Meet Ken Stone of Skydive Spaceland Dallas in Whitewright

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ken Stone.

Ken, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started jumping in the Australian Army back when I was eighteen years old. I was jumping military style round parachutes, and found a passion for jumping that led me to learn how to skydive. I learned to skydive on weekends, and then the military sent me to their Parachute Training School where I advanced my skills and spent the majority of my 26-year Army career as a specialized Military Free Fall Instructor, teaching basic to advanced parachuting skills.

Since leaving the Army, I have been working in the skydiving industry all around the world. finally settling in North Texas. I am the operations manager at Skydive Spaceland Dallas, where I manage an amazing crew of staff and instructors. We all work together as a team to make people’s dreams of flying become a reality.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Working in the skydiving industry can be a bit of an uphill battle at times. Skydiving is very weather dependent, so it’s hard to make ends meet over the winters. During the busy summer months, we work from sunrise to sunset, sometimes doing up to 18 jumps per day. It’s a very physical job, so eighteen jumps are pretty exhausting. Despite these struggles, it’s still the best job I have ever had. Initially it was tough to move across the world to a place where I didn’t know anybody, but I found myself a new family at Spaceland Dallas.

So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Skydive Spaceland Dallas story. Tell us more about the business.
Skydive Spaceland is a three-generation family drop zone business specializing in innovative, constantly refined skydiving education. The first Skydive Spaceland location opened just south of Houston, Texas in 2000, and quickly grew into one of the busiest skydiving centers in the world. Skydive Spaceland is expanding nationally, but remains a family owned and operated business.

Skydive Spaceland Dallas builds upon Skydive Dallas, a longstanding, very successful, community oriented dropzone whose down to earth staff have been sharing the experience of human flight with people for over twenty years. We are passionate skydivers, who pride ourselves in providing the highest quality skydiving instruction possible. Our facilities are first rate, our fleet of planes are impeccable, and our staff are some of the best people in the world. We like to think that if you come to us for your first skydiving experience, you will leave with not only amazing memories, but a bunch of new friends.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t put too much weight in the concept of luck. Hard work and perseverance has helped me achieve my goals, and when things don’t go as planned, I’ve earned valuable life experience.

Pricing:

• First time jump from $179 to $219
• Learn to skydive package $2400 (includes 25 jumps)

Contact Info:

• Address: 1039 Private Rd 438
  Whitewright, TX, 75491
• Website: dallas.skydivespaceland.com
• Phone: 903-364-5103
• Email: ken@skydivespaceland.com
• Instagram: @spacelanddallas
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkydiveSpacelandDallas

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