Leading Ladies Of...Podcast Fiona McKay

In many industries, the change in % of women in the industry, especially in senior positions, is still painfully slow. By sharing our experiences, mentoring provides an opportunity to accelerate the numbers breaking through the ceiling. In this episode we discuss the importance of mentoring, the benefits of both formal & 'accidental mentoring, how to find a mentor, and the importance of looking outside of your existing circles.

Bianca's story is one of triumph. From almost being homeless, to being chosen to work on NASA's Insight Mars Mission, her story is one of amazing accomplishment despite early adversity. In this podcast we discuss how to ignore the labels given to us by ourselves and others, how what happened to you doesn't have to become your story, and why we must speak up to support others that are being labelled.

What can adults learn from this hard-working high school student? A TON! Gitkia Gorthi is our youngest ever podcast guest, but her advice is awe-inspiring. At age 14 she founded her own non-profit, Ignited Thinkers, and later completed an internship at NASA’s Gene Lab. This inspiring young lady demonstrates how you can find the courage to build anything you want, regardless of age and lack of connections. She’s built her very own network of industry leaders that are supporting her with inspiring the next generation through her endeavors.

You could never have predicted the trajectory of Christina’s life as a singer and musician would lead to her managing astronauts and space events and experiences. But that unique background has given a much needed perspective to help connect the space industry and the mainstream world to remember why everyone loves space. In this episode, we discuss how even though it might not be easy to be the outlier, there is a tremendous amount of benefit it can bring – to individuals, to organizations, and even entire industries.

We’ve said it many times – we have to break our own glass ceilings before we can break THE glass ceiling. We can’t change others’ perceptions until we change our own. So how do we do this? Captain Erika Armstrong, author of A Chick In The Cockpit, believes it begins with understanding our own sterotypes that are holding us back, because this knowledge changes everything. In this episode we discuss how to stop holding back on ourselves, and how use our perspective to turn the barriers of today into little hurdles of the future – so with enough determination and momentum we can leap over them.

Matt Higa is the man behind 'The Top 62 Women In Aviation & Aerospace To Follow On LinkedIn List.' In this podcast you'll get to hear more about the man behind the list, his reasons for creating the list, his plan to get an all-female crew to Mars, and how managing mindset is critical to meeting big, audacious goals.