 Nichols was then hired as a sales manager for Fairchild Aviation Corporation.In 1929, she was a founding member, with Amelia Earhart and others, of the Ninety-Nines, an organization of licensed women pilots.In August 1929, she and Earhart were among 20 competitors in the Women's Air Derby (also known as the "Powder Puff Derby"), the first official women-only air race in the United States.