Get yourself a career advocate. Or seven. Seriously, there are people who have helped me so much along the way that sometimes I wasn’t even sure what I did to deserve it. I have been fortunate for the last 5 years to have that advocacy from former Space Shuttle pilot and all around outstanding leader and role model Pam Melroy. Pam and I met and worked together when we formed a consortium between NASA and the Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency around the topic of rendezvous and proximity operations for satellite servicing. The amazing Pam is now currently living temporarily in Australia where she is helping to form the Australian Space Agency.
A couple of Australian trailblazers who do a podcast called “Don’t Stop Us Now”, featuring ‘innovative and pioneering women from around the globe’ reached out to her looking for someone to highlight on their show around the time of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Pam recommended me. When I received the email from my now-virtual-friends Greta Thomas and Claire Hatton, the hosts, I about jumped out of my chair, I was so excited. I immediately said yes, knowing that I know NOTHING about how to do such an interview. But I figured I’d figure it out. It also had everything to do with the fact that Greta and Claire made me feel immediately comfortable, stating “we pre-record the show, because we want you to be as happy with the final product as we know you’d want to be.” Wow, what a deal! I couldn’t pass that up.
That’s my daughter, helping test the equipment I used to tape the podcast; a microphone, headset, and something that looked like it was supposed to keep your voice from echoing was sent to me along with a link to a YouTube video on how to set it all up. So, yeah, the process is not glamorous. In fact, I had to rig up the equipment using a US postal service box, some tape and possibly a large hair clip or two. But, that’s what you do to talk to folks a half a world away but still sound like you are in the same room with them.
I purposely didn’t listen to any previous episodes before recording. I’m the type that is easily influenced, and I was concerned that if I heard others answer similar questions, I might sound like them and not me. And the last thing I wanted to sound like was, well, not myself. Because Greta and Claire are in Australia and I am in the U.S. the taping was held at 6 pm my time, 8 am their time. On recording day, my husband graciously offered to take the kids out to a movie so that I could have the house to myself and not worry about kids bounding in to the kitchen yelling what was for dinner or could they go to a friends house and could I drop everything I was doing to drive them. They enjoyed seeing “Spiderman – Far From Home” far more than tip-toeing around while I tried my hardest to wax poetic about leadership and being a woman in tech.
I think for the last hour before it started, I paced. Back and forth. Forth and back. And then, it was time. I’d never Skyped before – embarrasing as that was to admit to them - so it took a couple of minutes to connect. Operator error on my part. But once the podcast taping started, the time just flew by. It felt like I was talking to old friends or kindred spirits or just fellow hard working women. After it was over, it was all a blur. They always ask the guest a question about what their childhood was like growing up. I told my husband, “I think I talked a lot about Polish food and playing kickball and when my Mom was so annoyed that I didn’t want to get on the school bus and our annual Christmas Eve traditions. I’m not really sure.” All I can say is, their editor is masterful. They cut out the extraneous nonsense I babbled on about, and kept the good stuff. All in all they somehow made me sound like a podcast pro, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
One final note on the podcast that I want to clarify. During it (“Don’t Stop Us Now” Episode 36) we talk a lot about NASA’s Artemis mission to send the first woman to the moon in 2024. I had an interesting conversation with a male colleague, who listened to my episode. He told me that in the 1990s there was a big diversity push at NASA, and many women were selected for positions for which their qualifications were highly suspect. It led to a lot of hard feelings and, in fact, lawsuits. One thing I wish I had said during the interview but didn’t is the following. No woman I know at NASA wants to be in their position simply because they are female. The women I know want a position because they are the most qualified and because they competed for a job and gained it based on merit. Anything less does a disservice to everyone in the workplace. I know many women feel uncomfortable and even physically bristle or squirm when this subject comes up. There are many highly qualified females already in the astronaut corps. There are about a dozen in contention for Artemis-1, and one of them will be selected as the first of her gender to walk on the moon, and she will be just as qualified as any male counterpart. Still, taking this giant leap is important, and the symbolism of it shouldn’t be minimized. It’s important that we are in the same arena, but only because that person-who happens to be a woman- is qualified and has earned her spot in that spacecraft - and in this case the arena just happens to be the Lunar surface.
