Kelly Larson has climbed mountains. Literally and figuratively.   (Check out her TED talk  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49CaCeC4C_Y)!  As the CEO of Aquarian Space, there’s always challenges to be overcome, just like the challenges we must overcome within our universe. Major space weather events. Solar flares, coronal mass ejections. Don’t worry, Kelly’s working on it.  Beth and Kelly share a casual conversation that answers:    What’s more difficult? Being a CEO to a space start-up, or completing a Ph.D.?  What motivates Kelly to climb mountains when it can be SO DIFFICULT?  A LOT of our asteroid detection is done by volunteers. This global threat has some great people working on this and they’re doing a great job. Is it enough?  Which leadership traits can be implemented from years of yoga practice and instruction?    “This industry is a key essential about life… our capacity to be in touch with the wonder and the awe that space reminds us of. To be in touch with that, I believe, makes us better humans.”-Kelly Larson from Casual Space Podcast  About Kelly Larson: CEO of Aquarian Space, TEDx speaker and a serial entrepreneur, Kelly Larson, ABD, is an innovator at the intersection of business, science and leadership. As a farm girl grown into a Yoga and transformation entrepreneur turned space CEO, she trail-blazes new business ventures and connects people and ideas across the globe. Kelly is widely known for her innovative approaches to business and her strategic range. She currently specializes in aerospace market-ready development strategies with an emphasis in collaborative international partnerships and high-level entrepreneurial ventures. Kelly sees that we can only develop a strong interplanetary economy together.  “We’re going to network the solar system so that people going to Jupiter, anybody that wants to go out into space can send a signal back to Earth- we’re offering a higher data capacity option.”  About Aquarian Space: https://aquariandevices.com/ Aquarian Space (formerly Devices) is the world’s first commercial Space Based Interplanetary Communications Provider.  Their Space Based Relay Network allows customers to send and receive high volumes of uninterrupted streaming data quickly and reliably, 24/7.  Aquarian Devices is building the foundational infrastructure for a fully networked Solar System that will relieve a major bottleneck in lunar and deep space communications and open the door for humanity’s expansion into the next frontier. PS- Aquarian Devices is currently looking for a CTO, and a COO! More details at the end of the show notes.     BONUS SHOW NOTES & QUOTES:  On being a female CEO: “During today’s space conference, I’ve been noticing on the panels where both male and female CEO’s are presenting, the females are asked about risk, and the males are asked about their upsides.” I feel like I’m paddling upstream sometimes. I prefer to be kind, and a relational-based person. That means that (at times) people tend to often underestimate me. I have advantages: I can relate with people really well. I have a fresh energy. What I see in my future is an adventure. To me, being a woman and being a leader is not just about breaking stereotypes, it’s also about bringing the gifts that are innate. I have different hormones in my body and I’m wired differently, so I feel delighted in trailblazing as one of many women that’s about femininity that’s really powerful in leadership.” About Being a CEO: “I’ve done start-ups before. The bootstrapping. It’s hard. I mean, it’s really hard. Raising capital is a whole other level with the team. Doing a start up with one of the more audacious technologies, and one of the most ‘out there’ industries, it was so hard. It was so challenging. I just listened to my gut and I just knew that this was going to be a long-term thing for me. I got through the first layer of fire, and now it’s really fun.”  “I never questioned that I was supposed to be doing this. When I’m co