July 16, 2024 • 18 mins
How does one overcome skepticism and numerous barriers to achieve a successful career in aerospace engineering? Meet Jasmine LaFleur, an accomplished aerospace engineer at Collins Aerospace and co-founder of Greater Than Tech, who shares her remarkable journey from growing up in Flint, Michigan, to making a significant impact in the STEM field. You'll hear about how programs like Carrera for at-risk youth and her own determination propelled her forward, despite the odds. Jasmine's story is a testament to resilience and how early influences can shape one's path to success.
Jasmine's path to becoming an aerospace engineer wasn't easy. As a first-generation college student, she battled academic challenges and personal hardships, including losing close family members. Listen as Jasmine recounts the pivotal moments that shaped her journey, from an inspiring ninth-grade college tour to the struggles of gaining acceptance into the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. Her experiences highlight the importance of removing barriers like GPA requirements to support individuals from underrepresented communities. Jasmine's internal motivation and unyielding passion for helping others underscore the broader mission of inclusivity in STEM.
We also explore the crucial role of early affirmation and supportive environments in fostering STEM success. Jasmine offers insights into creating positive and collaborative atmospheres for young students, emphasizing the importance of community and key supporters. Additionally, we discuss how apprenticeships can revolutionize hiring practices by adopting a skills-first approach. Don't miss Jasmine's practical advice for businesses and her light-hearted nod to the evolution of technology in everyday pleasures like popcorn. This episode is packed with inspiration and valuable insights for anyone passionate about STEM and empowering the next generation.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was in the ninth grade and I was actually a
student in another nonprofitprogram called the Carrera
program and it was for at-riskyouth to help prevent teenage
pregnancy.
So they would take us you know,inner city kids to all these
different experiences and thatwas like the aha moment where I
went on the college tour andrealized, okay, this is where I
(00:21):
find out how planes fly.
So everything from ninth gradeto getting into the university
was like, you know, like I needto get the grades together, I
need to do extracurricularactivities.
I was just very well roundedhigh school student but, coming
from a public school that wasn'treally aiming towards
(00:42):
University of Michigan in AnnArbor, I struggled to get into
the College of Engineering.
I didn't get into the collegewhen I first applied and I
remember my high schoolcounselor even kind of like,
laughed at me when I said Iwanted to do engineering.
I'm coming from a communitythat wasn't well suited or, you
know, an untapped community whenit comes to producing students
(01:02):
to go to top engineering schools, so definitely had a lot of
barriers during my undergraduateexperience.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Hey everyone, this is Mike Roberts, creator of the
Apprenticeship Playbook, andyou're tuned in to the Skills
First podcast.
In today's world, skills First,hiring is revolutionizing the
job market and on this show Isit down with trailblazers who
are rethinking hiring practicesand embracing experiential
learning, as well as the peopleimpacted.
(01:34):
Follow along as we dive intotips, innovative ideas and
proven strategies to help younavigate and thrive in the
evolving landscape of modernapprenticeships.
Can you tell us who you are andwhat is it that you do?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yes, so my name is Jasmine LaFleur.
I am a engineer by day atCollins Aerospace Business Unit
of Raytheon Technologies,working on advanced design and
business development Pretty muchanything that has to do with
our emerging technology andtechnology demos for our
(02:10):
customers to kind of know wherewe're going with our technology
strategy.
And then I am a co-founder andexecutive director of Greater
Than Tech.
We teach girls and underservedyouth STEM and entrepreneurship
together, so they not only seethemselves as engineers and
scientists but also asentrepreneurs and business
owners.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Nice, I love it and I'm familiar with your work.
I know we talked very early on,when you were just starting
this organization and superexcited to see you.
It's almost, or is it more than, a full year in now.
How long have you been?
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
We actually formed the nonprofit in 2019.
So we have the paperwork fromthen.
We had our first program, ourfirst event, literally the day
before the pandemic shut down,like literally March 14th 2020.
It was a one day workshop withsix students.
That was our MVP and that waskind of like how we tested out
(03:06):
our framework for how we teachthe classes or teach the program
, and I would say we were quietfor all of 2020, as most people
were.
Most of our programs are inperson and very hands-on, but
I'll say we re-emerged our likefalse start was 2021, doing a
Girl Meets Drone program.
So I feel like we'retechnically not new, but really
(03:29):
a full, solid year down.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
So you're a little more out of stealth mode is the
way we would describe it in astartup ecosystem.
Tell me a little bit about whatgot you into the work that
you're doing now.
What got you into a STEM career?
What's your background?
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeah, so my background is in aerospace
engineering.
I wanted to know more aboutplanes when I was a kid I'm from
Flint, michigan.
I lived by the airport, so Iwas like a kid looking up to the
sky and I remember asking mymom like how do planes fly or
what's keeping it in the air?
And all she said to me wasmaybe one day you'll have a job
(04:07):
where you can answer thatquestion.
And my mom was an educator, soall the things that she would
say to me was always like Idon't know, jasmine, what do you
think?
I don't know, jasmine, what doyou think?
So I feel like I was alwaysvery inquisitive and like
looking for answers.
I was a very good student whenit came to math and science and,
just you know, honor roll kidand went down the path and
(04:30):
realized that aerospaceengineers are the ones who know
about planes, went to Universityof Michigan.
It was a very difficult processand story First generation
student going away to college.
But what got me thinking aboutUniversity of Michigan was I
went on my first college tourwhen I was in the ninth grade
and I was actually a student inanother nonprofit program called
(04:52):
the Carrera Program and it wasfor at-risk youth to help
prevent teenage pregnancy.
So they would take us you know,inner city kids to all these
different experiences and thatwas like the aha moment where I
went on the college tour andrealized, okay, this is where I
find out how planes fly.
So everything from ninth gradeto getting into the university
(05:13):
was like, you know, like I needto get the grades together, I
need to do extracurricularactivities.
I was just very well-roundedhigh school student but, coming
from a public school that wasn'treally aiming towards
University of Michigan in AnnArbor, I struggled to get into
the College of Engineering.
(05:34):
I didn't get into the collegewhen I first applied and I
remember my high schoolcounselor even kind of like
laughed at me when I said Iwanted to do engineering.
I'm coming from a communitythat wasn't well suited or, you
know, an untapped community whenit comes to producing students
to go to top engineering schools, so definitely had a lot of
barriers during my undergraduateexperience Eventually was able
(05:58):
to get my first job.
Fun fact, I snuck into aconference to actually get the
first job.
So sometimes you have to getcreative to get what you want.
But you know, that's kind oflike how I got to where I am and
I realized that everybodyshould not have to experience
all these barriers to just beable to do what they love.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, because I mean, even if you've got that scrappy
spirit and you want to do well,it seems like there's just so
many barriers, right, like Inever.
I usually think that, like,once someone gets to a big name
school, big university, like,okay, okay, their foot's at the
door, they're good, they'recruising, like some people just
(06:44):
aren't prepared and like, eventhough they get that opportunity
, there's still a lot of work.
That goes into just like makingsure that you don't you don't
end up dropping out or you don'tend up in a situation where,
like you can't, you can't getinto the program that you really
want to, even though you're atan amazing school, you're not
really in a place where, like,you're going to be able to
thrive in what you want to doversus, like, what the
gatekeepers are saying are theonly available opportunities.
(07:07):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Honestly, we can have the whole podcast about the
gatekeeping and the requirementsneeded or you know, quote
unquote to be successful.
I'm a strong advocate of like.
We need to remove barriers whenit comes to GPAs, because that
really can dictate who'sactually going to be able to get
(07:28):
through the door and a lot oftimes when you don't have that.
I'm a student who didn't have agood GPA when I was applying to
jobs, so I'm very passionateabout that, because there are so
many experiences that a lot ofus black and brown people and
first generation students haveto deal with outside of just the
academic.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
What do you think was thebiggest challenge in your
journey?
If there could be like onesingle thing that you say, okay,
this was the worst.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Oh yeah, so my junior year of college.
So, mind you, Mike, I did notget into the College of
Engineering.
When I applied in high school Ihad to do a cross-campus
transfer.
So I got into University ofMichigan Literature, Science and
Art and my plan was to do theprerequisites and transfer into
(08:18):
engineering.
Now, normally that's a two-yearprocess.
I was not doing well in thoseclasses so it took me like four
years to actually transfer intoengineering, although I was
doing the classes.
But one of the most difficultbarriers was that I lost my mom
and my two grandparents in thesame year when I was trying to
(08:40):
make that transfer.
So I took some time off ofschool.
I was out of school for liketwo weeks.
I planned three funerals inthree months, so it was just a
very difficult time, as you canimagine, and I feel like what
kept me going was that I was theone that went away to college
and I wanted to keep that familyname going and my family was so
(09:05):
passionate about education,Like my grandma she was.
Everyone was just so.
They were my biggestcheerleaders.
So I just felt like I was doinga disservice.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, you didn't want to let them down.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, I didn't want to let them down, so that to me
really like was the biggestbarrier.
But when I think about who I amtoday and what I was able to
accomplish from that, I honestlyhave that fighting spirit of
like.
If I can get through that, Ican get through anything and
it's I'm able to help otherpeople now.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
It's just like wow, and it's such a reality that,
like if you a lot of thebarriers that the folks that we
work with or that we know haveto deal with already is just
like, and it gives you thatinternal motivation to just be
like you know what I did allthese other things, Like I'm
gonna make this happen and justget it done Right, Like we're
(09:58):
just, we're just built like thatto just like get hard stuff
done.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
And it's almost like built like that, but.
But almost like you don't havea choice, Like if you don't
figure it out, then it's notgoing to happen.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
It ain't going to happen.
Yeah, true.
So what do you most lookforward to now professionally?
I feel like you made it, likeyou're giving back.
You know you're.
I mean, I talk all the time toa good friend of mine.
Shout out to Neil Bloom.
He's literally a rocketscientist.
And then here you are samething, aerospace engineer.
(10:33):
I feel like you're at thepinnacle, and now you, he's
awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
So what's next?
Basically, try to expand, grow.
We were able to do a prettyfull program this year called
the Community Robotics Programand honestly, I kind of get
chills when I think about it,because that was probably one of
my biggest accomplishments thisyear and I felt like I did it,
(11:02):
scared, like you ever just sayyou want to put it out there and
it's like I don't know if I canreally do it, but I'm just
going to act like I can do itand I did it.
So the community roboticsprogram is a little bit
different than your typicalrobotics program because we
really focus on the studentsideas and and their like, why A
(11:23):
lot of times your typicalrobotics competition, it's more
focused on build a robot tocompete with other robots, to
collect points, and we willcount up the points and that's
how we determine who the winneris.
And we wanted to infuse thatreal world applicability where
students are building robots tohelp with social impact issues.
So it was really cool to workwith students who first timers
(11:46):
in tech.
You know they didn't have a lotof experience with STEM or
robotics program.
So seeing how kids are lookingat solutions for the future and
seeing them light up when theirrobot works and they're able to,
like, articulate their ideasand Neil Bloom was actually one
of our judges um at it, theywere really cool.
But basically just expand thatprogram.
(12:08):
Another big accomplishment forme was being able to hire
college students who neededtheir first technical experience
so we were able to have themhelp us as the instructors and
just be able to grow thatprogram and, you know, have more
gusto around it.
You know, really know that itcan happen because it's happened
(12:28):
before.
But just grow that program to150 students.
We had about 50 students thisyear, so we want to reach more
students and we want to helpother college students, you know
, get their first job as well,and we want to work with
Creating Coding Careers to helpwith the coding part.
So I think it's just more aboutexpanding the programs that we
were doing this year andimpacting more people.
(12:50):
That's what I'm looking forwardto.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Nice.
I love it, so I'm alwaysinterested, as a lifelong
learner, what other people arelearning?
What's the last new thing thatyou learned?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Last new thing I like I I'd learned so many things in
informal ways I'm starting tothink about like how to build
better teams and just like teambuilding, like the importance of
creating teams, a teams why,versus like just getting the
(13:21):
work done if that makes sense.
So like how can we make surethat people are really connected
as a team and I haven't foundthe book I wanna read for that
but just like really taking alot of notes on what I've
learned in the past year and howleadership is really about like
inspiring and motivating teamsand people.
(13:44):
So I would say I'm learning howto do that, but it's still in
work.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I like that, and I think it's more than just
finding complementarypersonalities and skill sets.
But you are greater than thesum of your individual parts.
There is this entity together.
That is is really special whenyou're intentional and and you
and you make that that happen.
So love it, love it.
(14:10):
I'm curious you see a lot ofpeople very, very early on, and
what are some of the behaviorsor habits that you think create
a good foundation for people tothrive in STEM careers?
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Oh, that's a great question.
So I feel like there are a lotof behaviors I'll say for myself
I don't know if you ever heardthat statistic or something
around like show me a kid at ageseven, I'll show you their
future Something about yearszero to seven is the theta time
frame and kids are sponges.
(14:42):
I feel like I was able to get alot of positive affirmation and
like the foundation that reallymade me think that I could
accomplish great things.
So I say that to say when itcomes to the students I work
with I'm normally working withmiddle schoolers, but just
giving them that positiveaffirmation and also helping
them see that like their ideasmatter Something that Dr Wheeler
(15:07):
and I do, my co-founder when westart projects or when we start
classroom time, we normally dolike class appreciations instead
of like class rules, classexpectations.
So it's almost like how can weagree, like even adults and
students, like how can we agreeon how we want to behave and
(15:27):
treat each other during thisexperience?
So the more you give studentssome type of I'll say, like
agency or you know their ownreason why they want to show up,
I think you're going to havestudents who are actually going
to want to show up in a positiveway.
So we always kind of ask themlike what think you're going to
have students who are actuallygoing to want to show up in a
positive way?
So we always kind of ask them,like what do you guys want?
What do you think, what do youwant from us?
(15:48):
So again, I've always been aninquisitive person, like as a
kid, but I think, even more sonow.
I'm always asking everyone'swhy, no matter if you're a adult
or not.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Because I know I am often surprised by the answer to
that question.
It's not what I think is ontheir minds.
It's often very differentbecause they're looking at it
through a completely differentlens.
Yes, so is there anybody thatyou'd like to give a shout out
to?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, Shout out to everybody who donated to us and
plugging the website right now,wwwgreaterthanetechorg.
Backslash donate.
But definitely want to give ashout out to two people who have
been extremely instrumental ingetting greater than tech the
visibility and just me like thetype of encouragement I needed
(16:41):
Atasola Akindele and TerrellSimmons from Rise Urban Nation.
They have been so incrediblewith just like helping me see
the value of what I'm doing, aswell as just that positive talk
that I need from time to time,as you know my being a oh yeah,
it gets overwhelming andsometimes you just hear the
(17:05):
negativity.
But having people in yourcorner who can really say like
you got this, you're doing fine,keep going, and actually be
able to be there for you in a,you know, logistical way has,
like really been a big piece ofwhy we were as successful as we
were this year for Greater DenTech really been a big piece of
why we were as successful as wewere this year for Greater Dent
Tech Nice.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
So great human beings .
I'll put some links to theirLinkedIn bios in the show notes,
because they are amazing folks.
Last and most importantquestion what's your favorite
snack?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Oh, I'm kind of basic with snacks.
I'll say like popcorn, likethat's a good one um, what's the
popcorn?
I get it from holstead.
If I know what the packagelooks like, I can't think of the
name, but it's like this lightpopcorn.
It's like pink and blue.
It's really good, can't?
Speaker 2 (17:56):
take any popcorn, though.
I mean popcorn is tasty andit's like low calories.
You can eat the whole bag likethat's.
That's a good one, yeah, plus,it has emerged through a
marvelous technology.
I remember when I was a littlekid my grandmother used to have
the machine that you put thekernels in and it would pop and
go into the bowl and now youjust put in the microwave.
(18:17):
A couple minutes later, boom,perfect.
Every time yeah, so yeah, it's agood one, that's a good one,
awesome.
Well, thanks so much, jasmine,for coming on the program.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
You've been listening to skills first, the
Apprenticeship Playbook Podcast.
By the way, if this is valuableto you, don't be lame.
Share the game.
This is how we know you love it.
If you're a company thinkingabout changing how you hire,
please share it so we know thistype of stuff is what you want.
I was in the ninth grade and I was actually a
student in another nonprofitprogram called the Carrera
program and it was for at-riskyouth to help prevent teenage
pregnancy.
So they would take us you know,inner city kids to all these
different experiences and thatwas like the aha moment where I
went on the college tour andrealized, okay, this is where I
(00:21):
find out how planes fly.
So everything from ninth gradeto getting into the university
was like, you know, like I needto get the grades together, I
need to do extracurricularactivities.
I was just very well roundedhigh school student but, coming
from a public school that wasn'treally aiming towards
(00:42):
University of Michigan in AnnArbor, I struggled to get into
the College of Engineering.
I didn't get into the collegewhen I first applied and I
remember my high schoolcounselor even kind of like,
laughed at me when I said Iwanted to do engineering.
I'm coming from a communitythat wasn't well suited or, you
know, an untapped community whenit comes to producing students
(01:02):
to go to top engineering schools, so definitely had a lot of
barriers during my undergraduateexperience.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Hey everyone, this is Mike Roberts, creator of the
Apprenticeship Playbook, andyou're tuned in to the Skills
First podcast.
In today's world, skills First,hiring is revolutionizing the
job market and on this show Isit down with trailblazers who
are rethinking hiring practicesand embracing experiential
learning, as well as the peopleimpacted.
(01:34):
Follow along as we dive intotips, innovative ideas and
proven strategies to help younavigate and thrive in the
evolving landscape of modernapprenticeships.
Can you tell us who you are andwhat is it that you do?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yes, so my name is Jasmine LaFleur.
I am a engineer by day atCollins Aerospace Business Unit
of Raytheon Technologies,working on advanced design and
business development Pretty muchanything that has to do with
our emerging technology andtechnology demos for our
(02:10):
customers to kind of know wherewe're going with our technology
strategy.
And then I am a co-founder andexecutive director of Greater
Than Tech.
We teach girls and underservedyouth STEM and entrepreneurship
together, so they not only seethemselves as engineers and
scientists but also asentrepreneurs and business
owners.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Nice, I love it and I'm familiar with your work.
I know we talked very early on,when you were just starting
this organization and superexcited to see you.
It's almost, or is it more than, a full year in now.
How long have you been?
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
We actually formed the nonprofit in 2019.
So we have the paperwork fromthen.
We had our first program, ourfirst event, literally the day
before the pandemic shut down,like literally March 14th 2020.
It was a one day workshop withsix students.
That was our MVP and that waskind of like how we tested out
(03:06):
our framework for how we teachthe classes or teach the program
, and I would say we were quietfor all of 2020, as most people
were.
Most of our programs are inperson and very hands-on, but
I'll say we re-emerged our likefalse start was 2021, doing a
Girl Meets Drone program.
So I feel like we'retechnically not new, but really
(03:29):
a full, solid year down.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
So you're a little more out of stealth mode is the
way we would describe it in astartup ecosystem.
Tell me a little bit about whatgot you into the work that
you're doing now.
What got you into a STEM career?
What's your background?
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeah, so my background is in aerospace
engineering.
I wanted to know more aboutplanes when I was a kid I'm from
Flint, michigan.
I lived by the airport, so Iwas like a kid looking up to the
sky and I remember asking mymom like how do planes fly or
what's keeping it in the air?
And all she said to me wasmaybe one day you'll have a job
(04:07):
where you can answer thatquestion.
And my mom was an educator, soall the things that she would
say to me was always like Idon't know, jasmine, what do you
think?
I don't know, jasmine, what doyou think?
So I feel like I was alwaysvery inquisitive and like
looking for answers.
I was a very good student whenit came to math and science and,
just you know, honor roll kidand went down the path and
(04:30):
realized that aerospaceengineers are the ones who know
about planes, went to Universityof Michigan.
It was a very difficult processand story First generation
student going away to college.
But what got me thinking aboutUniversity of Michigan was I
went on my first college tourwhen I was in the ninth grade
and I was actually a student inanother nonprofit program called
(04:52):
the Carrera Program and it wasfor at-risk youth to help
prevent teenage pregnancy.
So they would take us you know,inner city kids to all these
different experiences and thatwas like the aha moment where I
went on the college tour andrealized, okay, this is where I
find out how planes fly.
So everything from ninth gradeto getting into the university
(05:13):
was like, you know, like I needto get the grades together, I
need to do extracurricularactivities.
I was just very well-roundedhigh school student but, coming
from a public school that wasn'treally aiming towards
University of Michigan in AnnArbor, I struggled to get into
the College of Engineering.
(05:34):
I didn't get into the collegewhen I first applied and I
remember my high schoolcounselor even kind of like
laughed at me when I said Iwanted to do engineering.
I'm coming from a communitythat wasn't well suited or, you
know, an untapped community whenit comes to producing students
to go to top engineering schools, so definitely had a lot of
barriers during my undergraduateexperience Eventually was able
(05:58):
to get my first job.
Fun fact, I snuck into aconference to actually get the
first job.
So sometimes you have to getcreative to get what you want.
But you know, that's kind oflike how I got to where I am and
I realized that everybodyshould not have to experience
all these barriers to just beable to do what they love.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, because I mean, even if you've got that scrappy
spirit and you want to do well,it seems like there's just so
many barriers, right, like Inever.
I usually think that, like,once someone gets to a big name
school, big university, like,okay, okay, their foot's at the
door, they're good, they'recruising, like some people just
(06:44):
aren't prepared and like, eventhough they get that opportunity
, there's still a lot of work.
That goes into just like makingsure that you don't you don't
end up dropping out or you don'tend up in a situation where,
like you can't, you can't getinto the program that you really
want to, even though you're atan amazing school, you're not
really in a place where, like,you're going to be able to
thrive in what you want to doversus, like, what the
gatekeepers are saying are theonly available opportunities.
(07:07):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Honestly, we can have the whole podcast about the
gatekeeping and the requirementsneeded or you know, quote
unquote to be successful.
I'm a strong advocate of like.
We need to remove barriers whenit comes to GPAs, because that
really can dictate who'sactually going to be able to get
(07:28):
through the door and a lot oftimes when you don't have that.
I'm a student who didn't have agood GPA when I was applying to
jobs, so I'm very passionateabout that, because there are so
many experiences that a lot ofus black and brown people and
first generation students haveto deal with outside of just the
academic.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
What do you think was thebiggest challenge in your
journey?
If there could be like onesingle thing that you say, okay,
this was the worst.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Oh yeah, so my junior year of college.
So, mind you, Mike, I did notget into the College of
Engineering.
When I applied in high school Ihad to do a cross-campus
transfer.
So I got into University ofMichigan Literature, Science and
Art and my plan was to do theprerequisites and transfer into
(08:18):
engineering.
Now, normally that's a two-yearprocess.
I was not doing well in thoseclasses so it took me like four
years to actually transfer intoengineering, although I was
doing the classes.
But one of the most difficultbarriers was that I lost my mom
and my two grandparents in thesame year when I was trying to
(08:40):
make that transfer.
So I took some time off ofschool.
I was out of school for liketwo weeks.
I planned three funerals inthree months, so it was just a
very difficult time, as you canimagine, and I feel like what
kept me going was that I was theone that went away to college
and I wanted to keep that familyname going and my family was so
(09:05):
passionate about education,Like my grandma she was.
Everyone was just so.
They were my biggestcheerleaders.
So I just felt like I was doinga disservice.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, you didn't want to let them down.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, I didn't want to let them down, so that to me
really like was the biggestbarrier.
But when I think about who I amtoday and what I was able to
accomplish from that, I honestlyhave that fighting spirit of
like.
If I can get through that, Ican get through anything and
it's I'm able to help otherpeople now.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
It's just like wow, and it's such a reality that,
like if you a lot of thebarriers that the folks that we
work with or that we know haveto deal with already is just
like, and it gives you thatinternal motivation to just be
like you know what I did allthese other things, Like I'm
gonna make this happen and justget it done Right, Like we're
(09:58):
just, we're just built like thatto just like get hard stuff
done.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
And it's almost like built like that, but.
But almost like you don't havea choice, Like if you don't
figure it out, then it's notgoing to happen.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
It ain't going to happen.
Yeah, true.
So what do you most lookforward to now professionally?
I feel like you made it, likeyou're giving back.
You know you're.
I mean, I talk all the time toa good friend of mine.
Shout out to Neil Bloom.
He's literally a rocketscientist.
And then here you are samething, aerospace engineer.
(10:33):
I feel like you're at thepinnacle, and now you, he's
awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
So what's next?
Basically, try to expand, grow.
We were able to do a prettyfull program this year called
the Community Robotics Programand honestly, I kind of get
chills when I think about it,because that was probably one of
my biggest accomplishments thisyear and I felt like I did it,
(11:02):
scared, like you ever just sayyou want to put it out there and
it's like I don't know if I canreally do it, but I'm just
going to act like I can do itand I did it.
So the community roboticsprogram is a little bit
different than your typicalrobotics program because we
really focus on the studentsideas and and their like, why A
(11:23):
lot of times your typicalrobotics competition, it's more
focused on build a robot tocompete with other robots, to
collect points, and we willcount up the points and that's
how we determine who the winneris.
And we wanted to infuse thatreal world applicability where
students are building robots tohelp with social impact issues.
So it was really cool to workwith students who first timers
(11:46):
in tech.
You know they didn't have a lotof experience with STEM or
robotics program.
So seeing how kids are lookingat solutions for the future and
seeing them light up when theirrobot works and they're able to,
like, articulate their ideasand Neil Bloom was actually one
of our judges um at it, theywere really cool.
But basically just expand thatprogram.
(12:08):
Another big accomplishment forme was being able to hire
college students who neededtheir first technical experience
so we were able to have themhelp us as the instructors and
just be able to grow thatprogram and, you know, have more
gusto around it.
You know, really know that itcan happen because it's happened
(12:28):
before.
But just grow that program to150 students.
We had about 50 students thisyear, so we want to reach more
students and we want to helpother college students, you know
, get their first job as well,and we want to work with
Creating Coding Careers to helpwith the coding part.
So I think it's just more aboutexpanding the programs that we
were doing this year andimpacting more people.
(12:50):
That's what I'm looking forwardto.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Nice.
I love it, so I'm alwaysinterested, as a lifelong
learner, what other people arelearning?
What's the last new thing thatyou learned?
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Last new thing I like I I'd learned so many things in
informal ways I'm starting tothink about like how to build
better teams and just like teambuilding, like the importance of
creating teams, a teams why,versus like just getting the
(13:21):
work done if that makes sense.
So like how can we make surethat people are really connected
as a team and I haven't foundthe book I wanna read for that
but just like really taking alot of notes on what I've
learned in the past year and howleadership is really about like
inspiring and motivating teamsand people.
(13:44):
So I would say I'm learning howto do that, but it's still in
work.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I like that, and I think it's more than just
finding complementarypersonalities and skill sets.
But you are greater than thesum of your individual parts.
There is this entity together.
That is is really special whenyou're intentional and and you
and you make that that happen.
So love it, love it.
(14:10):
I'm curious you see a lot ofpeople very, very early on, and
what are some of the behaviorsor habits that you think create
a good foundation for people tothrive in STEM careers?
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Oh, that's a great question.
So I feel like there are a lotof behaviors I'll say for myself
I don't know if you ever heardthat statistic or something
around like show me a kid at ageseven, I'll show you their
future Something about yearszero to seven is the theta time
frame and kids are sponges.
(14:42):
I feel like I was able to get alot of positive affirmation and
like the foundation that reallymade me think that I could
accomplish great things.
So I say that to say when itcomes to the students I work
with I'm normally working withmiddle schoolers, but just
giving them that positiveaffirmation and also helping
them see that like their ideasmatter Something that Dr Wheeler
(15:07):
and I do, my co-founder when westart projects or when we start
classroom time, we normally dolike class appreciations instead
of like class rules, classexpectations.
So it's almost like how can weagree, like even adults and
students, like how can we agreeon how we want to behave and
(15:27):
treat each other during thisexperience?
So the more you give studentssome type of I'll say, like
agency or you know their ownreason why they want to show up,
I think you're going to havestudents who are actually going
to want to show up in a positiveway.
So we always kind of ask themlike what think you're going to
have students who are actuallygoing to want to show up in a
positive way?
So we always kind of ask them,like what do you guys want?
What do you think, what do youwant from us?
(15:48):
So again, I've always been aninquisitive person, like as a
kid, but I think, even more sonow.
I'm always asking everyone'swhy, no matter if you're a adult
or not.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Because I know I am often surprised by the answer to
that question.
It's not what I think is ontheir minds.
It's often very differentbecause they're looking at it
through a completely differentlens.
Yes, so is there anybody thatyou'd like to give a shout out
to?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Yeah, Shout out to everybody who donated to us and
plugging the website right now,wwwgreaterthanetechorg.
Backslash donate.
But definitely want to give ashout out to two people who have
been extremely instrumental ingetting greater than tech the
visibility and just me like thetype of encouragement I needed
(16:41):
Atasola Akindele and TerrellSimmons from Rise Urban Nation.
They have been so incrediblewith just like helping me see
the value of what I'm doing, aswell as just that positive talk
that I need from time to time,as you know my being a oh yeah,
it gets overwhelming andsometimes you just hear the
(17:05):
negativity.
But having people in yourcorner who can really say like
you got this, you're doing fine,keep going, and actually be
able to be there for you in a,you know, logistical way has,
like really been a big piece ofwhy we were as successful as we
were this year for Greater DenTech really been a big piece of
why we were as successful as wewere this year for Greater Dent
Tech Nice.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
So great human beings .
I'll put some links to theirLinkedIn bios in the show notes,
because they are amazing folks.
Last and most importantquestion what's your favorite
snack?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Oh, I'm kind of basic with snacks.
I'll say like popcorn, likethat's a good one um, what's the
popcorn?
I get it from holstead.
If I know what the packagelooks like, I can't think of the
name, but it's like this lightpopcorn.
It's like pink and blue.
It's really good, can't?
Speaker 2 (17:56):
take any popcorn, though.
I mean popcorn is tasty andit's like low calories.
You can eat the whole bag likethat's.
That's a good one, yeah, plus,it has emerged through a
marvelous technology.
I remember when I was a littlekid my grandmother used to have
the machine that you put thekernels in and it would pop and
go into the bowl and now youjust put in the microwave.
(18:17):
A couple minutes later, boom,perfect.
Every time yeah, so yeah, it's agood one, that's a good one,
awesome.
Well, thanks so much, jasmine,for coming on the program.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
You've been listening to skills first, the
Apprenticeship Playbook Podcast.
By the way, if this is valuableto you, don't be lame.
Share the game.
This is how we know you love it.
If you're a company thinkingabout changing how you hire,
please share it so we know thistype of stuff is what you want.
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