WEBVTT - From NASA Engineer to Blue Origin Astronaut and CEO

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<v Speaker 1>So how is it for you to be a go

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<v Speaker 1>from being an employee to being an entrepreneur?

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<v Speaker 2>You know, I feel like my strength in this situation

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<v Speaker 2>is knowing that there's so much that I don't know.

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<v Speaker 2>Like when I was an employee, when I would go

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<v Speaker 2>to work every day, all I wanted to do was

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<v Speaker 2>be respected for the things that I know. And as

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<v Speaker 2>an entrepreneur, all I want to do is go out

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<v Speaker 2>and speak to people and tell them that I don't

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<v Speaker 2>know right, so that I can be made better by

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<v Speaker 2>the things that they know. That is my goal, just

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<v Speaker 2>be able to listen and support and have people improve

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<v Speaker 2>the things that I create.

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<v Speaker 3>That's not on the personal level as an entrepreneur, but

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<v Speaker 3>you're also the CEO, yeah, and so there's people that

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<v Speaker 3>are relying on you for their leadership. So walking into

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<v Speaker 3>that role, how's the dynamics been for you? You know?

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<v Speaker 2>Like I shifted when he asked me that question, because

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<v Speaker 2>the question really strikes at home because I spent so

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<v Speaker 2>many years as a woman professional just wanting to be

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<v Speaker 2>seen as being good enough. And when I let go

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<v Speaker 2>of that, I realized that my strength is being authentic

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<v Speaker 2>and being empathetic. And when I took a step back.

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<v Speaker 2>I was crowding out the sun because I was trying

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<v Speaker 2>to always lead and be strong in all this other stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>And so when I said to the team for both businesses,

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<v Speaker 2>I want to make space for you to bring your gifts,

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<v Speaker 2>that's really when I started to see exponential growth. So

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<v Speaker 2>I have this concept of eighty twenty. You hire somebody

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<v Speaker 2>eighty percent for the things on the resume that you

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<v Speaker 2>know that they can that they can do, and the

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<v Speaker 2>twenty percent that they can bring to the table that

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<v Speaker 2>you haven't discovered yet, and you cultivate that person and

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<v Speaker 2>they will take you to places that you never you

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<v Speaker 2>never knew that you would go.

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<v Speaker 1>So let's talk about going to space. So what is

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<v Speaker 1>the program that you're going out of space? How did

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<v Speaker 1>you get involved in that? And are you just going

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<v Speaker 1>up coming back down? Is there observation that you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to be doing when you're up, Like what's happening with

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<v Speaker 1>that situation?

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<v Speaker 2>So I'm going to be flying to space on the

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<v Speaker 2>new Shepherd vehicle with Blue Origin. We will be coming

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<v Speaker 2>up and we will be coming back down.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm excited about how long will you be out

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<v Speaker 1>of space?

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<v Speaker 2>The total trip, so the round trip is roughly, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know, less than an hour, and it's about ten

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<v Speaker 2>minutes of microgravity.

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<v Speaker 1>Ten minutes out of space, yes, twenty five twenty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>coming up, ten minutes out of space, and twenty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>come back go.

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<v Speaker 2>I think so, and I think we got to fix

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<v Speaker 2>our hair before we can get out, so there's some

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<v Speaker 2>time there.

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<v Speaker 1>For sure. Well.

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<v Speaker 2>Look, so I will be the first to tell you

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<v Speaker 2>that I never thought that I was going to be

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<v Speaker 2>leaving the Earth's atmosphere. I don't even like turbulence on

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<v Speaker 2>commercial flights, and so for me, this is a try

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<v Speaker 2>it before you buy it situation where I get to

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<v Speaker 2>try space and it controls scenario. Once I started working

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<v Speaker 2>at NASA and meeting amazing astronauts, I never thought that

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<v Speaker 2>I could be them. And this is what I like

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<v Speaker 2>about life and karma in the world is like, right

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<v Speaker 2>when you think that you can't be something, life will

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<v Speaker 2>show you that you can. And I said to myself

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<v Speaker 2>many years ago, one of these years, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 2>apply to be a NASA astronaut. I'm going to go

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<v Speaker 2>to the International Space Station. And somehow I manage not

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<v Speaker 2>to do it for a year after year after year,

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<v Speaker 2>and all of a sudden, I have the opportunity to

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<v Speaker 2>be a Blue Origin astronaut, and my goal is to

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<v Speaker 2>complete this and if I like it, which I'm probably

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<v Speaker 2>gonna love it, I'm going to turn around. I'm going

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<v Speaker 2>to apply to be a NASA astronaut.

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<v Speaker 3>What's the preparation light for this? I remember it, maybe

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<v Speaker 3>it was last year they had Michael Strahan and he

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<v Speaker 3>was going through and they had to take some time

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<v Speaker 3>off from Good Morning America. What do you have to do?

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<v Speaker 3>What are they putting you through to get you prepared

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<v Speaker 3>for this moment?

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<v Speaker 2>So they have a trading program in their facility in

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<v Speaker 2>Van Horn, Texas. That's mandatory. But in addition to that,

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<v Speaker 2>you can do a host of other things. And so

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<v Speaker 2>I'm participating in a microgravity flight. I'm looking to fly

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<v Speaker 2>on a fight or flight with the jets, like real fast.

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<v Speaker 2>I like to go fast. I'm looking to do a

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<v Speaker 2>high altitude skydive. And then in addition to that, for me,

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<v Speaker 2>this is about bringing it home right. There are so

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<v Speaker 2>many people in my family are like, what is NASA

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<v Speaker 2>doing for me? What's space doing for me?

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<v Speaker 1>Like?

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<v Speaker 2>Why does any of this matter? And so I've been

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<v Speaker 2>reaching out to organizations HBCUs in high school so that

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<v Speaker 2>I can either fly a patch for school or do

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<v Speaker 2>experiments like I would like to partner with HBCU and

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<v Speaker 2>do an experiment on orbit right, or fly a sensor.

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<v Speaker 2>I really want the outcome of this to not be oh,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, like that's like ten minutes. I want it

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<v Speaker 2>to be. This was something that made me believe, or

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<v Speaker 2>inspired someone to believe that they could reach for the

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<v Speaker 2>stars and realize that it was only the beginning to

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<v Speaker 2>take the flight.

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<v Speaker 3>I know it's expensive. So were you chosen, Like did

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<v Speaker 3>you have to apply to become one of the astronauts

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<v Speaker 3>or was there a sponsored event like Okay, this is

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<v Speaker 3>the person we're putting forth as our choice.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's really cool. I got a call all the

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<v Speaker 2>blue from this lady named Nancy Conrad, and it just

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<v Speaker 2>so happens that that first day when I was at NASA,

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<v Speaker 2>when I had a badge and I was decided to

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<v Speaker 2>be there, I met Nancy. Nancy is the wife of

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<v Speaker 2>Pete Conrad, who's an Apollo astronaut. I remember seeing her

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<v Speaker 2>and being like, wow, like one day I hope to

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<v Speaker 2>speak with her. Fast forward right over a decade. She's

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<v Speaker 2>calling me and she's like, look, there's this mission coming up.

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<v Speaker 2>I think you'd be a really really good fit. How

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<v Speaker 2>about you apply this time. I didn't say no. I

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<v Speaker 2>put my application forward and it happened to work out

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<v Speaker 2>that I was in the position to join the crew.

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<v Speaker 2>Now back to the even if I had it, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know if I'd want to spend it. And the

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<v Speaker 2>reason for that is there's a lot of support for

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<v Speaker 2>space and for science right and go to African proverb,

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<v Speaker 2>it's like, if you want to go you know fast,

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<v Speaker 2>go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

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<v Speaker 2>So I went out to sponsors and I said, look,

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<v Speaker 2>I want to know if you're going to back me

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<v Speaker 2>on this flight. And they have and so I'm getting

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<v Speaker 2>ready to announce some significant brand partnerships. But we really

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<v Speaker 2>are going to challenge the way that people look at

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<v Speaker 2>going to space, and I'm excited to have amazing brands

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<v Speaker 2>behind me to do it.