Makayla Hughbanks: Flying Above the Water and Through the Clouds

PHOTO: Makayla Hughbanks During her time at Iowa, Makayla Hughbanks has spent many hours at the Iowa City Municipal Airport as she pursues her pilot's license.

It may come as no surprise that Makayla Hughbanks is an enterprise leadership major at Iowa. The social media influencer and content creator has racked up nearly 75,000 Instagram followers by posting about her diving career, training regimen, and favorite foods, as well as her journey toward earning a pilot’s license.

“Since high school I’ve put myself out there on social media and shared what I’ve been doing,” says Hughbanks. “I enjoy posting about my diving career, but also about my life, my interests, and now flying.”

Hughbanks has taken advantage of the NCAA x Meta NIL Empower Program, which helps female student-athletes maximize their name, image, and likeness opportunities and prepares them for life after sports. The program allows participants to connect with other athletes and learn about social media and personal branding best practices.

“The program has allowed me to get to know other female athletes around the world and offers guidance with finances and building your brand as a student-athlete,” says Hughbanks. “It has helped me understand what goes into building my personal brand.”

An Iowa diving career that nearly wasn’t

Growing up in Bettendorf, Iowa, Hughbanks was a multi-sport student-athlete. But she had no idea her high school even had a diving program.

“I was a gymnast and cheerleader since I was seven years old. As a high school sophomore during the swimming unit for gym class, I started doing flips off the diving board,” says Hughbanks. “I was asked to join the diving team, and I didn’t even know we had one.”

After a successful high school diving career—which included winning a state diving championship—Hughbanks wanted to continue her career with the University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving program. However, Iowa women’s swimming and diving was one of four programs slated to be eliminated during the COVID pandemic, so Hughbanks began looking at diving programs at Iowa State University and Florida Atlantic University.

“While on an unofficial visit to Florida Atlantic, I received a message from Iowa diving coach Todd Waikel saying the women’s team was reinstated, and we’d love to have you,” Hughbanks says. “I thought that was my sign, so I went back home to Iowa and signed an apartment lease in Iowa City.”

Looking forward to a high-flying future

While flying through the air off a diving board is something most people can’t fathom, Hughbanks is inspired to take flying to the next level.

“My dad wanted to be a pilot, and when we would fly on commercial flights, there would be a noise, and he would say ‘Oh, you know what that is,’ and tell me about all about it,” says Hughbanks. “I started studying some of his books about flying and eventually scheduled an introductory flight lesson.”

Soaring through the clouds during her trial flight with JetAir at the Iowa City Municipal Airport, Hughbanks fell in love with flying a plane.

“I even got to fly the plane during my intro flight, and I decided to go for it and take on the challenge of getting my pilot’s license,” says Hughbanks. “I currently have about 43 hours of flight time and am working toward soloing, as I would love to fly private jets in the future.”

As for her more Earthly-bound flying, Hughbanks has enjoyed her four-year career as a Hawkeye diver.

“I’ve really enjoyed the relationships I’ve built with my teammates, and I just enjoy where I’m at in life,” she says.

PHOTO: Makayla Hughbanks Makayla Hughbanks flying high over Iowa City.