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‘As a child I was more excited about flying than the holiday’: Leanne Brolly on her aviation career
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Leanne Brolly, IMAGE PwC Management Professional of the Year – Emerging Professional talks about how her youthful dream to become a pilot led her to an exciting career in aviation, where her ‘under promise, over deliver’ mindset has seen her rise through the high-pressure ranks.
Aircraft leasing plays a critical role in how the world moves — and Ireland sits at the centre of it.
At just 32 years of age, Leanne Brolly is Vice President of Risk at Genesis Aircraft Leasing, one of Ireland’s key players in the global aviation finance sector. Her route into the industry was anything but linear. Initially set on becoming a commercial pilot, repeated setbacks — including medical challenges and the high cost of training — closed that door.
Instead, she pursued a degree in Accounting and Finance at DCU, later joining AIB Corporate Banking, where exposure to aviation finance revealed a different path into the sector she’d always been drawn to. After joining Genesis in 2021, she quickly established herself in the complex world of aircraft leasing. Today, she plays a critical role in managing risk across global operations, working at the intersection of finance, strategy and aviation. Her career reflects both the adaptability and ambition needed to thrive in one of Ireland’s most globally connected industries.
From a young age, I was interested in aviation. I still remember the excitement leading up to our first holiday abroad – I counted down the days and was more excited about flying than the actual holiday!
I applied multiple times for the Aer Lingus Cadetship Programme – a fully funded cadetship where they train you to become an A320 pilot. However, to get on the programme you have a series of tests to complete, which I kept failing. In addition to this, over the years I had multiple collapsed lungs undergoing five surgeries, my most recent in 2024, so the pilot career was not for me.
Surreptitiously, my degree in Accounting and Finance eventually enabled me to follow my dream into Aviation. Working in AIB Corporate Banking, our team began Aviation Financing, and I was lucky enough to get to work on those transactions. I was immediately drawn to the scale, complexity and global nature of the work. I actively looked for roles in aviation, eventually landing my role with Genesis.
Stepping into a leadership position has been incredibly rewarding, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity Genesis’ CEO, Karl Griffin, gave me. It’s definitely been the biggest learning curve in my career to date. In my earlier roles – both in AIB and in the initial stages at Genesis – success was often driven by my attention to detail, deep analysis and strong execution. But moving into overseeing the risk function and influencing board-level decisions, I had to develop a broader lens and prioritise what really matters.
I work really hard to be the expert in the room. The aviation industry is turbulent but resilient – the past few years have been quite fraught – from COVID and geopolitical conflicts (Ukraine-Russia and the Middle East) to a record year of elections in 2024. Navigating all of this, I recognised the need for someone in the room who could be relied upon by the C-suite and Board to cut through the noise and provide facts quickly to inform decision-making. Being this expert in the room also helped build my confidence.
Knowing when to hold the line is crucial. Finding the right balance between risk and commercial agility, and knowing when to hold the line, it’s a balance that I continue to refine and one that keeps my work both challenging and rewarding.
What I enjoy about working in aircraft leasing is that no two days are the same. That said, an average day is usually spent reviewing key updates – market developments, portfolio performance or any emerging risks that need attention. Regardless if I’m travelling for work or in the office, I’m constantly keeping an eye on the news, so I’ll start the day listening to numerous news podcasts while getting ready and on my way to work. Once I’m at my desk, I’ll go through aviation-specific news outlets. This ties back to being the expert in the room – as a Risk professional, you don’t want to be told something has happened, you want to be the one informing others so the business can proactively position itself and stay ahead.
The key to accelerating my career has been my ‘under promise, over deliver’ mindset. It’s about setting realistic expectations and then exceeding them, which helps avoid any disappointment and builds credibility over time. To help me during high-pressure times, I focus my attention on a clear sense of priorities, staying organised and maintaining open communication across the team. I also try to remain humble in these situations – whether that’s seeking feedback after completing a transaction or project, or asking for guidance when I’m unsure how best to approach a task. That continued willingness to learn has been key to managing pressure and continuing to grow.
I want to be a leader who can set a clear vision, inspire others and empower their team to succeed.
Aviation, like many sectors, is relationship-driven, and if you become known as someone who delivers, asks the right questions and is willing to learn, opportunities tend to follow. Focus on building strong transferable skills – being analytically thinking, a clear communicator and commercial awareness. I feel these skills are valuable no matter what sector you work in, as they will give you flexibility as your career grows. They have been the foundations of my career.
As a young woman in a senior position in finance, there have definitely been times when I’ve felt a need to prove myself. I’m a young female in a traditionally male-dominated industry, which can result in underestimation or doubt from peers. However, I’ve learned to take these opportunities to demonstrate my competence. I focus on preparing thoroughly, leaning on my skillset and data-driven decision-making to help my confidence. Building a strong support network has been crucial as well – having friends that believe in me and a mentor that helped me navigate challenging situations helps. Ultimately, I have found that consistently delivering results outweighs any preconceived thoughts.
My role involves a lot of travel, which is great but also challenging, as the majority of the trips are long-distance for a short period – I went to South Korea recently for three days, and before Christmas, I was in India for just over two days.
I would like to think that I set boundaries where I can, but my role can be demanding. I am hard-working and driven to be as successful as possible, so it isn’t perfect. And this is where having a strong support system really matters – my friends and my dad are there to remind me to “take it easy’” when I need it.
Risk is in my job title, and I have taken a few personal ones too. Choosing to stay on after my undergraduate degree to complete a Master’s in Finance at DCU felt like a risk as I took out a loan to cover my fees and worked during the summer and throughout the course to help pay for my accommodation. I pushed out my accountancy contract I had with one of the Big Four to do this also. I did this because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, and the Finance modules from my undergraduate were the ones I did well in so it made sense to do this. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I made because it gave me a greater understanding and opened up more opportunities.
The second risk was moving into aircraft leasing. In AIB, my portfolio was customers in Retail, Oil Distributors and Aircraft Leasing. Moving into Genesis, it was a steep learning curve to understand all the technical terminology around engines, airframes and lease contracts – things like maintenance reserves, 6-year check, 12-year check, end of lease compensation, LLPs, LPTs – the list is endless. In addition to learning new key performance indicators (such as RASK, CASK, etc) when reviewing lessees. It was also the height of COVID when I made the move. So it was very challenging but has ultimately become very rewarding and shaped my career in a meaningful way.
I want to be a leader who can set a clear vision, inspire others and empower their team to succeed. Not just focusing on the results, but the kind of culture that you build and the example you set, making thoughtful decisions to create an environment where people are valued and challenged to grow.
As a young woman in a senior role in a male-dominated industry, I’m conscious of the visibility that comes with that. I would like my legacy to be about driving strong performance, but also about shifting culture in a positive way to create opportunities for others coming up behind me.
Photo: Leanne Brolly being awarded Management Professional, Emerging Professional, of the Year – at the IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2025. Photography by Kieran Harnett.
We’re interviewing each of our outstanding winners from this year’s IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards. To hear more about their career journeys, expert insights, and more, visit image.ie/pwc.
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