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Speaker 1: Well, Luke is here a Black Tech Green Money. I

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Speaker 1: am super excited for this one. I get to talk

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Speaker 1: to my friend. I should vote as a former NASA

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Speaker 1: rocket scientist, tech founder, extraordinari, somebody I've been a big

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Speaker 1: fan of for a long time, and soon to be

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Speaker 1: astronaut joining the upcoming Blue Origin New Shepherd flight crew.

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Speaker 1: She found a lingo and tech company. This already serves,

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Speaker 1: you know, ten thousand plus. I'm sure that number has

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Speaker 1: grown by now students and is only mission equipped one

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Speaker 1: million learners with them skills over the next decade. Welcome.

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Speaker 1: I used it to Black Tech Green Money. It's good

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Speaker 1: to see you will It's my pleasure. It's my pleasure.

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Speaker 1: So you spoken about how I want to go all

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Speaker 1: the way back. Your guidance counsel has suggested cosmetology, which

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Speaker 1: is fine, but your FOB encouraged you to pursue math.

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Speaker 1: And how did that moment shape and help this I

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Speaker 1: should become who she is now.

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Speaker 2: Looking back, I remember feeling so angry when I was

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Speaker 2: talking to guidance counselor because it wasn't the field. It

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Speaker 2: was this idea that she was limiting me. She was

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Speaker 2: sort of prescribing the boundaries of my life. You weren't

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Speaker 2: good at school, therefore you're not going to be good

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Speaker 2: at life. And in that moment, I remember not knowing

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Speaker 2: what to do about it, right, because I feel like

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Speaker 2: when you're in high school, you just believe what people

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Speaker 2: tell you, especially when they're adults, and especially when they

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Speaker 2: have titles like guidance. And I went home and I

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Speaker 2: was talking to my dad, and my dad was furious,

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Speaker 2: and he said, Ayisha, you cannot subscribe to what other

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Speaker 2: people tell you about yourself. But in that moment, I

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Speaker 2: just felt so demoralized that I proceeded to community college

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Speaker 2: without applying to college. And what I realized in that

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Speaker 2: environment was that my reality, my dreams mattered, and that

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Speaker 2: I could turn perception into facts simply by believing in

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Speaker 2: having goals and ideas that were outside the norm. And so,

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Speaker 2: you know, I took out a piece of paper and

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Speaker 2: I just made up this life, like I want to graduate,

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Speaker 2: I want to go to a good school. I want

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Speaker 2: to go to University of Michigan, go blue. I want

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Speaker 2: to become a rocket scientist. I want to do things

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Speaker 2: that people laughed at me for saying I wanted to do,

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Speaker 2: and all of those things became real and that's when

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Speaker 2: I started to realize that like we, especially as people

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Speaker 2: of color, cannot allow ourselves to be defined by anything

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Speaker 2: other what we choose to be.

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Speaker 1: I love that, and so community college to NASA is

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Speaker 1: a humongous leap. Humongous And for that Ayisha that started

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Speaker 1: community college, what is it you know now about what

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Speaker 1: it takes to make that leap that she didn't know?

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Speaker 2: I think I was so caught up in trying to

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Speaker 2: follow the traditional script that it could not be authentically me.

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Speaker 2: Like I remember studying for exams and just freezing and

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Speaker 2: not being able to remember anything that I studied or memorized.

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Speaker 2: And so I think the first thing was that I

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Speaker 2: needed to understand that just because I wasn't good at

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Speaker 2: traditional testing doesn't mean that I wasn't going to be

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Speaker 2: good at life. And once I just sort of let

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Speaker 2: go of expectations and fear, which was the fear of

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Speaker 2: ending up broke, like you know. Well, one of the

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Speaker 2: things that I don't share but I want to talk

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Speaker 2: more about was when I was in community college making

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Speaker 2: the transition to go to university, I took out a

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Speaker 2: life insurance policy on myself. I took it out for

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Speaker 2: fifty thousand dollars because I was so afraid that if

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Speaker 2: I died when I was in college, my parents were

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Speaker 2: going to be broke and they were never going to

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Speaker 2: be able to pay that debt back. And I think

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Speaker 2: about that time in my life and I just felt

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Speaker 2: so I felt so confined, I felt so discouraged, I

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Speaker 2: felt so scared, and me saying, you know what, I

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Speaker 2: know what it's like to fail, I know what it's

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Speaker 2: like to work, I know what it's like to be tired,

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Speaker 2: I know what it's like to be hungry, and I'm

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Speaker 2: not going back to that, And like, using that as

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Speaker 2: a source of strength was really what propelled me to

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Speaker 2: do what I'm doing now.

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Speaker 1: You chose aerospace engineering because you were interested in science fiction.

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Speaker 1: What I'm a big science I love scien like specifically

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Speaker 1: near future science fiction, like things that can happen in

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Speaker 1: our lifetimes, like what stories as fired you and how

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Speaker 1: do they influence the way you think.

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Speaker 2: So I used to read a lot. I was a

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Speaker 2: gymnast and we were on the road and it was

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Speaker 2: always kind of like me and like a book right

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Speaker 2: in the back of the car. I used to be

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Speaker 2: able to read books in the car without getting motions sick.

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Speaker 2: Like I missed those days. But one of the things

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Speaker 2: about becoming an aerospace engineer that I don't share as

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Speaker 2: often is I kind of was bartering with God. Now

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Speaker 2: I know you're not supposed to do that, right, but

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Speaker 2: it was one of those things where I was like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: I want to do this incredible, crazy, badass thing. And

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Speaker 2: I literally was like, dear God, if you can hear

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Speaker 2: me and you want to let me know that you're

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Speaker 2: real and dream's are real, then I will become a

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Speaker 2: rocket scientist. Like, yes, I love science fiction, but I

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Speaker 2: had not seen any black female rocket scientists Like yeah,

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Speaker 2: and the only people that I saw who worked in

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Speaker 2: aerospace worked in aerodynamics for automotive companies, and like, I

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Speaker 2: was not about that life. And so it really was

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Speaker 2: a transformational experience because I started to understand that like

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Speaker 2: through prayer, through preparation, and through resilience, like I really

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Speaker 2: could do anything. So tell me.

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Speaker 1: So I'm curious, Like you just talked about people going

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Speaker 1: theodynamics and like, like what is the is are these

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Speaker 1: like tougher programs to get into? Like that was like

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Speaker 1: the selection process, like you were selected to do this, like,

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Speaker 1: how does that work?

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Speaker 2: So I think the first part for school, there are

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Speaker 2: different criterias depending on where you go, right, I think

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Speaker 2: that's sort of like the first selection is making the

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Speaker 2: grades necessary in order to declare, whether it's two years

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Speaker 2: into your degree or in high school being able to

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Speaker 2: enter and do some pre engineering. So there's that. I

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Speaker 2: think after then you have what industry has in terms

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Speaker 2: of the their qualifiers. And I want to kind of

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Speaker 2: say that I think a lot of it is I

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Speaker 2: think a lot of it's BS. And what I mean

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Speaker 2: by that is I truly believe in skills based testing.

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Speaker 2: I believe in evaluating the whole person. I gave a

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Speaker 2: talk once with the CEO of a multi billion dollar

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Speaker 2: company and I came after him and I was like, look,

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Speaker 2: the reality of it is that you and I are

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Speaker 2: sharing the same stage. We came from two different places

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Speaker 2: and we ended up at the same spot. And that's

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Speaker 2: because I had the skill and I had the talent.

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Speaker 2: I didn't have the opportunity. We all know, right, genius

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Speaker 2: is evenly distributed. Opportunity is not. And so when I

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Speaker 2: think about the question about requirements, I actually am looking

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Speaker 2: forward to a future where a lot of those prerequisites

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Speaker 2: go away, and we really start looking at the people

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Speaker 2: because I'm living in a company and an environment where

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Speaker 2: I made it up right in twenty twenty five. I

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Speaker 2: made up my job. I made up the logo, I

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Speaker 2: made up the color scheme. I made up all the

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Speaker 2: positions that the people do. But we've been in business

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Speaker 2: for twelve years. So it was.

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Speaker 1: Like, let's talk about that, Like what is the mindset

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Speaker 1: shift that's different in a NASA engineer to entrepreneurship and

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Speaker 1: how than to astronaut? Like how how do you have

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Speaker 1: to change how you think?

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Speaker 2: I think what happened was instead of me thinking and

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Speaker 2: having the safety net, so to speak, of the government,

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Speaker 2: I decided to bet on myself. The transition from NASA

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Speaker 2: to working in a small business really became. It really

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Speaker 2: was about me meeting people in the valley, some of

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Speaker 2: whom I'm still friends with to this day, and understanding

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Speaker 2: that a lot of folks had a PowerPoint and a

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Speaker 2: dream and they were getting funded. I know you've seen it,

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Speaker 2: so people are more capable than others, And I'll just

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Speaker 2: let you interpret that however you want to interpret that.

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Speaker 2: And I was thinking, wait a second, I got two

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Speaker 2: degrees from Michigin. But I don't think that I can

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Speaker 2: run a company. Why why, Like, what's the difference between

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Speaker 2: me and you? You're doing what I would like to

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Speaker 2: be doing simply because you believe that you should and

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Speaker 2: I'm qualified and I believe that I can't. So that

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Speaker 2: shift was what caused me to go out and try

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Speaker 2: to make it happen. And I'm not going to romanticize

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Speaker 2: the first few years of starting a business. You know

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Speaker 2: it is hard, right, I mean, I'm CouchSurfing. I'm talking

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Speaker 2: to supportive pets and animals about my business because I

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Speaker 2: was too afraid to talk to my family. I mean,

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Speaker 2: listen to the dogs told me I could do it, So

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Speaker 2: I did it.

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Speaker 1: I love it.

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Speaker 2: But the mentality shift is really like, look, why do

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Speaker 2: you spend so much time counting yourself out? Because you

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Speaker 2: are internalizing false societal narratives like you have to love

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Speaker 2: yourself the way that Kanye loves himself. I tell people

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Speaker 2: that all the time, like go hard or go home

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Speaker 2: and go hard for yourself and you will do amazing things.

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Speaker 2: And so my journey is like as much as I

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Speaker 2: want people to go into space and science like I

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Speaker 2: would love it if you did. But the reality of

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Speaker 2: it is, I want you to look at my story

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Speaker 2: and say, every single time somebody told I you should

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Speaker 2: that she could not, she did, I can do it too, right.

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Speaker 2: It's just about being dogged in the pursuit of excellence

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Speaker 2: and whatever success means for you in your life.

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Speaker 1: How are you defining success these days?

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Speaker 2: In wealth?

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Speaker 1: Even let's do both. How are you defining both success

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Speaker 1: and wealth?

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Speaker 2: I'm defining success as accomplishing the goals that are important

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Speaker 2: to me. I like to look at my life on

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Speaker 2: five year iterations, and so for the first five years,

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Speaker 2: I wanted to work for NASA, do cool things, worked

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Speaker 2: on small spacecraft, worked on aircraft, did that. And then

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Speaker 2: after that I wanted to become a business person. I'm

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Speaker 2: twelve years in that game, still doing it. Created another company,

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Speaker 2: raised a couplement million of venture capital, like that's great,

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Speaker 2: love it. And then after that I wanted to figure

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Speaker 2: out how do I put what I do in the

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Speaker 2: celebrity track, so to speak? Right, how do I become

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Speaker 2: a superstar in engineering? And I thought, okay, well I'm

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Speaker 2: going to go to space once again. And I said

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Speaker 2: I'm going to space. People were like I don't think

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Speaker 2: you can do that. I'm like, I get that, but

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Speaker 2: I tell you that I'm in aerospace, and you laugh

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Speaker 2: at my face anyway, So why do I just go

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Speaker 2: the rest of the way and double down and let's

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Speaker 2: go to space. So I look at the successes. Did

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Speaker 2: you build a company, is it working, is it thriving? Yes?

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Speaker 2: Did you set out to achieve what it is that

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Speaker 2: you wanted to achieve in your personal and financial life? Right? Okay, yes?

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Speaker 2: But the other piece is the wealth of doing things

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Speaker 2: that matter. My goal is to be a bedtime story.

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Speaker 2: That's wealth to me. I'm creating endowment so that people

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Speaker 2: will study under my name long after I'm dead and

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Speaker 2: I'm done and I'm ash. I want to make sure

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Speaker 2: that the story lasts and that it's remarkable and people

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Speaker 2: feel inspired by it, and when they hear it, they're

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Speaker 2: just like, WHOA, So she did what? She did what?

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Speaker 2: And hopefully that story will inspire others to reach hire

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Speaker 2: and do the same.

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Speaker 1: You know, you played a pivotal role in bringing the

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Speaker 1: SpaceX rocket landing into the Bahamas and talking about like

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Speaker 1: behind the scenes, like like how'd that happen? How'd you

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Speaker 1: make this happen.

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Speaker 2: Well, I will say that there were a lot of

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Speaker 2: for thinking people that were involved in that historic partnership agreement.

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Speaker 2: But I want to go back to this idea of

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Speaker 2: being unrealistic, because when we started down that path, people

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Speaker 2: were like, Nah, the United States is never I'm like,

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Speaker 2: that doesn't mean that we can't we go do it.

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Speaker 2: And what I wanted to see was participation and what

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Speaker 2: is going to become a trillion dollar industry if it's

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Speaker 2: not already by non traditional players, and for the Bahamas

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Speaker 2: to have the foresight to leverage the infrastructure that has

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Speaker 2: been built since the Apollo program and then to use

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Speaker 2: that along with their tourism industry to say, hey, not

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Speaker 2: only are we sun, sand and sea, we're now space

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Speaker 2: is just revolutionary. And I'm incredibly proud to be part

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Speaker 2: of that work. And so now you have the option

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Speaker 2: you can go to Kennedy in Florida and you can

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Speaker 2: watch launches, but you can also go to the Bahamas

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Speaker 2: and you can see landings.

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Speaker 1: So what does that now mean for the future their

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Speaker 1: space economy in the Bahamas.

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Speaker 2: It's you know, it's such a big question. It's almost

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Speaker 2: hard to define because space transforms everything. It touches, and like,

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Speaker 2: you need everybody for space. I mean, I'm rocking my

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Speaker 2: Lions shirt because this is really the Super Bowl that

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Speaker 2: I wanted and I just can't let that go. But

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Speaker 2: space needs lawyers, Space needs accountants, Space needs doctors, Space

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Speaker 2: needs scientists, Space needs all people. And what happens is

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Speaker 2: you need machinists, you need welders. The infrastructure that is

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Speaker 2: required to support space touches nearly every vertical in an economy.

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Speaker 2: And so for the Bahamas, I think it means stem

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Speaker 2: education and people having a place to go. They're going

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Speaker 2: to be able to live and work in the same place.

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Speaker 2: I think it means they're going to start to see

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Speaker 2: their science and their experiments which are focused on monitoring

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Speaker 2: our Earth and protecting our oceans reaching new heights. I

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Speaker 2: think a record number of people are going to get

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Speaker 2: to see and experience space from the Bahamas. And I'm

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Speaker 2: honored to be the first person of Behaman heritage to

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Speaker 2: go to space. And so I'm really really excited about

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Speaker 2: the economic benefits as well as the overall benefits for

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Speaker 2: climate and Earth and the out years.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, let's dig in on that, you know, because I

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Speaker 1: think about those opportunities just described, and I wonder like

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Speaker 1: what us as black entrepreneurs should be thinking about when

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Speaker 1: you're thinking about the growing space industry. What should we

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Speaker 1: be paying attention to when we're looking for opportunity.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot of opportunity in space. And you know,

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Speaker 2: I take a deep breath because as a small business,

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Speaker 2: I never thought that my company would be involved in

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Speaker 2: such a momentous project because I thought of ourselves as small.

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Speaker 2: But when you look at the space companies, I mean,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to space on a rocket from a company

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Speaker 2: that wasn't even created when I was working at NASA.

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Speaker 2: That's wild, right, I mean SpaceX was just getting started

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Speaker 2: when I was there. And so really it's about daring

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Speaker 2: to dream and having nothing that you want to pursue

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Speaker 2: be too radical or too extreme enough. I mean, look

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Speaker 2: at intuitive machines, look at what's going on with people

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Speaker 2: looking to provide cargoes to the National Space Station, or

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Speaker 2: you know, power beaming or cleaning up space debris. A

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Speaker 2: lot of those ideas they're not coming from large companies,

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Speaker 2: they're from small and so I would bring our innovation,

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Speaker 2: I would bring our ingenuity, I would bring our downright

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Speaker 2: scrappiness and willingness to persist to the game, and you know,

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Speaker 2: feel confident that you can participate, and so talk.

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Speaker 1: To us about what it's like to train for this

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Speaker 1: astronaut experience, like take us in the journey.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So I've been training for the better part of

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Speaker 2: the last year. And when I tell you I'm having

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Speaker 2: so much fun, you get a chance go to my

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Speaker 2: Instagram Ashabo and peep the latest training videos. I am giggling,

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Speaker 2: I'm squealing the guys like she's having too much fun.

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Speaker 2: I am loving it. I pulled six gee's in an

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Speaker 2: FAA approved Human centerfuge, which it's essentially designed to mimic

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Speaker 2: what you can expect to experience inforces in the ascent

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Speaker 2: and descent. And I was like again and again, I

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Speaker 2: was bus like a kid on a carnival ride. I

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Speaker 2: love it. But this isn't just about fun. It's also

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Speaker 2: about being prepared mentally and physically so that I can

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Speaker 2: conduct science as part of my mission. I partnered with

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Speaker 2: Winston Salem, and you know, Winston Salem is in HBCU,

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Speaker 2: but they also have a leading astrobotany lab. And what

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Speaker 2: I wanted to be able to do and kind of

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Speaker 2: the tide of the question that you just asked about,

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Speaker 2: you know, black folks and participating in space. I wanted

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Speaker 2: to take our space intellect and genius and I wanted

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Speaker 2: to leverage it on my mission to produce world class research.

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Speaker 2: And that's what you see when we get involved and

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Speaker 2: we participate. And so we're going to be looking at

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Speaker 2: how plants respond to space. There's a huge agricultural focus.

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Speaker 2: We're genetically sequencing crop plants and the idea is to

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Speaker 2: apply the results to food security here on Earth, because

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Speaker 2: if you can grow plants in inhospitable environments, you can

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Speaker 2: grow them in food deserts here.

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Speaker 1: So I like to ask guess, like what's in like

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Speaker 1: their EBC, their everyday carry And I'm gonna I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: give a little bit of a twist on this for you.

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Speaker 1: Like I wonder, like what is necessary if I USU

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Speaker 1: you to take to space and why?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think the first thing that's necessary for me

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Speaker 2: to take to space is my behaving heritage and my father.

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Speaker 2: I lost my father at the beginning of this year,

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Speaker 2: and I can remember not knowing like how am I

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Speaker 2: going to get out of bed? And how am I

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Speaker 2: going to do this, and one of my close friends

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Speaker 2: purchased a star, and she named the star my dad's name,

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Speaker 2: and she's like, for everywhere he can't be, that you are,

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Speaker 2: and when you go to space, you're going to be

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Speaker 2: just a little bit closer to his star. And I

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Speaker 2: remember thinking just about the importance of looking at the

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Speaker 2: night sky and the importance of really being like our

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Speaker 2: ancest the wildest dreams, Like we talk about that all

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Speaker 2: the time. And I looked at my dad, my dad's

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Speaker 2: text messages, and when he first found out that I

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Speaker 2: was going, he luck me this beautiful message about all

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Speaker 2: the people coming before him being proud of me, and

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Speaker 2: all the people who will come after me being proud

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Speaker 2: of me, and to make sure that I not only

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Speaker 2: meet this moment, but that it's not my moment, it's

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Speaker 2: our moment. And I find a way to share that dream.

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Speaker 2: And so I think the first part is just realizing

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Speaker 2: that I'm having something. I'm having the opportunity to do

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Speaker 2: something that my family and he would have been proud of.

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Speaker 2: The second is I've been traveling around the world collecting

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Speaker 2: literal dreams from students from parents from Kenya to India

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Speaker 2: to the Bahamas and Kentucky, the NCR and those are

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Speaker 2: going to space, they're going to return to them marked

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Speaker 2: in space. And the the idea is to bring space home,

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Speaker 2: right because if you can write your dream, and your

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Speaker 2: dream can go to space and return to you, it's

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Speaker 2: further evidence that your dream is real and it matters.

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Speaker 2: And then the last thing is, I'm carrying the flag

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Speaker 2: from the Moon with me. Now you might be like, wait, what, Yes,

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Speaker 2: the flag from Apollo twelve that Pete Conrad took to

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Speaker 2: the Moon is going to be flying with me, and

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Speaker 2: it's a powerful symbol of the past, the present, and

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Speaker 2: the future of space. And it was loaned to me

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Speaker 2: by Pete's wife, Nancy. She literally said, go to the

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Speaker 2: collection in the museum, go get that flag, and go

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Speaker 2: send it to aacious house. Because what I want I

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Speaker 2: want the world to see that the next fifty years

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Speaker 2: of space is going to look a whole lot different

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Speaker 2: than the last. And those three things are really what

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Speaker 2: I'm thinking about. And then the ability to take that

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Speaker 2: knowledge and take that inspiration and educate and inspire through

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Speaker 2: the products that we've created at LINGO. We have space

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Speaker 2: lessons that are getting rolled out with this launch. And

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Speaker 2: so it's all to me about elevating right, like lifting

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Speaker 2: as I climb and making sure that when I leave,

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Speaker 2: I leave this place better than how I found it.

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Speaker 1: If you would have started another tech company tomorrow, like

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Speaker 1: what problem would you solve?

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Speaker 2: I think the idea is to exit and chill on

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Speaker 2: the beach.

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Speaker 1: Listen.

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Speaker 2: I was like the audacity someone who has done that.

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Speaker 2: You're like, if you were just starting another tech company to.

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Speaker 1: It's like, I'm good, I'm really really really good, Like

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Speaker 1: oh that is it gives me all.

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Speaker 2: List The key in life is to not look like

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Speaker 2: what you've been through. So there's what I'll say. I

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Speaker 2: was going to start a nonprofit tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: I love it.

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Speaker 2: I would be focused on education and opportunity. I've been

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Speaker 2: traveling around in exchange for keynotes, I've been building the

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Speaker 2: funds to create endowments, and so I create an endowment

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Speaker 2: at my community college. I was really honored last year

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Speaker 2: to give a keynote at a conference, and FLU Corporation

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Speaker 2: then donated new lab equipment to my college, and I

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Speaker 2: was like, yes, I really want to use what it

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Speaker 2: is that I've created for good. And I wanted to

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Speaker 2: be invested in education and legal in medicine. I mean,

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Speaker 2: I've now gone through a couple attempts at egg freezing,

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Speaker 2: and that's a whole nother podcast, right, Like fertility and

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Speaker 2: childbirth and all those things. They need us, we need us,

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Speaker 2: and so I want to be part of funding the

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Speaker 2: pathways to make sure that there are more professionals of

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Speaker 2: a diverse background who are able to prove the care,

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Speaker 2: whether it's legal, medical, or otherwise.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, you're going to be on this journey

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Speaker 1: as a real engineer, real you know, aerospace engineering experience,

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Speaker 1: and I'm wondering and I'm curious about what you're hoping

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Speaker 1: to contribute to this team into this mission.

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Speaker 2: You know. One of the things that I love about

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Speaker 2: this mission is I think that the crew really reflects

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Speaker 2: people on Earth, right, And I don't want to live

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Speaker 2: on a planet that doesn't have music. I don't want

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Speaker 2: to live on a planet that doesn't have news. I mean,

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Speaker 2: up until earlier this year, I was a news junkie.

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Speaker 2: I had to tune that down. Yeah, yeah, personal, I

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Speaker 2: think you can resonate. I like to stay informed. I

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Speaker 2: like to listen to the podcast. And I'm also not

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Speaker 2: about prerequisites. I think if that is your dream, you

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Speaker 2: should pursue it. And so I'm excited to be able

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Speaker 2: to hold up science and to hold up what people

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Speaker 2: consider to be traditional as being an aerospace engineer. But

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Speaker 2: I'm the aerospace engineer that almost failed high school. And

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Speaker 2: my story is that you can transcend, you can overcome,

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Speaker 2: and it's not where you start, it's how you finish.

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Speaker 2: And so I'm really proud to be able to walk

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Speaker 2: that path alongside a non traditional yet inspiring crew.

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Speaker 1: Yeah you know, do you how do we go from

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Speaker 1: celebrating individual black success in stem to making systemic changes

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Speaker 1: that increase representation so we get more issues just because

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Speaker 1: that's how it works instead of oh, he's an anomaly.

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Speaker 2: I think part of what I've been enjoying about this

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Speaker 2: process is people learning about the journey and the story.

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Speaker 2: It's me being able to talk to people like you

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Speaker 2: and being like, look, you know, we've really gone through

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Speaker 2: some things, right And before this mission, I felt like

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Speaker 2: I was known in my segment of tech, right, Like,

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Speaker 2: if you were a startup entrepreneur, you probably knew me.

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Speaker 2: If you're an aerospace probably knew me. And now this

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Speaker 2: exposure is going wide and I'm literally getting notes from

435
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 2: parents around the world who we are saying, my daughter

436
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,199
Speaker 2: saw you and she's excited. She's doing her project on you.

437
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,919
Speaker 2: Or you know, my daughters wanted an astronaut costume, but

438
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,680
Speaker 2: it's not a costume. It's a uniform for the job

439
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:42,600
Speaker 2: she's going to have in her future. The representation it matters.

440
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:45,359
Speaker 2: And there's a lot of data that shows that middle

441
00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:48,720
Speaker 2: school girls don't pursue these feels because they don't see themselves.

442
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 2: And it's also the same for people of color, right

443
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 2: they think that they're traditionally dominated by people who are

444
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:58,520
Speaker 2: not like them. And these environments are inhospitable. And I'm

445
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:00,399
Speaker 2: not here to say that it's going to be sunshine,

446
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,399
Speaker 2: rainbows and lollipops. But I didn't like the environment I

447
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 2: was in, so I built my own. I did not

448
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,679
Speaker 2: like what was available in the educational market, so I

449
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,280
Speaker 2: built my own. And so I think, what I really

450
00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:15,439
Speaker 2: am trying to demonstrate is that you matter, You have power,

451
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,120
Speaker 2: and you can choose to change the world no matter

452
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,560
Speaker 2: where you are, no matter what age you may think

453
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,600
Speaker 2: you're at, and if you apply yourself, the outcome will

454
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,679
Speaker 2: surprise you.

455
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:32,119
Speaker 1: You know you're joining And unfortunately, a short legacy, but

456
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,119
Speaker 1: you know, a legacy for real like the May Jamison's,

457
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 1: you know, and the others. Very few black women who

458
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 1: have been in the space. What does that mean to you?

459
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:45,239
Speaker 2: It means everything because we're doing it together. I had

460
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,720
Speaker 2: the opportunity earlier this year to attend the largest meetup

461
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 2: of female astronauts at the un and you had Me, Keisha,

462
00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:57,960
Speaker 2: Jeannette Doctor Practer all in one room, and those who

463
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,240
Speaker 2: were not in the room, they were reaching out out.

464
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 2: The four of us are half of the African American

465
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:07,439
Speaker 2: women who've either gone to space or who are manifested

466
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,719
Speaker 2: to go to space. And it was all hugs, and

467
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,280
Speaker 2: it was all advice, and it was all I'm here

468
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 2: for you. And So when I think about being yet

469
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:22,639
Speaker 2: another data point of excellence, of carrying the flag, of

470
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 2: moving forward the story, I'm excited about highlighting their stories.

471
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 2: And I'm also excited about a future where we're one

472
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,600
Speaker 2: of many and not one of the few.

473
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,320
Speaker 1: No, how do you feel I want you to go

474
00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,280
Speaker 1: in on because you talked about you know, the crew represents,

475
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: you know, all kinds of people from America, you know,

476
00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:45,280
Speaker 1: Gail King, Katy Perry, Like, what does it feel like

477
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,159
Speaker 1: how do you feel about flying with people you know

478
00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:50,520
Speaker 1: like this, like tell me that story, how how this

479
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,360
Speaker 1: really resonates with you?

480
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:56,600
Speaker 2: You know, I'm so excited. They're wonderful we had the

481
00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:00,959
Speaker 2: opportunity to meet, and I just like, of all Gale, right,

482
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 2: like every time I see her, I just want to

483
00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:06,560
Speaker 2: seeze her and to know that Katie, I mean, Katie's

484
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,480
Speaker 2: like the soundtrack to a lot of my high school

485
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 2: and college years and hey, those are fun times. Yeah,

486
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 2: I feel honored that science, that my accomplishments, that the

487
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:25,679
Speaker 2: story is on par with such giants in the field,

488
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,399
Speaker 2: and it's really this excitement to know that they're also

489
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:34,000
Speaker 2: a vehicle for storytelling because only the good stories last.

490
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 2: And so this is going to be a widely seen mission.

491
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,880
Speaker 2: And even more importantly, when they see my name, they're

492
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 2: going to see Winston Salem. When when they see my name,

493
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,440
Speaker 2: they're going to see research. They're going to see somebody

494
00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,200
Speaker 2: who did not think that she could ever do this thing,

495
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,040
Speaker 2: but she's doing it at the highest level. And that's

496
00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:00,120
Speaker 2: really my takeaway and how I feel about it. And

497
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,360
Speaker 2: to be able to do that and know that I

498
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 2: have a WhatsApp group called Space Queens and you can

499
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 2: guess who's in that what that group. It's just it's

500
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 2: an honor and it's a joy.

501
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:13,680
Speaker 1: And finally, you talked a little bit about young people,

502
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 1: specifically young girls who've seen themselves in you. What message

503
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,520
Speaker 1: do you want this flight to send a young black

504
00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:28,160
Speaker 1: kid specifically who dream of careers is them?

505
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,920
Speaker 2: I want to hit that from two angles, because I

506
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:32,400
Speaker 2: want to speak to the kids and I want to

507
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:37,440
Speaker 2: speak to the parents. My life changed because my dad

508
00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:42,360
Speaker 2: was unwilling to accept anything less than greatness from me,

509
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,200
Speaker 2: even when I wasn't demonstrating that. And I think that's

510
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,840
Speaker 2: so important, right, it doesn't matter where a child is,

511
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,240
Speaker 2: speak over them as if they are going to accomplish

512
00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 2: great things. We see that example in the documentary about

513
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,960
Speaker 2: Venus and Serena. Their father was like, wait, what, they're

514
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:04,840
Speaker 2: the best ever?

515
00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:05,440
Speaker 3: Do it?

516
00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,880
Speaker 2: So that you know, I want people to really take

517
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,960
Speaker 2: that out of this, out of this podcast for the

518
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:16,479
Speaker 2: people who are in those positions, right, I know what

519
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,080
Speaker 2: it feels like to be discouraged, to be young, to

520
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,080
Speaker 2: be lost, to be afraid. And what I want you

521
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 2: to understand is that sometimes the things that you think

522
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 2: are setbacks are really a setup. For success right. Failure

523
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,520
Speaker 2: is sometimes success in progress, and so stay with it,

524
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 2: stay with your dreams, stay you know, stay out of

525
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,240
Speaker 2: don't put yourself down right, let's stay out of that,

526
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:52,040
Speaker 2: and to be focused only on what you want for

527
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 2: your life, regardless of how other people feel about it.

528
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 3: Black Tech Green Money is a production to Blavity afro

529
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,480
Speaker 3: Tech on the Black Effect podcast Networking Night Hire Media,

530
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,480
Speaker 3: and it's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas,

531
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 3: with the additional production support by Kate McDonald, Sarah Ergan

532
00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,960
Speaker 3: and Jaden McGee. Special thank you to Michael Davis and Lovebeach.

533
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 3: Learn more about my Guess and other technives us an

534
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,880
Speaker 3: innovators at afrotech dot com. Video version of this episode

535
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,000
Speaker 3: will drop to Black Tech Green Money on YouTube, So

536
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,560
Speaker 3: tap in, enjoy your Black Tech Green Money, share us

537
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 3: to somebody go get your money.

538
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 1: Peace and love,