Sibongile Sambo wanted to be a flight attendant. She wanted to work for South African airlines but she was rejected.

She was rejected because she was not tall enough, a discrimination widely known in the industry and supposedly related to getting to all the things on the plane, like the overhead lockers.

Most women take it on the chin and go on with their lives, however Sibongile took matters into her own hands, selling her car and using her mother’s pension money (with permission we assume) to start up her own aviation company, SRS Aviation. In fact, it is Africa’s first female aviation company!

In 2004 she managed to get commissioned for her first flight for the South African government, she has grown her company to provide personalized services including helicopters and luxury flights across the glove. They have flow to the U.S. and Germany from their Johannesburg home base.

Breaking into a male dominated industry was tough and she had to learn how to work within those confines.

The business has obtained an Air Operating Certificate by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and they have helped three women obtain full private pilot licenses. The women are now full time employees.

Read more on CNN.