Flight attendant from Kahnawà:ke found her new career by looking to the sky

Lily Dailleboust is quick to share how proud she is of her home community of Kahnawà:ke.

For over a year, Dailleboust has been a flight attendant for Jazz Aviation, a regional partner airline of Air Canada. While she's away, she shows her support on social media — be it for the local restaurant, athlete or event.

"I want to see everybody do good! Especially when you're far away from home, any little news about home brings me closer," she says.

And she shares her own accomplishments with all her friends and family, too.

"I'm very proud of the hard work I've achieved to be here, and where I'm going," she says. "My goal is to inspire people in my community. Hopefully I can."

Dailleboust's youthful enthusiasm and infectious laugh have remained constant since she was a child. From working in masonry to being a store clerk to working for a housing company, Dailleboust has worn many hats in various jobs. And she's worked hard to prove herself to others.

Now in her mid 40s, she has a job that seems tailor-made for her.

Care in the community

On a given day, Dailleboust could be landing in Washington, Toronto, Fredericton or anywhere in between. It's not the first time in her life that she's been constantly moving.

Dailleboust was ushered from home to home as a foster child. She was removed from her birth home at age seven after her mother abandoned her, and her father was unable to care for her.

In every case, she was unsure how long the living arrangement would last.

Dailleboust was expected to somehow adjust to being in foster care and maintain a relationship with her parents. She was one of the first cases where Kahnawà:ke Shakotiia'takehnhas Community Services prioritized keeping foster children within the community.

"I was like a guinea pig in the system," she says.

Dailleboust felt alienated by her peers because of the stigma that was attached to being a foster child.

"It was awful. But when you're a child, it seems like a lifetime sentence. You don't know who you can trust," she says.

But as she bounced from home to home, Dailleboust persevered and held on to her roots.

At 10, she was placed in a stable home in Kahnawà:ke, where she remained for four years, until the sudden death of her foster mother.

"When she passed away it was more than shocking. It was hurtful," she says.

At 14, Dailleboust moved to her last foster home — and by 17 moved out on her own and never looked back.

'I thank my mom for the person I am today'

Dailleboust's daughter, Farrah Csokasy, is a 25-year-old entrepreneur in Kahnawà:ke, and mother of three girls of her own.

"My mother has always supported me, with my business and being a mom. If I wanted to do something when I was growing up, my mom would take a second job to make it happen," says Csokasy.

"I thank my mom for the person I am today."

Dailleboust had to leave Kahnawà:ke for her training to become a flight attendant. She's the third flight attendant from her community south of Montreal

"To me it just seemed like a very exciting job to have," she says. "Travel all over the world and meet new people."

But when she got into the flight attendant training program offered by Jazz Aviation, she kept it quiet.

"I didn't want people to know what I was doing. Not because I was ashamed, but didn't wanna jinx myself," she laughs.

In the year since she graduated, she hasn't stopped moving.

"I'm very proud of who I am," she says, adding it's an honour to represent not only Kahnawà:ke in the skies, but all Indigenous people.

"If I can inspire one person to be different, act different and take a chance and become something new, then I've done my job."