Helen Lunnon-Wood knows what it means to say “good to go” and put the mask on. In this episode of Forging Resilience, we walk through the three thirds of her professional life: psychology student turned fast jet pilot, then senior military leader working across NATO and the US services, and now aviation psychologist, coach, and founder of High Flight. She talks about the cost and the gift of that journey, migraines that ended her flying career, becoming a parent, and the slow shift from the cockpit to supporting others from the ground.

We dig into Helen’s take on resilience, far beyond the buzzword. She shares her LEMONS framework, lifestyle and loving what you do, exercise, “meditations” as emptying your head, optimism, nutrition, and sleep and how migraines became her early warning system when her resilience was low. 

We talk about marbles in the jar, the tiny daily choices that really build resilience, and why sometimes that looks like a deliberate mental health day.

Helen also opens up about being one of the very few women in fast jet squadrons, the tension between belonging and fitting in, and the masks she wore from her callsign “Elle” to the masculine armour she had to adopt just to survive.

Helen explains how tools from aviation planning, briefing, debriefing, feedback transfer into business and leadership, and why “good to go” has become her shorthand for the warrior mask leaders put on.


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