Amelia Earhart aspired to be an aviator, but flying wasn’t a career option for women in the 1920s, so she got a job a social worker.
One day at work in 1928, Earhart got a phone call. “Would you like to fly the Atlantic?” a man asked. Though with one condition: she would only be a “token pilot”—the plane would actually be operated by another man.
What did she say to this preposterous offer? She said yes.
Four years later in 1932, Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She became an inspiration around the world.
None of these would have happened had she turned down that offensive offer in the first place. She knew she needed to get started somewhere—even though the option presented wasn’t perfect.