I powered through the regional stuff... Made the best of it by living in base and playing flag football and poker on my days off.... Basically treating it like a $40k job and not a stepping stone.
Kept chugging through it. Moved onto a charter/corporate job, then larger charter job, hit a bump in the road, went back to turbo props for a bit... Then landed at a Legacy...
Now I hardly work, make great money and also receive some level of respect from the company and community...
Seems the people who don't make it in this industry are those who come in expecting accolades or great pay, weekends of, no holiday work right from the start...
In the end, for those that make it all the way, the lifestyle is envied...just gotta put in the time.