold Award Committee member. Besides that, she runs a company called LegsLikeMine, where she supports women around the world who have a disease called lipedema. Susan shares inspiration, education, information, and fashion via social media and on her website.
O’Hara has published a book and is currently finishing a second one on the topic. She is working with shoe designers, orthopedic technicians, and manufacturers to design a line of footwear to solve a problem experienced by women who cannot find mainstream shoes. The first collection will be out in the fall of 2023!
Since all of the experts she works with on these projects are overseas, she usually does this work around 5:00 AM, before her workday begins. "So, between Girl Scouts and LegsLikeMine, I’m tapped!"
Although she is happiest in a business suit, O’Hara is also happy at a KISS, Motley Crue or Metallica concert. She and her husband used to own a music magazine and spent a lot of their time in rock clubs, watching shows in the backs of big musicians’ tour busses and doing interviews.
The FAA has given O’Hara some really great opportunities over the years. From working on surprise inspections at rotorcraft companies, to meeting with the heads of international aviation authorities in Hawaii or working in international data sharing programs with ICAO in Montreal, there has been no shortage of excitement within. She feels that her job (now that she is in the last part of her career) is to build others up, provide opportunities to the next generation, and share what she has learned thus far.
