Five years in, gratitude isn’t something we feel once a year. It’s how we work.

Reading Amy’s reflection on five years of Wheels Up hit me hard. I still can’t quite believe we built something like this—something that actually works, in every sense of the word. What started as two people trying to build a better way to work (an imperative after realizing our old environments just weren’t the right fit) has turned into a team of ridiculously talented humans doing the best work of their careers and living real, full lives outside of it.

We’ve had the privilege of working alongside organizations tackling climate change, supporting the arts, modernizing healthcare, curing cancer, and building technology that actually makes people’s lives easier. 

That kind of work changes a person. It’s made us sharper, braver, more grounded. It reminds me why we started in the first place—not to chase logos or metrics, but to work with good people doing things that matter.

Gratitude, for me, isn’t a once-a-year reflection. It’s a daily awareness that we get to do this. We get to build, create, and work with people we genuinely like. It’s the laughter on Zoom, the quiet client wins, the fact that I get to be both a founder and a mom without feeling like I’m failing at either.

This Thanksgiving, I’m giving thanks for the people who make our work matter: our team, our clients, and the friends and family who’ve been part of this journey.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Wheels Up. Here’s to another season of meaningful work and the people who make it possible.

— Elise Oras

 Co-Founder, Wheels Up Collective