Brit Hannah Betts shot from baby skydiver to World Champion in just five years, showing everyone who told her it couldn’t be done. Hannah’s female 4-way team won the UK Nationals three years running, beating male and mixed teams as well as female. She moved to California in 2008, making her living first as a professional skydiver – Coach, Cameraperson, AFF Instructor – then Display Parachutist and Stuntwoman! Hannah is a popular motivational speaker with a message of bravery, equality and having the gumption to take the first steps to find your passion.
##Occupation
Stunt woman and professional skydiver
##Number of jumps, breakdown of type
7,500+
4,000 FS
1,500 AFF
1,500 Camera
3,00 Freefly
– a bunch of random jumps to include wingsuit, demos, media/stunt stuff, balloons, costumes etc etc!
##Time in sport
Hard to believe it will be 13 years this July!
##Favorite place in the world to jump & why
I’ve yet to label a favorite place, although I’m pretty sure if I jump at the Cornish Parachute Club in Cornwall where I grew up, it will my blow my mind because it’s so beautiful there. My favorite kind of jumps are jumping into new places that aren’t usually DZs, like beaches, fields and random roads after a balloon jump!
##Favorite wind tunnel & why
Bodyflight Bedford, (now Twinwoods Adventures), and amazing sponsor when I was on the British Ladies 4-way Team. I have fond memories of team training from midnight to 1am, crashing downstairs and then training 6am – 7am. Great team rooms, space, pool, spa, accommodation, flow rider, bar and restaurant… and one of the best international indoor competitions – the World Challenge. What more can you ask for?!
You don't have to be the most talented to win if you work harder than everyone else
##Skydiving achievements
- PRO-rated
- AFF instructor, Coach, Tunnel Coach
- 2006, 2007, 2008 British Open 4 way Formation National Champion
- 2007, British Women’s Formation Record Captain
- 2008 Female 4 way Formation World Champion,
- 2009, Women’s World Record 181-Way
- 2010 Silver, Female 4 way Team USA, Dubai World Cup.
- 2013 Gold at US National Championship in Artistic Freefly
- Instructor, military training camps inc US, Canadian & Swedish Special Forces
- Various Stunt Skydiving and Action Scenes, National Commercials
- Recently, getting coached by my husband in FF, not ending in divorce!
##Favourite skydiving moment
There’s a couple, and they’re both in competition. 2007 UK Nationals, round 7; the dive just felt effortless and I remember Sparky (my 4-way teammate) and I just grinning at each other and reading each other’s minds. I just knew at that point we were going to win and go to the World Championships.
The second moment is the final round at US Nationals in Freefly when Nicole and I were finishing our last move, carving around each other, knowing we’d won, and mouthing through our helmets ‘Fuck yeah! Love you!’ It’s not the ‘we’re going to win’ feeling that sits with me, it’s the personal interaction and being completely in the moment with your teammate that always resonates.
##Who are your sponsors and why do you jump their gear?
I have been with the incredibly supportive Airtec
Aerodyne team since I had 500 skydives, jumping my Pilot 132 through to present day on my Sensei 81. Their Icon rigs have always been the comfiest for me to wear. If you’ve never had the stress free and fun experience of flying a Pilot canopy, you’re missing out! That bad-boy has put me down safely on the likes of Vegas Boulevard and Petco Park stadium. Square 1 let me jump their awesome Kiss and Phantom helmets, which have amazing peripheral vision and comfort. Liquid Sky Suits keep me looking and feeling awesome (jump their suits and you’ll never look back). Larsen & Brusgaard let me know what altitude I’m at, with the best customer service ever 😉 .. and for an AAD, Vigil have been my guardian angel since 2007.
##Who’s been the biggest influence on your life?
Different people have influenced me at different times. My sister and husband who always give me the right push when I need it. My mum showing me at a young age that you don’t have to be the most talented to win if you work harder than everyone else. Dad and Stepdad for having the guts to leave steady jobs and work for themselves. Dan BC for teaching me how to slow shit down in my head and stay calm under pressure. Any strong woman that has crossed my path and shown me that ‘I can too’, you know who you are!
##What do you spend too much money on but not regret?
Experiences. And tunnel flying, duh. Okay, and lulu lemon yoga pants.
##What was the biggest breakthrough of your life?
To ignore all the ‘sensible’ advice (which was just other people projecting their own fears on me) and leave the security of the Police Force and train full time on a 4-way team. Then ignore all the people that said it would be impossible to beat the current National Champion Team to win a spot in the Worlds with our lack of experience and time in the sport. And then not going back when our sponsorship fell through a year later. As a team, we kept charging, going back was simply not an option. It opened up a whole new world for me.
#Do you have a motto for life?
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
Smile and help others, it feels way better than being a dick to people.
##Describe yourself in 5 words or less
Smiley, loud, confident, scared, tenacious.
##Nationality, and where you live
British, live in California
##When/how did you move to California, were you offered a plum job and nice house?
Baaaaaaaahahaha! After the World Championships in 2008, I was in a mountain of training debt, and homeless. I had my Police job to go back to, but I would have lost a piece of my soul if I went back. I turned up to Skydive Perris with two suitcases, $500, a vague offer of being able to do tandem videos and a room to rent from a friend (which, quite frankly is a delight if you’ve lived in a trailer for years without a bathroom to save money for team training). I applied for a working Sports Visa, and I started coaching teams and students in the tunnel, got my AFF rating, started working with Military contracts and, years later, transitioned to stunt work.
##What do you think are the qualities of a World Champion?
Just not quitting when 1, It gets hard and painful (which it will) and 2, when shit doesn’t go to plan (which it never will). Always think about the end goal. It also helps to not to be a selfish asshole if you’re on a team, and be brave enough to kindly point out, without harsh accusation, if someone else is being a selfish asshole. I wasn’t a great teammate at times and you have to be able to reflect on your behavior and be prepared to fix it.
##Was that what attracted you to your husband Travis Fienhage, that he was also a Champion?
I had no idea that Travis was a competitor when I first met him – he’d just won his first Freely National Championships and I had to pretend that I knew that after 2 weeks of dating (I also had to clarify how to pronounce his last name after 3 weeks of dating). I met him properly on a snowboarding trip with friends, we were at a bar one night and I teased him for playing a really cheesey song on the duke box, and he totally owned it. Later, I was a bit drunk and interrupted a private conversation he was having and he very politely but firmly told me to go away while they finished the conversation. I thought, damn, this guy tells it like it is! He’s an incredibly kind, fun and patient dude.
##You started a freeflying team with Nicole Harrison (formerly Nicole Elliott) and Laurence Delaubedere on video, how did that happen?
Nicole, somehow, with her hypnotic green eyes, convinced me to do a freefly team with her before I even knew how to fly head-down. I think she knew I liked specific goals and challenges so she kept poking the bear and mentioning ‘US Nationals’ to me. Before I knew it, we were spending all our earnings on tunnel and managed to scrape together a routine that won! Might have had something to do with Travis coaching us 🙂 We’re not training or competing right now (unless there is someone that would like to hand us a bag of cash?!), but it’s very rare that you’ll find me in a belly suit these days. Booties are a pain in the ass to put on 😉
##Whom do you admire in the sport (and why)?
Anyone that has the guts to stick out AFF when they’re not a ‘natural’ and fail levels. (If this is you by the way, stick with it, most flailing students tend to turn into bad asses in time.) Dan BC, for obvious reasons, and if you don’t know who that is, shame on you. Read his book (Above All Else) Eliana Rodriguez for being the most humble World Champion out there, Amy Chmelecki for kicking it with the big boyz in Red Bull Airforce. Travis Fienhage my husband for being that kind of coach that everyone loves. Anyone without a disposable income that somehow found a way to make skydiving part of their life.
##Do you have a pet hate in skydiving?
That you have to rely on other people’s competence and respect of what we do to stay alive. We need to help younger jumpers to be aware of the importance of knowing how upper winds and group separation are key safety issues. And, for the love of God, stop spiraling. And the skydiver handshake, it’s a good way to spread the flu. There, I said it. Bah humbug!
##How did you get to become Stunt Woman in Hollywood, surely one of the coolest occupations in the world?!
Hah. Sounds so glamorous. I’m still a baby in the stunt world. I got asked to double an actress for a skydiving sequence on a TV show, and the stunt coordinator said he’d keep using me to double her if I had the right skill set for each stunt. I knew I wanted to try and make stunts my main job, so I started training in LA at different gyms/classes where other stunt people train, trading skydiving coaching for other training, and sneaking on to sets to meet stunt coordinators – which, weirdly, is a standard practice in the stunt world. I have a background in gymnastics and kickboxing which helped, but it’s a tough industry to get established in. I have spent countless hours on freeways doing 6 hour round trips to classes, jobs, training. I’ve given up other steady work in the hope that the phone rings, which is scary. Fingers crossed I keep getting work!
##How do you train and keep fit?
Right now it’s a mixture of gymnastics, circuit training, fight choreo practice, martial arts and Bikram yoga.
##Best stunt moment?
In one of my earlier jobs I was blessed to double the actress on Jurassic World that got swept away by the pteranodons dinosaur. She actually did the stunt herself, but I got to practice and set it up for her, it was a fun ratchet (they are used to jerk, pull, or drag a stunt performer quickly and violently into, out of or across frame) with 100s of extras running around beneath me.
##Worst stunt moment?
Being a zombie on the walking dead and getting stabbed in the head (not literally!) by the character Michonne. Just kidding, it was awesome 🙂
##What advice do you have for anyone wanting to be a stunt person?
Go to a city where the industry is big – London, Vancouver, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, LA to name a few, find the places where other stunt performers train, and then train your ass off. Ask questions and listen. When you have some skills, get out there and meet stunt coordinators. Find a way to get on set and observe. Have patience and be humble. It takes years to get established (I’m still working on it) and you’ll go for long periods of time without working initially. It’s not glamorous, and it’s not easy, and quite often, it hurts.
##Tell me about your demo team, Evoke, with Karen Lewis Dalton
Both Karen and I are passionate about women’s issues and gender equality – between us, we’ve worked in several male-dominated industries to include Police, Math Teacher, Outdoor Sports Instructor, Engineer, Skydive Instructor, Stuntwork, etc, and it hasn’t always been easy. We feel we might have some pearls of wisdom from our own experiences to offer to female audiences. We’re hoping that by jumping out of a plane before giving our motivational speeches we will keep them captivated for ten minutes! Our mission is to inspire girls and women of all ages to find the true meaning of bravery, live beyond stereotypes, and have the tenacity make dreams happen.
##How does it feel to land in front of a massive cheering crowd?
Rad and relief.
##Are you achieving Evoke’s goals?
It’s early days, this is a passion project and a work in progress, but we’ve had a very good response so far. We’re targeting a Womens Speaker series event as we speak.
Evoke Skydiving Demo Team
“You’re Better than the Boys!”
##You seem to flourish in male-dominated environments – police, skydiving and stunt work, what’s your secret?
(Disclaimer #notallmenobviously) I most definitely didn’t flourish at first. I commonly lack confidence at the beginning in everything new that I do and used to be very intimidated by men because they quite often seemed to exude such incredible confidence. Because of that, I assumed they were 10 times better at stuff than me. Then over time I’d realize that wasn’t true, then slowly my confidence would build.
For the love of God, stop spiraling
##Can you give examples of male chauvinism you’ve seen?
You don’t have enough space on your website, so I’ll stick to last week.
1) Working on a military contract. Sat down as only female instructor amongst other civilian instructors during our debrief. Male instructor that I barely know sits down and starts massaging my shoulders and says ‘is this okay’. I say ‘no’. Head of Military who is debriefing me then says ‘oh, my turn next to massage her’
2) Got told that my language wasn’t very ladylike. Around Military dudes, and other instructors, that swear constantly.
3) Asked by a student if it was safer for him to go with a male instructor instead of me, who also assumed that said male instructor had more jumps than me.
##How do we overcome this?
Over the last few years I have become very aware of every single offensive comment that’s been said to me by a man, which was followed by me awkwardly laughing it off while internally dying inside. Most women are nodding their heads right now because they know exactly what I’m talking about. A lot of women get in to the habit of letting comments go that make us feel awful out of fear of ‘making a fuss’ or being labeled as ‘defensive’ or ‘touchy’ or ‘oversensitive’. We have to stop that shit now and challenge every bullshit thing that’s said to us and calmly explain why it’s not acceptable. (No, not all men are sexist, calm down.) More importantly, educating the teenage girls and helping them see that their worth is in what they do and who they are, despite society and sales companies trying to do the opposite.
##What’s your schedule for 2016?
Hahaha, schedule? I’m sorry, what on earth is that? Everything is always so last minute in my work world!
##Anything you would like to add for our readers?
Please look, and then look again before you turn your canopy, especially on your final approach.
