Originally published on 9/11/25

Michelle “MACE” Curran made history after she became the second-ever woman to fly as Lead Solo Pilot for the United States Air Force demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, in 2019. Her powerful maneuvers in the sky transfixed millions—but behind the scenes she was dealing with something far more relatable: fear. 

Getting to that point, though, was a journey filled with self-doubt, imposter syndrome and a lot of trial and error, including hitting a bird, messing up her first performance and more. But she powered through. 

Today, the 38-year-old pilot is thriving and sharing her story in her new book, The Flipside: How to Invert Your Perspective and Turn Fear into Your Superpower. 

Woman’s World recently sat down with Curran to discuss the book and her journey as a woman in the Air Force. Read on for more. 

From college freshman to trailblazing Thunderbird

Curran hadn’t always planned to be a pilot. While studying at the University of St. Thomas, she first encountered the Air Force and immediately knew that was where she belonged. So she spent years training with the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) before becoming an Air Force pilot and eventual Thunderbird. 

But her journey wasn’t without turbulence. There was the bird strike she encountered while flying. There was a near head-on collision. Then came her first Thunderbirds performance—which just so happened to be a Super Bowl flyover. During it, the pilot found herself out of formation at the end, a mistake that ended up making it on national television. 

“I was like, ‘No, that cannot be my debut to 100 million people,’” she joked. 

Facing imposter syndrome in the sky

“At times, it felt like it was this great opportunity to empower a lot of women, and I had this position where I had a platform and I could do that, and it was super rewarding,” says Curran of her position. “And at other points it felt like I was under a microscope and it was this massive amount of responsibility where, however I portrayed myself, whatever I said in an interview or how I flew the jet, I’m creating a reputation for all female fighter pilots and all women in aviation, and I don’t really want that responsibility, but it’s just part of the territory.” 

“I put other people on a pedestal who were doing things like I ended up doing. And then once I got there and I was doing it, I had this feeling of like, ‘Who am I to have this role? Or who am I to be a role model for people?’ At first, that caused a whole case of imposter syndrome. But once I got settled in, and afterward, with hindsight, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, I just consider myself a very normal person who worked really hard at a specific thing,’” Curran says.

Then, in 2021 she left the sky behind and became a public speaker and author. 

Life back on the ground 

“My first transition out of the military was into keynote speaking, which allowed me to get real-time feedback on my story from an audience,” she explains. “Once I started getting on stage talking about things like fear, self-doubt, imposter syndrome and these vulnerable topics that no one talks about in a fighter squadron, I realized it was super impactful for people, because they found it very relatable.” 

The next step? Writing a book. But putting her story down on paper was more difficult than she expected, and she hired a ghost writer to help.

“It’s been about a three-year process, and I ended up hiring a ghost writer because I needed someone to interview me to pull these things out of my brain,” she said. “It ended up being in these sessions where we’d be like, ‘Okay, here’s the story I want to tell. I know it’s impactful. Maybe it’s the near head-on collision with another jet, or it’s how I earned my call sign or it’s the bird strike I experienced, and here’s what I felt during it and here’s what I learned from it. But, let’s really boil it down to human psychology, why I experienced what I did and what tools the Air Force gave me to tackle that.’ It was challenging to take these very personal experiences and figure out how to translate them in the best way, but it also felt so good to get it out.’” 

What ‘Top Gun’ gets right—and wrong—about fighter pilots 

For many of us, when we think of Air Force pilots, the movie Top Gun comes to mind. So we asked Curran just how accurate this depiction is. “I think both Top Gun movies did a great job for entertainment’s sake,” she says.

 “There are key cultural things they really try to bring in.” One thing they got right: the ‘work hard, play hard’ mentality. “They go to the officers’ club, and they’re singing and people are drinking and they give each other a hard time, and all of that stuff happens. And it’s  one of those things you have to do when you work in a super stressful job where you really need to trust the people around you, let off steam and build camaraderie,” she says. 

What the movie got wrong? “They create this character that’s a stereotypical, arrogant fighter pilot for entertainment, but that’s not really what happens. Hangman, for example, in Top Gun: Maverick, the guy’s a jerk: he’s self-absorbed, he’s arrogant, he’s an *ssh*l* to all his teammates. Of course, some people are a little bit arrogant in every career field, and I think fighter pilots have a stereotype of being overly confident and type A. But when you’re in the job, the success of the squadron is built on having each other’s backs and on trust and on humility to learn as much as you possibly can,” she continued. “So when people fly a flight and they make mistakes, we’re going to debrief it, and it doesn’t matter who you are or what experience you have. Some people are a little bit obnoxious, but not to that level. They might have their moments, but when it’s time, they abide by those same rules of approachability and humility.” 

You can pick up your copy of The Flipside: How to Invert Your Perspective and Turn Fear into Your Superpower anywhere that books are sold now. 

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/books/real-life-top-gun-pilot-michelle-curran-opens-up-in-new-book