Today’s Number: 5.

That’s the number of years I’ve been at NASA JPL. August 31st marked my half-decade milestone. This being my first job in the public sector, I recently received a 5-year service award:

Look Ma, I’m award-winning!

Looking back, I survived a lot of hardships:

• The massive budgetary cuts to NASA.
• The 2024 layoffs at JPL.
• The LA fires.
• The ongoing budget uncertainty.

JPL is still not in the clear. Continued budget slashes to NASA programs have led to yet another round of layoffs at JPL — it’s practically written in the stars, with the cuts set to hit in October.

I left JPL ahead of the upcoming layoffs.

Yep, you read that right: I left NASA JPL. My last day was last Friday.

I’m moving on to another adventure in November. I’ll share more details in the coming weeks.

I have left JPL and, it feels… weird.

Because it’s been 5 years.

I could dive into the why I left, but I would rather focus on what I left.

There is the obvious what I left: I am leaving a place with so much history. A place considered a leader in space exploration. I am leaving a place filled with some really smart people. Blah blah blah… We all know this song.

But the tune we are not familiar with is the mark I am leaving behind.

I’m leaving behind a better understanding of the value of design. Throughout the projects I worked on, I could see this shift. I was being pulled into meetings, looped into important convos, asked for input on everything from tiny tweaks to big-picture stuff. And every now and then, I’d hear my own words repeated back to me.

This is so awesome, I need to high 5 myself:

My teammates started thinking more like designers by approaching problems with empathy and putting themselves in the users’ shoes. They began asking things like, “What would Joey-Bag-of-Donuts do in that situation?” or saying, “This app is for someone non-technical, so we can’t assume they’ll understand all the details.” This was so cool to witness.

Go team!

I led projects from start to finish by doing the work and setting a high (five!) bar. Over time, that approach caught on. Developers I worked with started asking the right questions in meetings, like, “What problem are we really solving?”

This deserves another high 5:

I started to notice stakeholders picking up on my way of thinking — even my sense of humor and the language I used. Stakeholders were repeating phrases I’d say, like reminding the team not to jump straight into the “how” before we really understand the problem we’re trying to solve. I’m so proud of my stakeholders. 

Let’s give another high 5:

I ended up mentoring and coaching all kinds of folks: designers, developers, even a few rocket scientists! People came to me for advice, feedback, or just a gut check, and honestly, I loved it.

Right on!

Despite all of JPL’s challenges, I was able to accomplish quite a bit. For me, it’s been a rewarding 5 years of service, filled with growth, learning, and meaningful accomplishments. 

I’ve learned a lot. I’ve grown a lot. And I’ve left a lot. I can say that I am leaving JPL in a better place. Thank you all for the opportunity to serve.

Ad astra