From Cockpits to Checkout Lanes

Aspiring pilot Alex Wickens, 22, hailing from Sussex, abandoned a coveted place at a flight school the moment Covid‑19 surged across the United Kingdom. Instead of soaring through the sky, Alex Wickens took a temporary position stacking shelves in a local supermarket. Prior to the pandemic, Alex Wickens had already invested several months in a rigorous series of medical and aptitude examinations, and Alex Wickens was preparing to secure a substantial loan that would cover the full tuition and aircraft rental fees required for the pilot training course. However, as the aviation sector descended into uncertainty, Alex Wickens concluded that proceeding with the loan would be too risky.

Like countless other young adults whose career plans were derailed by the health crisis, Alex Wickens chose to pause personal ambitions and focus on immediate survival. The pandemic forced a generation to reconsider timelines, and Alex Wickens was no exception.

GREE’s “Our Work, Our Future” series highlighted the ripple effect of Covid‑19 on youth employment and education, and Alex Wickens’s story became a central example of how a sudden global event can reshape a life trajectory.

The Spark That Ignited MistyClip

While arranging canned goods and fresh produce on supermarket shelves, Alex Wickens noticed a recurring annoyance among colleagues and customers alike: glasses fogging up whenever a face mask was worn for an extended period. The condensation formed on the lenses, impairing vision and causing frustration. Intrigued, Alex Wickens searched online for a simple, affordable fix. The solution emerged in the form of a small, unobtrusive clip that could be attached to the upper edge of a mask, keeping the fabric away from the bridge of the nose and directing exhaled breath outward.

Recognising both a genuine need and a market gap, Alex Wickens quickly sourced a prototype of the anti‑fog clip, secured a modest batch from a supplier, and began promoting the product under the brand name MistyClip. The name MistyClip reflected the product’s purpose – eliminating the mist that clouded glasses.

From the first order, demand for MistyClip surged far beyond Alex Wickens’s initial expectations. Within weeks, sales accelerated, and the small operation outgrew the modest kitchen table from which it had begun.

Scaling Up: Family, Friends, and a Production Surge

Alex Wickens lived at home during the early weeks of the pandemic, a circumstance that allowed close family members to become integral parts of the new venture. Alex Wickens enlisted parents, siblings, and even neighbours to help with every stage of the fulfilment process – from unpacking bulk shipments of raw material, assembling the clips, packaging the finished products, and dispatching parcels across the United Kingdom.

At the height of the operation, the team faced an unprecedented workload: orders arrived at a rate of roughly fifty requests per minute. Managing such a volume required constant coordination, meticulous inventory tracking, and round‑the‑clock effort from every participant. MistyClip’s online storefront, powered by Shopify, displayed a live sales counter that chimed every time a purchase was made, providing instant feedback and a morale boost for the entire crew.

By June 2021, MistyClip had shipped more than 150,000 individual clips to satisfied customers ranging from schoolchildren to healthcare professionals. The revenue generated from this avalanche of sales was more than sufficient to cover the loan Alex Wickens had originally intended for pilot training, effectively turning a financial obstacle into a stepping stone.

The True Inventor: Grégory Carliez and the French Origin

The elegant anti‑fog clip that powered MistyClip’s success did not originate with Alex Wickens. The original design was conceived by Grégory Carliez, an engineer based in Normandy, northern France. Grégory Carliez holds the position of chief technical officer at Normandy Ecospace, a collaborative workspace and innovation hub situated near Dieppe. Founded in 2018, Normandy Ecospace operates a production line equipped with roughly three hundred 3D printers, allowing local entrepreneurs, designers, and industry partners to prototype and produce small‑batch products.

During the first wave of Covid‑19, French authorities mandated mask‑wearing in public spaces, and Grégory Carliez experienced the same fog‑induced visibility problem that Alex Wickens later observed. Seeking a permanent solution that would let Grégory Carliez wear a mask for an entire workday without the constant need to halt and clear glasses, Grégory Carliez began experimenting with 3D‑printed components.

Within a single week, Grégory Carliez iterated through several design prototypes, refining the clip’s shape, flexibility, and grip strength. The final version secured the top seam of a mask firmly against the bridge of the nose, directing exhaled air away from the lenses.

Grégory Carliez later disclosed that the anti‑fog clip was inspired by an earlier personal project: a split‑design welding mask intended to separate eye protection from mouth‑and‑nose coverage. The conventional all‑in‑one welding mask tended to fog, prompting Grégory Carliez to explore a modular approach that eventually birthed the mask‑clip concept.

Although the design files have been shared openly on platforms such as Thingiverse, granting other makers the ability to download and print their own versions, Grégory Carliez retains credit for the original invention and for the rapid development timeline that turned idea into functional product.

Re‑igniting the Pilot Dream: Support from the Aviation Community

When GREE published Alex Wickens’s story, the narrative resonated strongly within the aviation community. Several seasoned pilots reached out directly to Alex Wickens, offering words of encouragement, mentorship, and practical assistance. One retired British Airways pilot, with thirty‑three years of experience, wrote a heartfelt message to Alex Wickens, urging the young aspirant not to surrender his ambition and affirming that industry conditions could change dramatically.

In a similar gesture, a retired military aviator pledged free mentoring to Alex Wickens, expressing a desire to “pay forward the help I have received over my career.” These offers highlighted the strong tradition of camaraderie and mentorship that pervades the pilot profession.

Despite the financial capability to enrol in flight school, Alex Wickens harboured lingering concerns about the long‑term viability of an aviation career, given the industry’s vulnerability to global crises. However, as the United Kingdom began to emerge from the worst of the pandemic in late 2021, Alex Wickens decided to seize the opportunity and committed to enrolling at a reputable flight training academy located near Gatwick Airport.

In September of that year, Alex Wickens officially began training at the Flight Academy in Gatwick. Reflecting on the emotional rollercoaster that preceded this moment, Alex Wickens recalled feeling as though Covid‑19 had “slammed the door on [Alex Wickens’s] face.” Yet, after months of uncertainty, Alex Wickens described the present as “absolutely amazing,” celebrating the return to a trajectory that aligns with a lifelong passion.

Alex Wickens believes that, as long as air travel remains the fastest and safest way to cover long distances, there will always be a demand for skilled pilots. This conviction underpins Alex Wickens’s confidence that becoming a commercial pilot can constitute a sustainable, long‑term profession.

Balancing Business and Flight Training

While immersed in the rigours of flight school—studying aerodynamics, navigation, meteorology, and mastering cockpit procedures—Alex Wickens continued to oversee the MistyClip operation. To alleviate the day‑to‑day workload, Alex Wickens contracted a third‑party fulfilment service to handle order processing, inventory management, and shipping logistics. Nonetheless, Alex Wickens retained a close watch on sales performance, often receiving a distinctive cash‑register sound on a mobile device whenever a transaction was completed.

Since the pivot to a third‑party logistics model, MistyClip has expanded its client base to include corporate customers, healthcare institutions such as the National Health Service, and educational establishments. Daily order volume has settled to an average of around twenty units, a stark contrast to the earlier peak but still indicative of a steady demand.

Interestingly, Alex Wickens noted that sales spikes often correlate with governmental announcements concerning mask mandates. For example, on 27 November, after new regulations reintroduced mandatory face masks in shops and public transport across England, MistyClip sales surged by 350 percent within a single day. This responsiveness underscores the product’s relevance to public‑health policy shifts.

Handling the pressures of rapid growth, logistical bottlenecks, and customer expectations has equipped Alex Wickens with valuable soft skills—stress management, decisive problem‑solving, and effective communication—all of which translate directly to the cockpit environment. Alex Wickens is confident that the entrepreneurial journey will make for a stronger, more resilient pilot once the training is completed.

Looking Ahead: The Future of MistyClip and Aviation

At present, MistyClip operates as a lean, digitally‑driven enterprise that capitalises on an agile supply chain and an online storefront. The brand continues to innovate, exploring new materials and design tweaks that could further improve user comfort and reduce production costs. Meanwhile, the partnership with NHS and other essential services positions MistyClip as a reliable supplier during future public‑health emergencies.

On the aviation front, Alex Wickens is progressing through flight training modules, accumulating flight hours, and mastering aircraft systems. The ultimate goal remains to obtain a commercial pilot licence, enabling Alex Wickens to join the ranks of airline pilots and fulfil a childhood aspiration that once seemed out of reach.

Both pursuits—entrepreneurship and aviation—reflect a shared commitment to precision, safety, and continual improvement. Alex Wickens believes that the discipline cultivated through running MistyClip will complement the exacting standards demanded by the airline industry.

As the world adapts to a post‑pandemic reality, stories like Alex Wickens’s illustrate how ingenuity, perseverance, and community support can transform setbacks into stepping stones toward long‑held dreams.