Ep. 335 From Side Hustles to CFI Sky Hustle: Gonzalo Zulueta's Path from Acting to Aviation
Ready 4 Pushback
Nik Fialka
5.0 • 797 Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, Nik sits down with Instagram aviation influencer Gonzalo Zulueta as he shares his journey from acting and driving for Uber to aviation. Gonzalo offers invaluable insights into what it really takes to succeed as a flight student and future professional pilot. He breaks down how to study smarter, stay consistent in flight training, and manage the financial realities of building flight hours—including creative side hustles to keep you flying regularly. He also explains why becoming a CFI can be a powerful career move to sharpen your communication skills and establish credibility in the aviation community.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, pilot. Welcome to Ready for Pushback. I'm Nick Fialca. We are at it again today. And I'm bringing you an Instagram influencer. That CFI guy is his name. So if you follow me or him, you probably already know who he is. Gonzalo Zuleta is his real name, and I'm probably saying his name wrong. |
| 0:23.3 | I get it. |
| 0:24.1 | My name is terrible, too. |
| 0:25.7 | But, you know, we'll just sort that out together. |
| 0:28.0 | This is a conversation, surprisingly enough, about being a good flight student and about succeeding in flight training and about getting a job as a CFI and about leveraging yourself in the future. |
| 0:43.9 | It is a lot of different things. He's a super articulate human. He is a person that understands human nature and he understands what it takes to get to where you want to go. |
| 0:56.4 | Lots of great information. Lots of in-depth conversations that are a little bit unexpected. |
| 1:07.5 | And I want you to stick around and listen to it. |
| 1:15.9 | If you need to reach out to him, I got all his contact info in the show notes. |
| 1:19.0 | I really, really think you're going to enjoy this. |
| 1:19.3 | Okay? |
| 1:21.9 | So, sit back, relax. |
| 1:24.0 | Let's get ready for pushback. |
| 1:31.6 | It all started as a spark. Maybe it was the sound of jets racing across the sky. |
| 1:39.7 | Or the feeling of your heart racing as you watch Crop Duster flying low and slow. Even then, |
| 1:45.0 | you knew you were meant to fly. For pilots, it's more than just a job. It's a calling. |
| 1:47.0 | The early mornings, the long hours, the relentless training, |
| 1:51.0 | you didn't do it for the money. |
| 1:53.0 | You did it for that moment. |
| 1:55.0 | That moment when the wheels lift off and the earth falls away beneath you. |
| 1:59.0 | But flying is just the beginning. |
| 2:01.6 | The journey to your dream job takes more than just skill in the sky. |
... |
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