I dare you to not be inspired by what Dr. Cecilia Rodriguez Aragon has done with her life. In today’s episode Cecilia shares her story of moving through fear, learning to fly and dismantling the perceived limitations that gripped her imagination. For little girls and women aspiring to achieve great things, it’s the story of overcoming incredible barriers and achieving your dreams. And for the rest, it’s a reminder of the consequences of unexamined implicit bias, privilege, bullying, and negativity.

The slow therapy of discipline, repetition, and consistency alongside the ability to literally turn the perspective of the world upside down in aerobatics – marks when she really started to soar.

An uplifting conversation, we draw on references to her recent memoir Flying Free: My Victory over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team that tells the exhilarating story of how she broke free from her own fears to become a champion pilot.

We dive into how she went from timid, fearful daughter of immigrants to daredevil airshow pilot while raising children and asking hard questions of the data science industry.

 Cecilia’s multiple talents include champion aerobatic pilot, many times author, fluency in 4 four languages and professor in human centered data science. Her innovative research, and a stint at NASA designing software for Mars missions, led President Obama to call her “one of the top scientists and engineers in the country.”  

Topics Include:

• The impact of childhood teachers and role models
• Intersectionality ( American - Chilean - Filipino )
• Growing up first-generation American
• Bullying and intergenerational trauma
• Examining “selfish” 
• Speaking your truth
• Earning a place on the US Aerobatic Team
• Competing in France and patriotism
• Innovative mentoring using online networks
• The influence of teacher expectations in determining our success
• The field of Human-Centered Data Science
• And other topics...

Dr. Cecilia Aargon is the director of the Human-Centered Data Science Lab at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on enabling humans to explore and gain insight from vast data sets. She has over 200 publications in data science, human-computer interaction, visual analytics, computer science, and astrophysics. Following a passion for flying unusual attitudes, she won a bronze medal at the 1993 U.S. National Aerobatic Championships and the 1994 World Aerobatic Championships. She has over 70 trophies in regional aerobatic competitions at the Unlimited level and was California State Unlimited Aerobatic Champion in 1990.Resources Mentioned:Connect With Cecilia – https://linktr.ee/CeciliaAragonBook – Flying Free by Cecilia Aragon (https://www.amazon.com/Flying-Free-Victory-Become-Aerobatic/dp/1665088087)https://CeciliaAragonAuthor.com/ https://www.instagram.com/CeciliaRAragon/ https://twitter.com/CeciliaRAragonhttps://www.facebook.com/CeciliaAragonAuthor/ Want to connect? Visit us online and signup for the monthly WWF newsletter!Website – https://www.whenwomenfly.com/Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest – @whenwomenflyEmail – hello@whenwomenfly.com