DON’T SAY IT.
DO IT.
We chose the subject of our last film based on values 1st Lt. Lexi McRobert clearly shares with Massif.
Massif is a brand focused on building gear that is durable and able to protect users’ lives. We chose to highlight Oregon National Guard 1st Lt. Lexi McRobert because her service highlights that sentiment.
We chose Oregon National Guard 1st Lt. Lexi McRobert as the subject of our Massif Films production because she speaks to a value that has always rested at our company’s core: Don’t say it. Do it. A near complete focus on action is what we bring into every aspect of our business—from design to manufacturing. That same sentiment has also taken McRobert to the top of her specific field as an aviator in the Oregon National Guard.
Her decisive nature caused her to take action over her life early. She grew up on the beach as a Junior Lifeguard in San Diego and was voted “Most Likely to Be a Beach Bum” in her high school yearbook. McRobert didn’t like the sound of that. She made the decision to move away from the sun-soaked beaches so she could create a more focused future for herself. “I thought, ‘oh man, that’s how people see me,’ and then I realized that’s how I saw myself. That’s why I moved to Oregon because I was like, I have to get away from here and do something different,” McRobert said.
In order to do something different, McRobert enrolled in the University of Oregon where she enlisted in ROTC. Her sophomore year, McRobert realized that she was more in her element in field training exercises than in the biology classes she was taking to get into medical school. “I really liked the leadership aspect of it, being a person who came from playing on teams their whole entire life. It just felt right,” McRobert said. “So I’ll say this is definitely the direction I want to go. When I was in ROTC, I was probably 20 years old when I decided this is definitely what I’m going to do.”
That decision has led her to a life of balancing a full-time job and striving to succeed as a medevac helicopter pilot for the Oregon National Guard. From the beginning, she impressed her superiors. “Captain McRobert was highly motivated,” said Aviation Safety Officer Dennis Cooper. “She came in here and flew as much as she could while she had to carry on a civilian career at the time.” The extra initiative paid off when McRobert deployed to Iraq. “We took her on this last deployment overseas and she was placed in a position of decision making authority in the middle of Iraq and was managing a lot of aspects of the company. She really accepted the challenge and accepted the responsibility and, and did great things for everybody in the company,” Cooper said.
Her focus on action is what causes her to strive for perfection every day she gets behind the pilot seat to rescue soldiers on deployment, firefighters, and even stranded climbers, domestically. “Excelling at critical tasks is everything. As an aviator, we are always going out there and refining and tweaking and perfecting the job. You’re never going to be perfect at it. And it’s not accepting that as the answer like I will be perfect at it and I’m going to chase perfection,” McRobert said. It’s that attitude of doing that made her a leader and caught our eye as a subject for our latest film. “It’s always tempting to sit down and rest when you’re tired or just be a yes man or tick the easier route. That’s why they’re easier. Right? But it’s that leadership and self-discipline and character that require you to self-monitor and make sure that you’re not cutting those edges or taking this safe, easy route every time. As a leader that’s just not acceptable,” McRobert said.
We can rest easier knowing that if we are having the worst day of our lives that a pilot as capable, action-focused, and decisive as McRobert might be the person picking us up. We are thankful for that. We hope that the action we take to build the highest performance gear for pilots and other brave service members can make a positive impact on how they can perform their jobs. We are proud to share the same values. We are also thankful that we had the opportunity to tell her story.
For a more in-depth look at Lexi McRobert, please check out the film at https://www.youtube.com/c/MassifFilms/featured.
