From NASA Engineer to Blue Origin Astronaut and CEO

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
So how is it for you to go from being an employee to being an entrepreneur?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:06)
You know, I feel like my strength in this situation is knowing that there's so much that I don't know. Like when I was an employee, when I would go to work every day, all I wanted to do was be respected for the things that I know. And as a entrepreneur, all I want to do is go out and speak to people and tell them that I don't know, right? That I can be made better by the things that they know. That is my goal.
Just be able to listen and support and have people improve the things that I create.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:41)
That's on a personal level as an entrepreneur, but you're also the CEO.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:45)
Yeah.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:45)
And so there's people that are relying on you for their leadership. So walking into that role, how has the dynamics been for you?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:53)
You know, like I shifted when he asked me that question because the question really strikes at home because I spent so many years as a woman professional just wanting to be seen as being good enough. And when I let go of that, I realized that my strength is being authentic and being empathetic.
And when I took a step back, I was crowding out the sun because I was trying to always lead and be strong and all this other stuff. And so when I said to the team for both businesses, hey, I want to make space for you to bring your gifts. That's really when I started to see exponential growth. So I have this concept of 80-20. You hire somebody 80 percent for the things on the resume that you know that they can do, and the 20 percent that they could bring to the table that you haven't discovered yet. And you cultivate that person, and they will take you to places that you never knew that you would go.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:50)
So let's talk about going to space. So what is the program that you're going to out of space? How did you get involved in that? And are you just going up, coming back down? Is there observation that you're going to be doing when you're up? Like, what's happening with that situation?

**SPEAKER_2** (2:07)
So I'm going to be flying to space on the new Shepard vehicle with Blue Origin. We will be coming up and we will be coming back down. And I'm excited about that.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:16)
How long will you be out of space?

**SPEAKER_2** (2:17)
The total trip, so the round trip is roughly, I don't know, less than an hour, and it's about 10 minutes of microgravity.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:26)
10 minutes out of space?

**SPEAKER_2** (2:27)
Yes.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:28)
So 25, like 20 minutes coming up, 10 minutes out of space and 20 minutes come back down.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:33)
I think so. And I think we got to fix our hair before we can get out. So there's some time there.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:39)
Sure.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:40)
So I will be the first to tell you that I never thought that I was going to be leaving the Earth's atmosphere. I don't even like turbulence on commercial flights. And so for me, this is a try it before you buy it situation where I get to try space in a controlled scenario.
Once I started working at NASA and meeting amazing astronauts, I never thought that I could be them. And this is what I like about life and karma in the world is like, right when you think that you can't be something, life will show you that you can. And I said to myself many years ago, one of these years, I'm going to apply to be a NASA astronaut. I'm going to go to the International Space Station. And somehow I managed not to do it for a year, after year, after year.
And all of a sudden have the opportunity to be a Blue Origin astronaut. And my goal is to complete this. And if I like it, which I'm probably going to love it, I'm going to turn around, I'm going to apply to be a NASA astronaut.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:37)
What's the preparation like for this? I remember, maybe it was last year, they had Michael Tre in, and he was going through it, and he had to take some time off from Good Morning America.
What do you have to do? What are they putting you through to get you prepared for this moment?

**SPEAKER_2** (3:53)
So they have a training program in their facility in Van Horn, Texas, that's mandatory. But in addition to that, you can do a host of other things. And so I'm going to be participating in a microgravity flight. I'm looking to fly on a fighter flight with the jets like real fast, I like to go fast.