🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐

From the very first episode of The Mole, commercial airline pilot Joi became fans’ No. 1 suspect when she led her team in the wrong direction, map in hand. She kept fans guessing during the prison break challenge, when she missed spotting the key outside Kesi’s door; later, when players picked teams to search for treasure in the Great Barrier Reef, Joi elected to be a part of the diving team instead of the flying team. Was this part of her game play? Or was it a giveaway? All this raised suspicions among her fellow players — and you all at home — that there was more to Joi’s story than what she was telling.

You can judge her tactics, but the 40-year-old Atlantan  beat out the majority of her competition, and ended the season as runner-up to Will. Below, Joi clears the air about her navigation skills, what it’s like being a first officer for a major airline and why she wants you to say “Hi” if you see her in the airport. 

Walk us through a day in your life as a pilot. 
I fly the Airbus 320 and 321. I live in Atlanta, but I’m based in Miami. Let’s just say I have a four-day trip. I’ll usually commute in the day of. Once I get to Miami, I’ll grab a bite to eat and maybe listen to a podcast to kill some time until it’s time for me to get to my airplane, [where I] talk about the flight with the other crew there, the flight attendants, the captain. We talk about concerns, we brief what we’ll be doing. After that, I’ll build my [pilot’s] nest.

I sit on the right side of the airplane. I’ll put my electronic flight computer up, I’ll adjust my feet and then I’ll establish a rapport with the captain. I’ll do my preflight walkaround, making sure the aircraft is in an airworthy condition. Then I’ll brief the captain and we’ll talk about the time, we’ll talk about weather — we’ll talk about aircraft performance.

Then I’ll load the flight plan into our flight management system and we’ll get the ball going. A lot of the work is done on the ground. There are a lot of moving parts. We speak to ground personnel who will connect a tug to our airplane, and they’ll push our airplane back. The captain [and I], we’re always talking. Our No. 1 goal, of course, is to make sure our passengers get from point A to point B in a safe manner. So, after we start up the engines, we’ll do more briefings, more checklists, communicate to air traffic control. Once we get on the active runway, I’ll give the airplane some thrust, and we’ll pull back at a safe speed.

The pilot monitoring will make callouts — they’re the ones that are on the radio speaking to air traffic control. It’s just like driving a car. You have rules and regulations, you have speed limits to follow. In the air, it’s the same thing. Once we get to our cruising altitude of either 34,000 feet or 39,000 feet, we usually [fly] at 500 miles per hour. If we have an awesome tailwind, we’ll get to our final destination a few minutes early, which the passengers are always happy about. 

What kinds of routes do you fly? 
I fly all over the world. I don’t fly the same trip, ever. It’s always built differently. For instance, the trip that I have tomorrow, I’ll be in Orlando, Florida, and then I’ll be in Cancun, Mexico, the next day, and then New York City on the third day. It’s awesome because I’ll pack a sweater for New York and I’ll pack a bathing suit to hang out in Cancun. 

How long have you been flying?
I’ve been a pilot for over 10 years. After I graduated from college, I became a flight attendant and worked my way up from the back of the airplane to the front. After I obtained my ratings, I started [working] for a company doing aerial survey flying in a single-engine Cessna airplane. After I obtained the required hours to fly for a commercial company, I [flew] for two regional companies, and then I worked my way up to flying for a major airline.

How long does it take to get your license? 
On average, it was about two years. I was a full-time flight attendant working to obtain my ratings. It wasn’t an easy feat. I can remember kissing my husband, going on a trip, landing back in Atlanta, and having to drive my car to Florida — or commute to Florida on an airplane if the flights were open — to take flight lessons. 

What does it mean to you to be one of the few Black women pilots in a white male–dominated industry?
It’s an accomplishment. It takes hard work, for one. It takes self-assurance, believing in yourself. It’s my duty and responsibility as a woman of color airline pilot to inspire the next generation of aviators, especially women of color aviators, because we make up less than 1% in my industry. I do a lot of volunteer work. I love, love, love inspiring our youth. I am a risk taker, and that’s why I’m in this amazing career today. I believed in myself. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, and just be a tough cookie.

Speaking of being a tough cookie, what do you think about the social media reaction that you’ve gotten since appearing on The Mole?
It’s been overwhelming, to say the least. I get a lot of people that love me on the show. They love my personality. Then I get a lot of people that dislike me, and they’ll let me know on social media, which is fine. I concentrate on all the positive feedback. But I was there to play a game, and I played it to the best of my ability, and I hope the fans were entertained and loved it.

What’s it like navigating on land in the woods versus in the air?
Navigating in the air is an easy process. We have what’s called a flight management system where we load our flight plan. It’s like a car GPS, just very straightforward. Now, in the old days when I was getting my private pilot’s license, you didn't have GPS in your airplane. You have a map, you have your flight plan, and you’re looking at the terrain and making sure that it matches the landmarks on your map.

Navigating in the woods… I’m going to tell you, when I first got there, I was a bit overwhelmed with [the] cameras and being in a jungle. I’ve never camped before. I’ve never been in a rainforest before. In the rainforest you need a compass, you need a real map. You need protective wear because there’s creepy crawlers everywhere. You need a flashlight. The trees, they’re enormous and everything looks the same. You can’t see the sun and you’re reliant on the things being given to you by the show.

I was given a map, an assignment and a mission to complete. I’m a very logical person. So when I looked at the map and I saw a spaghetti tree in the landmark, I looked around and I was like, you know what? Everything looks like a spaghetti tree in this rainforest. It’s called The Mole. It’s a game. I decided, I’m going to draw as much suspicion as I can on myself. I did just that. 

All the Times the Mole Sabotaged the GroupSneaky, sneaky.

Would you say you have a good sense of direction?
Of course I do. I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in if I did not have a good sense of direction. 

What do you want people to know about you and your job?
I want people to know that I’m a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister and an airline pilot. Outside of the flight deck, I enjoy family. I love to travel, I love to cook. I’m a fitness enthusiast. But I want to say if you ever see me in an airport or on my airplane, feel free to say hi. I’m a very likable person, very warm, and I will take great care of you.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.