How One Founder Breaks Free From Statistics and Labels Many descriptors can apply to Trumbull Unmanned Founder Dyan Gibbens: veteran, mom, entrepreneur, Latina, pilot, role breaker; she says none of that completely defines her.
By Alice •
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If entrepreneurship and skydiving have anything in common, it's that both require a leap of faith in yourself, a team, training, tools and the unknowns. Dyan Gibbens has taken both of those leaps as the founder and CEO of Trumbull Unmanned and as a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Parachute Team. Gibbens has led Trumbull, a company that uses drones to capture environmental and safety data, to Entrepreneur's 2018 100 Brilliant Companies list and many more awards and accolades.
Often invited to the table as a representative of women, Latinas, veterans and engineers, Gibbens also maintains that she's a role breaker because "statistics define the past, and I want to define the future."
Gibbens attributes much of her success to finding expert and peer mentors to help her make connections and fill in knowledge gaps. "My advice to entrepreneurs is to engage mentors early on and ask for help. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness; asking for help is a sign of strength."
Check out Alice's guide to finding your perfect mentor here, and Alice's resources for veteran entrepreneurs here.
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