012— Part 1 w/ Astronaut Rhea Seddon! Trailblazer & Ceiling Breaker: Reaching for the stars (Episode 1 of 3)

This episode on life behind the scenes features a funny personal Thanksgiving family story that includes her astronaut husband, their private plane, and a jello mold!
About our Guest
She was one of the 1st 6 women astronauts accepted by NASA, in the class of ‘35 that included Sally Ride and Judy Resnick. She went to Berkley in the 60s and protested the very war her future Top Gun pilot husband was flying over and fighting. She was one of only 6 women in her class of 100 at Medical School and the only woman in her residency program. Told she could wait in the nurse’s bathroom on a folding chair between surgeries while her male colleagues sat in the Doctor’s lounge, she managed it all with grace and style. She went on to marry fellow astronaut Capt. Robert Hoot Gibson and the two produced the world’s first Astrotot (children born to an astronaut couple). But what people don’t know is that after her days at NASA she became a business owner learning to navigate working and traveling with male colleagues in a business environment. Today in this exclusive interview we ask Dr. Seddon what it was like post-Space Shuttle era working in and running a business, a home, and a life! You can catch Rhea in the National Geographic docu-series Challenger: The Final Flight

In this episode:
Stephanie interviews Astronaut Rhea Seddon in an exclusive that features questions never before asked about Rhea's entrepreneurial life after NASA. This 3 part series covers her life post-astronaut as a business owner, and what it was like juggling a very public career while also being a wife and mom (Part 2). Plus an extra edition (Part 3) where she talks about what it was like to write her memoir.
Show Breakdown
0:00— Intro
02:00— Welcome of Astronaut Rhea Seddon
03:00— Dr. Seddon briefly discusses her time at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
04:25— The story of how she became a founding partner of LifeWings Partners
06:14— Rhea shares what it was like to live and work in a man's world "then"
10:50—What was the best part of being a part of and running a business?
12:45— What it was like dealing with Doctors as business owners while with LifeWings
15:55—The side of Rhea public never sees or knows
16:50— The Thanksgiving, a 4-seater plane, and a jello mold
19:25— Wrap up

If you know someone who would be someone you think Stephanie should interview, why not let us know? Email [email protected] today, and we will send them our application process and get that ball rolling!