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Built in Public
The Manifestation Formula That Changed Her Entire Career, with Dr. Ruby Patterson
00:34:16
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- [00:00]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
And so I made a NASA bucket list, And I put 12 things on this bucket list. I want to knock off one of these every single month for the next year.
- [00:09]
Courtney Johnson
You have some genius cheat codes. I mean, you're a NASA scientist, genius founder, tech science, everything genius goddess.
- [00:18]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
One of the reasons why we decided to make this show is because we wanted to get in front of people who are either, like, founding companies that we think are really cool, or they're creating social change that we think is really impactful and necessary.
- [00:29]
Courtney Johnson
You have a strong personal brand. You really value your personal brand. And I'm curious what advice you would give for other, like, scientists.
- [00:36]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
You may or may not remember me. I was the butt at the Halloween party.
- [00:39]
Courtney Johnson
I haven't forgotten about you.
- [00:41]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Do you still want to have coffee with an astronaut? And I said, full send. Yes, obviously. Let's go. And I recorded a selfie video where I was like, today's the day I'm gonna meet my man. And I met him like an hour later. And at the end of the day, he's like, rubes, I don't want this to be weird, but I have been praying for a woman like you to.
- [00:57]
Courtney Johnson
Come into my life. Foreign. Welcome to Slay the Gatekeeper. I'm your host, Courtney Johnson, and I am here to un. Gatekeep the gatekept. Thank you so much for being here. Enjoy. Welcome to my bed, Ruby.
- [01:15]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Thank you. I never thought I'd be here, but I love being here.
- [01:18]
Courtney Johnson
And welcome to Slay the Gatekeeper.
- [01:20]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Thank you. I'm stoked.
- [01:21]
Courtney Johnson
I had so much fun on your.
- [01:23]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
On your podcast that I had to have you on. Thank you. I really appreciate you taking a chance and agreeing to come on my show. Us never having met in person, just online, well, it's a testament to how brave you are.
- [01:33]
Courtney Johnson
You did level up on LinkedIn. So we were like this.
- [01:36]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
True, true.
- [01:37]
Courtney Johnson
Yeah. Yeah, it was crazy. You made me like a charcuterie board. I didn't have the same for you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Okay. I'm so pumped to talk today because you have some genius cheat codes. I mean, you're a literal, like, NASA scientist, genius, founder, tech science, everything literal genius goddess.
- [02:02]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Thank you so much.
- [02:04]
Courtney Johnson
Wow. Okay, so I want to get into our cheat codes. The first cheat code is your. You have a hack for getting to know. You have a hack for getting in front of anybody you want to get in front of through panels. So let's say I wanna. I really want. For example, I really, really wanna meet this founder, and she's so cool. And she's the coolest founder ever, but she's super out of reach. But I wanna be friends with her, I wanna get, get in contact with her, I wanna start a relationship with her. And you would say, host a panel. Explain to me how that works.
- [02:37]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh, yes. This is a method I've implemented time and time again. There was a time in my life where I was a very, very junior scientist. I was still in grad school. And a lot of times people that are really senior scientists, they, they want to help out more junior scientists, but they just don't have the bandwidth. And so you have to give them a reason to pay attention to you because they get tons of messages all the time. And so a hack that I came up with was, what if I just invent an event where I invite them to become a speaker and I don't want to have to pay the money to go see them or fly them to me. So I would just host virtual panel events where I would invite them to be on the panel. And. And then I had this captive audience where I would invite maybe two or three women that I really looked up to that ordinarily probably wouldn't have had the time to get to know me or give me a lot of time. And I would not only have the chance to speak with them in the panel event proper, but I would have a prep meeting for the panel ahead of time and I would have a follow up with them after that. And so it gave me a chance to not only meet with them for the dedicated hour of the panel event, but I would have three meetings with them that would totally probably up to two or even longer hours. And so this was really fun. And it gave me a chance to flex my organizational skills, my gumption, my moxie, like, hey, I'm throwing this panel event on LinkedIn. And then it also raised my profile on LinkedIn because now people are like, oh, cool. Like, Ruby's throwing panel events to talk about the future of the commercial space industry. And she booked this leader at Blue Origin and this leader at NASA. Like, whoa. And so it raised everybody's profile collectively. And that is probably my best cheat ever. Is like, if you're trying to get to someone, just make up a reason for them to come to you.
- [04:24]
Courtney Johnson
I love that I did that last.
- [04:26]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Year at south by Southwest.
- [04:27]
Courtney Johnson
I didn't get booked for the official south by.
- [04:29]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
So I was like, I'll just host.
- [04:30]
Courtney Johnson
My own event and just invited people I admired to be on the panel with me.
- [04:34]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
I'm like, I'll just interview you.
- [04:36]
Courtney Johnson
But I love how you're saying you don't have to just do it, like, in person. It doesn't have to be a whole big production. You could have, like, a webinar format and just promote it on LinkedIn and use that as a way to get in front of them.
- [04:48]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh, totally. And I think the Zoom, like, the Zoom webinar subscription is only a hundred bucks, so you could just pay a hundred bucks and organize a couple of these throughout the month and record them and then use them as this evergreen content as well. And I didn't have the foresight to do that and the times that I did it, but if I were to do it again now, that's what I would do.
- [05:07]
Courtney Johnson
That's genius.
- [05:08]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Yeah.
- [05:08]
Courtney Johnson
I tell all my level up on LinkedIn students, if they feel uncomfy being on camera, but they want to do video, like, go host a Zoom webinar or masterclass, even if it's with, like, three people, take that recording, and then you can use that literally forever on your LinkedIn.
- [05:24]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh, and a lot of people might get tripped up on what will the audience like? What will the audience size be? And just delete that from your mind. Because it doesn't matter if only one person shows up, because you're not doing it for the audience. You're literally just doing it for your guests. So even if there's two people there who gives a crap, like, you're. You're there to network with the people on the panel, and so don't even even think about what is the audience thinking about this. Tailor the questions that set up your guests for success in a way that they feel endeared to you or they feel like you're really elevating them to this level of. Of authority, and they feel respected by you. So don't. Don't even worry about the guest list, girl. Like, it doesn't matter.
- [06:04]
Courtney Johnson
Yeah, I get that. A lot of people being like, well, Courtney, what if no one shows up? It literally does not matter. I've done plenty of shit where no one has showed up. My cheat code is just make people come for free and be like, hey, I would love for you to be there. You can come to the thing for free in exchange for being really active in the Zoom comments and giving me a good review.
- [06:25]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh, I like that. Just be active in the comments and get the people.
- [06:28]
Courtney Johnson
Like, even if it's a free event, just being like, hey, it's about how you position it. I've had so Many people reach out to me and be like, oh, my God, Courtney, I'm inviting you to this exclusive event as an influencer, and I will get you a free VIP ticket, and you can come to this brand event. And then I, like, see it on Instagram the next day, and it's free anyways. And I'm like, well, fuck.
- [06:49]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Okay, you got got.
- [06:50]
Courtney Johnson
But they got. They got me. They made me feel special. Okay, Ruby, one of the things I love about you is you gamify everything. And you gamified your work in a really interesting way. You made a NASA bucket list. And I really haven't stopped thinking about it since you told me this trick.
- [07:10]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
So I'm like, what else can I.
- [07:11]
Courtney Johnson
Have a bucket list for? Can I have, like, a podcast bucket list? Can I have a business bucket list? But tell me about your NASA bucket list, because, one, I think this is just a genius idea to get everybody involved and excited into helping you. And second, it's also a way to just, like, make things silly and goofy. And you're like a silly, goofy girl.
- [07:30]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
I'm the goofiest girl. Yes. So there was a time in my life where I was a Mars geochemist at NASA Johnson Space center in Houston. And because I was a Mars geochemist, I was relegated to only working in a couple of labs on site at Johnson. And there are so many cool things to do at Johnson Space Center. Like, it's the home of the astronauts. They have a 3D printed Mars habitat. They have the moon rock vault. They have all these asteroid samples. They have tons of interns that you can go hang out with. They have this giant swimming pool they call the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where they put people in spacesuits and they test and do drills, basically. And they train astronauts underwater because it simulates a microgravity environment. And so I had no business in any of those other places I just mentioned, because I was there for a very explicit reason. So I decided, okay, how can I get my paws into all these different labs and all these different groups of people? And so I made a NASA bucket list, And I put 12 things on this bucket list. And my. The way I gamified it was, I want to knock off one of these things every single month for the next year. And so these things included, like, I really want to connect with an intern and change their life, or I really want to go to the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory and see astronauts doing training underwater and see them suit up, or I really, really want to go into the Apollo Moon Rock Laboratory. But not just go into the laboratory. I want to go see the vault where they store all of the rocks for safekeeping. And it's like this really, really intense, like, lock system where there's this giant combination lock on the door and no one person has all the digits to the combinations. Like, I want to see two people unlock it. You know, it's like I really tried to make this, like a very intense game. And so I started talking about this with people in my department and I was like, hey, I'm a Mars geochemist, and I think it's really important for me to go to the 3D printed Mars Habitat and just go see like, what this believe life on Mars would be like. And so I said, do you know anybody who works over there? And they said, well, why do you want to go? And I'm like, okay, well, here's the real reason. I have this bucket list and I need your help to cross these things off. And so once I started to enlist people to come along for the ride, everyone was super invested. Like, people would move heaven and earth to try to connect me to someone that they thought could get me closer to one of my goals. And it was incredible the way that these items would just be crossed off my list so quickly and so easily. And so the way that I gamified it made it fun for me. It made it, it made my job a lot more entertaining because I would take a lunch break and like go over and like help an intern or do whatever. But one of the biggest things on my list was that I really wanted to have one on one coffee with an astronaut. And there's tons of astronauts in Houston, but they're really busy and they have very normal lives and people reach out to them all the time to go and do stuff. And so I, I tried really hard. I emailed from my NASA email, like 20 astronauts. And they very respectfully and kindly would be like, hey, I'm so sorry, but like, I really am busy. Like, I don't really have time for that. And so I went to this Halloween party and this is a testament to talking about your goals with everybody and because you never know, like, who can make things happen for you. But I went to this Halloween party and I was talking to this girl who was pretty drunk, and she, it was really cute. She was wearing a costume. She was dressed up as a boat, but it said but on it. And her boyfriend was dressed as Nemo. Finding Nemo. So they were literally Nemo and the butt. But I was talking to her And I'm like, hey, I have done everything on my list. The last thing is to have one on one coffee with an astronaut. And she was like, oh, my God. Like, I'm an astronaut scheduler.
- [11:22]
Courtney Johnson
Like, I will book them for you tomorrow.
- [11:27]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
I'm like, dude, you're trash. Like, there's no way. Like, there's no way that this is gonna get booked. And I didn't hear from her for a couple of weeks. And then lo and behold, she found me on Microsoft Teams and was like, hey, you may or may not remember me. I was the butt at the Halloween party. I haven't forgotten about you. Do you still want to have coffee with an astronaut? And I said, soul Send. Yes, obviously. Let's go. So she put it into the astronaut message board. Like they have some message board for astronauts, I guess. And she was like, hey, there's this Mars geochemist who's about to leave NASA. She had this NASA bucket list, and she really just wants to have coffee with one of you one on one. And the Commander of Artemis 2, his name is Reed Wiseman, was like, I will help this woman would fulfill her dream of completing the NASA bucket list. And so I got to have coffee with him one on one. He was the shit. He was so cool. But not only did he say, I want to, like, help this woman fulfill her dream, someone else who was a long retired astronaut was like, oh, my God, she has a NASA bucket list. Does she know that I run this lab called the Rapid prototyping lab, and I run the simulator for the Orion cockpit module. And he was like, she should come over and I would love to give her a tour. So not only did I get my. My whole list fulfilled, I got some bonus activities thrown in there just because I was. I could not stop yapping about this goal that I had. And so gamifying. It really made it fun and interesting. And now I have so many friends at Johnson Space center that I would have never known otherwise had I not created this list.
- [13:06]
Courtney Johnson
This is so genius. Like, this is so genius. I. This is so embarrassing. But I used to do that for dating. I would have a bucket list for the restaurants I wanted to try. And I didn't tell the men I was dating this, that I had a bucket list, but I did, and I told my friends, and it made everything so much lighter and sillier because I was more focused on the bucket list than the actual dates. And, you know, if you're not focused on the date, then they love you. So I think that's so smart. What other things do you think you can have a bucket list for?
- [13:40]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh, well, I just started my own consulting firm about two months ago, and you had the brilliant idea of, like, you should do a bucket list, but for your business. And so I've been thinking about a couple of things that might be on that bucket list. And I haven't sat down and really, like, listed them out in the same way that I did for NASA. But I would love to do like a founders bucket bucket list. And I think, you know, maybe something like that would be hosting a salon event in San Francisco where I.
- [14:08]
Courtney Johnson
We're going to do this.
- [14:08]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Yeah. Which we got. We got to talk on offline. But yeah, hosting a salon event or doing like a co branded event or, you know, things like that, that would really put me on the map in a new city that I've never lived before, but also give me a little bit more gravitas as a founder and a consultant. You know, as a consultant in sf where there's a lot of different consultants and everybody seems to be like, really hungry and hustling. So, like, what would set me apart from everyone else, but also what would be really fun for me and fun for my community that I'm trying to build?
- [14:41]
Courtney Johnson
Did you do a Burning man bucket list?
- [14:44]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
There were like two things on my Burning man bucket list, and one of them was to basically just like, survive the week. I was so scared of getting sunburned and like, peeling like a lizard and being like that person in the desert. But I also really wanted to meet, like, the future father of my children or like, like of my future husband. And so on my way to Burning Man, I wrote myself a letter. And I was like, all right, Ruby, like, this is your time. Like, this is. This is a honey pot of men that are gonna be suitable for you. Like, these are people that are near Sam Wavelength. And so I wanted him to be, like, really generous and kind and super funny, but, like, really, really ambitious and hungry. And that's not always a combination that I find in the wild. Um, and so I also wrote, he will have been praying to meet a woman just like me, and I will be ready for him. And I have this in my journal. And then. And then the day that I finally got to leave my Burning man camp. Cause the weather was hellacious this year. It was like Armageddon. It was so scary. Like, I had. This was my first time going to Burning man. And I thought, oh, my God, what did I do? Like, am I weak? Like, I really, like, struggled because the storms were so bad when I first got there. So three days in, the storms finally subsided, and I got to leave my camp, and I recorded a selfie video where I was like, today is the day I'm gonna meet my man. And I met him, like, an hour later.
- [16:09]
Courtney Johnson
Wow.
- [16:10]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
I met that man an hour later, and we hung out all day. And at the end of the day, he's like, rubes, I don't want this to be weird, but I have been praying for a woman like you to.
- [16:19]
Courtney Johnson
Come into my life.
- [16:20]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
And I was like, oh, like, this is music to my ears. I was so happy that he said that. And I. I haven't shown him my journal entry yet, but I will. I will someday.
- [16:32]
Courtney Johnson
You have to. But, yeah, I. That's crazy. You're a master manifester.
- [16:36]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
I'm the most powerful manifestor in the world. Literally.
- [16:39]
Courtney Johnson
I feel that way, truly.
- [16:41]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
And it's. And I think the trick, though, is just knowing exactly what you want.
- [16:44]
Courtney Johnson
Yeah.
- [16:45]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
It's truly just, like, getting the clearest picture in your mind of what you desire and talking about it or journaling about it. But also, like, every night before I go to sleep, when I'm closing my eyes, I picture myself having what I want and, like, what that would feel like. And it's not necessarily a prayer, but it's, like, kind of on that same. In that same realm of, like, connecting with that part of my desires in the future and bringing them closer to me. And I found that to be really successful and really powerful.
- [17:15]
Courtney Johnson
Yeah. Effy, a cheat code that you mentioned that I think is so smart but also uncomfortable is talking about your dreams publicly. I work with a lot of clients that are like, courtney, I'm afraid to say this out loud. Or they might say a part of their dream and be like, oh, my God, that was so embarrassing. What would you say to someone that feels, like, embarrassed or scared or, like, sheepish to talk about their dreams out loud?
- [17:38]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh, okay. I would say I. That used to be me, and I used to have a really long commute from where I lived to my community college. I was going to at the time. And at this time in my life, I felt like a loser piece of shit. Okay. Like, I put off going to school for five years. I worked at Ben and Jerry scooping ice cream. I worked on pot farms. Like, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. So when I finally went back to school, I felt like I was so behind everybody, but I had this vision of, like, I want to be a NASA scientist. I want to have a podcast. I want to be a philanthropist. I want to be this multi hyphenate goddess. But I, like, barely got a high school diploma, and then I was barely getting into math classes at community college. So, like, that, like the, the landscape of my life did not support this delusional vision that I had for my life at the time. And so on my commute all every day to class, I would be like, I am Dr. Ruby Patterson. I am a NASA scientist. I have a super successful podcast. I donate so much money to charity. Like, people put my name on things like, you know, and. And that's the vision that I really wanted for myself and that I'm still in the process of building for myself, but I'm a whole lot closer to that now. And so I would literally, like, blast my Beyonce pump Up song or like, whatever song I was hyper fixated on at the time. And then I would like, get super hyped in the car and I would turn the music off and I'd be like, I'm Dr. Ruby Patterson. I'm Dr. Patterson. And that dream was so far away at the time. Like, I literally was in School for 10 years, Courtney. Four years of undergrad, two years of a master's, and then four years for a PhD. And so to have that vision and just have faith that it would come true 10 years later, it feels delusional and it's weird, and it's kind of like it doesn't feel right. It's like putting on shoes that are, like, a little bit too big for you and like, you with the faith that you'll grow into it. But if someone is a little sheepish to share their dreams with other people, just talk to yourself about them in the car or talk to yourself about them in the shower and just have that time to, like, really drop in and feel comfortable with yourself first. And then tell your best friend or tell your mom or your dad or someone who, like, really loves and supports you, who's always rooting for you, and then just like, baby step it, and then pretty soon you'll be like, I'm Dr. Patterson. And on a podcast that millions of billions of people will watch. I love it.
- [20:01]
Courtney Johnson
And now you are literally Dr. Ruby Patterson. I'm so amazing. Okay, so the cheat code here is scripting in the car. So use your commutes, use your driving as a time where you're scripting who you are, this future version of yourself. I think that's really great. I. I actually think that driving or Our commute is an amazing time for productivity that we often. I mean, sometimes I'm, like, listening to celebrity gossip podcasts or, like, it's, like, not helpful. And I think a good way to activate that cheat code is, like, just one way. Like, maybe it's on the way to work, or if you go to Pilates every Thursday, like, on the way back. But start with where in your schedule you have the same commute again. To work, to that workout class, to your friend's house, to the thing that you go to every Wednesday, and pick one of those. Either going there, going back to start scripting, and then slowly drip it to more and more of your driving time.
- [20:58]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Yes. And you're. If you. If anyone out there starts trying this, you might find that it's quite addictive. You know, like, you start to kind of have that bde. Like, I got out of the car and I slammed the door, and I'd be like, I own this community college. You know, like, walk into my remedial math class, like, whatever. But you'll find that it's really addictive, and you start to show up as that person, you know, and it's really, really fun.
- [21:21]
Courtney Johnson
I was also in remedial math classes in college, and I'm creating a new story. Do you want to see my. Oh, my phone background changes for some reason, but my. My new phone background says I'm good at math. It's my. My affirmation. Yeah, you are.
- [21:38]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh, my gosh.
- [21:39]
Courtney Johnson
It's not changing it.
- [21:40]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
This is.
- [21:40]
Courtney Johnson
Oh, there we go. I'm good at math. Hell, yeah. Anyway, so it's. It's great to know that a NASA scientist was in remedial math, because maybe.
- [21:49]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
There'S hope for me for the future. There's definitely hope for you.
- [21:53]
Courtney Johnson
I'm going to relearn. I'm literally going to go to Kumon.
- [21:55]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Good.
- [21:56]
Courtney Johnson
Yeah, good.
- [21:57]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
That's awesome.
- [21:58]
Courtney Johnson
Or maybe I'll go to, like, Austin Community College and retake math or something.
- [22:02]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
But.
- [22:03]
Courtney Johnson
Okay, so if you're nervous, you're. You also use scripting for events. So you're saying another cheat code that you have is if you're nervous going to an event, like, script how the event's gonna go. Or is it, like, script the conversation you're gonna have with someone? Tell me more about this cheat code.
- [22:18]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Yeah, I've found that sometimes when I go to networking events in person, especially after the years of the pandemic, I get a little bit nervous when I'm walking into a room where I don't know anybody, and I want to have a certain outcome. And also, I used to live alone, and sometimes when you live alone and you don't interact with anybody for a while, you feel, like, kind of rusty socially. And I found this out, like, when I would go through the grocery store checkout line and I would, like, try to talk to the cashier, and I just sounded so dumb. And I'm like, I need to warm myself up socially before I have any interactions. And so I started applying this to my drive to networking events. And I would just be like, hey, I'm Ruby. Like, what. What's been lighting you up in your life? Like, I would actually practice the way that I would talk to people at the event, and I would practice being like, oh, my God, that's so interesting. Like, even my reactions, I would start to practice them, and it just got me warmed up, and I found that that really defrosted my social skills on the way to an event. And then by the time I walked in, I was already happy and bubbly, and I was feeling good, and I was feeling the way that I was feeling myself because I had practiced my little elevator pitch in the car. And so the scripting socially really helped. And then you walk in, you're on this high vibration, and people respond to that. Like, they notice that. And I would walk in with my shoulders, you know, pushed back a little bit more, and I wouldn't be looking at my phone when I'm walking in. I'm looking for the first person to say, what's up to. So that's how I use scripting before in person networking events.
- [23:44]
Courtney Johnson
That's genius. Did you learn this from somewhere? Is this something you've just been doing?
- [23:49]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Um, I've just been doing it because I. I don't ever want to come across as socially awkward or, like, a difficult person to connect to, because so much of my life now and my business now is networking. Like, that's my top of funnel is my relationship with people, at least for now. And so I really have to nail it on the first try and not make a bad impression. So my. My income depends on my ability to connect with people right away and. And connect and. And discover what are they, how do they want to feel, and how do I want to feel in that interaction?
- [24:21]
Courtney Johnson
You are a super connector.
- [24:24]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
So are you.
- [24:24]
Courtney Johnson
Oh, thank you. Okay, our next cheat code. Use creative projects like a podcast as a Trojan horse to meet the people. So you already talked about the panels, but you could also use a podcast. You could use other projects so besides setting up a panel, how else can you get in front of people that.
- [24:41]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
You really want to meet? Oh, okay. So I am part of a team that has created a podcast called Hotter, Weirder, Smarter. And our jingle is going to be Hotter, Weirder, Smarter, Hotter, Hotter, Weirder, Smarter, Smarter. And I just really love that, and I just love to say it. Anyway, the reason, one of the reasons why we've decided to make this podcast, and it's about science and tech that can make you hotter, weirder or smarter, which is literally all science and all tech falls into these three buckets. And the. One of the reasons why we decided to make this show is because we wanted to get in front of people who are either like founding companies that we think are really cool, or they're creating social change that we think is really impactful and necessary. And so we're networking with people that are not only like, awesome and cool humans that are headed where we're headed, but we're. It's also a Trojan horse operation for finding potential clients for my consulting business. And so I'm. I'm interviewing tech leaders and I do consulting for tech companies and space companies. And so I can develop these one on one relationships with them and make them feel really good and, and get to know them on a more personal level. And then also they're going to tell me all about their life. They're gonna tell me all about their business and things that are hard for them about their business. And so it's basically like a very warm intro discovery call. And if it's not a fit, it's not a fit. And I'm definitely not gonna push it. But it's cool because we get to have this beautiful, fun, creative project with two of my best friends. But then it's also, okay, there's this other arm that's now a business reason, or I have a strong business case for doing this super fun project with my best friends.
- [26:24]
Courtney Johnson
Mm, that's amazing. I mean, I've made so many connections with my podcast, and every time I ask people that have podcasts, like, what's the number one takeaway? What's the biggest change that it's had in your life? Everybody says the network. Like, I'm talking to people. I'm having intentional conversations. I'm learning from people that I never would. For example, I'm flying to Miami to go to interview someone on my podcast, and her hourly rate is 11,750. I'm not paying 11,000, 750 to talk to her. For an hour. I'm interviewing Hunter. I'm interviewing her on my podcast. And that's like, I'm going to get free advice and have an amazing. Okay, so before we wrap up, I want to learn about sending art to the moon. You literally have got opportunities to like brokerage art deals to the. This is crazy. Your life is crazy. Like, you're so fucking rad.
- [27:20]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
You met me at a cool time.
- [27:22]
Courtney Johnson
It.
- [27:22]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Thanks, thanks. Um, okay, so I have a consulting firm that I just started a couple of months ago. And this came on the heels of a several month long sabbatical where I just kind of like fucked around and found out like, what do I want to do with my life? And I love the commercial space industry and it's really, really taking off right now. And I, I developed a lot of relationships with people at commercial lander and commercial rover companies and they have approached me, several of them have approached me and said, hey, Ruby, we know that you have this really robust network and our BD teams are like kind of tapped out and we're really looking to send things to the lunar surface or to low earth orbit that are cult, like more culturally slanted. We want to send like art to the moon. And so they said, hey, would you potentially want to broker some art deals for us and go find these well capitalized art artist with a very dedicated fan base or a very dedicated following and then bring them to us and they can either put a statue on the moon or, you know, you name it, like, we can definitely make it happen. And so right now I'm in the process of going down this rabbit hole of interviewing artists and seeing what their goals are and do they align with the ethos of each of these different commercial space companies. And I'm doing essentially like matchmaking between space companies and artists and then hopefully making a lot of money from it.
- [28:46]
Courtney Johnson
That's really, really cool.
- [28:48]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Thanks.
- [28:48]
Courtney Johnson
It's like the coolest thing I've ever heard.
- [28:50]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Thanks.
- [28:52]
Courtney Johnson
Okay, Ruby, you took my level up on LinkedIn. You have a strong personal brand. You really value your own personal brand. And I'm curious what advice you would give for other like, scientists in personal brand. I think a lot of them, especially the ones I work with, are like, well, my work speaks for itself, my research speaks for itself. I'm putting my head down, I'm doing all the right things and maybe they're not getting the opportunities, the speaking, the, the visibility, the funding that they want. So what would you recommend as far as personal brand?
- [29:23]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh, okay. I think just talking about things that really light you up is a good way to get started. When I started posting on LinkedIn, it was after taking your level up on LinkedIn course. And you're like, just start, like, just talk about things that are really natural and easy for you. I promise to all the scientists out there who are like, my work speaks for itself, it totally does. But to like the 10 other people in the world that do what you do. And there's really something to be said for taking your really high level, very niche research and distilling it to a level that's digestible by a really smart eighth grader. Like, that's the level that you should be at when you're posting about the work that you do. And so just take a stab at trying to teach what you do to middle schoolers, but then putting that on LinkedIn. And I think that is a good way for people to understand not only the type of expertise that you have, but it's also a good exercise for you to try to make what you do more approachable. Because a lot of times people are really intimidated by the, like, if someone has a PhD, like, I know, I knew, I know before I had my PhD, I would always be like, whoa. Like, they have a PhD. And then I got into grad school and I'm like, whoa. Like, nobody knows what they're doing. Like, we're all just fighting for our lives out here. So. So I think just making yourself more approachable is going to enable and really motivate other people to approach you and not view you as someone who is like, too smart to talk to or like too highbrow to talk to you. Because I promise, like, no scientist is too highbrow to talk to.
- [30:54]
Courtney Johnson
Yeah, that's genius.
- [30:56]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Well, a lot of times people that.
- [30:57]
Courtney Johnson
Are making decisions about your work are not scientists. Like, it could be the person that's like gonna choose who gets the grant, or it could be the person who's gonna choose who gets the funding or the person who is gonna prioritize what, like, what is communicated to the media or whatever. Like, there is so many non scientists involved in that impact what you're doing. So it's really important to be able to like, get them to see your vision too and be able to communicate what you're, what you're doing.
- [31:27]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Oh yeah. And something else that I encounter a lot, especially now in the consulting space. Like I'm working with this one robotics company where the founders of this company are certified geniuses. Like, they speak a totally different language when they're talking about their tech, and they're really struggling with getting funding, like VC funding and investor interest. And it's because they do not speak an approachable language. And so if even if you're a scientist and you have no. You think right now you have no interest in working at a startup, you should still practice talking about your work in a way that's approachable, because you never know where you're going to end up. And you may find yourself co founding a company or working at a startup that's struggling to raise funds. And now you can step in as the translator between your highly technical team and people that control money that could change your life and the life of everyone you work with by investing in your company. Yeah, that's so important.
- [32:25]
Courtney Johnson
Okay, last question.
- [32:26]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Ruby, what's your dream? Oh, my gosh, my dream. I have so many dreams. I would love to one day, like, my ultimate, ultimate blue sky dream is to have a scholarship foundation where I just send women to college. I pay for all of their living expenses, all of their tuition. I make sure that they get healthcare and they're really taken care of and supported. Because when I was going through school, I was working multiple jobs. I was really just accelerating my biological aging process because I was so freaking stressed out, dude. I had, like, patches of hair missing from my head. Because that environment is its own special brand of chronic stress that you cannot escape from for years at a time until you graduate. And so I want to enable women who have really clear visions of what they want. And I want to be able to just write a check and be like, you don't even have to report to me how you spend this money. I just want to make your life easier because you are headed where I'm headed, and so providing a vehicle for that would give me so much joy.
- [33:29]
Courtney Johnson
That's amazing. Well, I can't wait to see the Dr. Ruby Scholarship one day.
- [33:34]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Thanks.
- [33:35]
Courtney Johnson
It's amazing. Well, Ruby, thank you for coming. You're such a rock star. And where can everyone find you and follow you and follow your new podcast?
- [33:43]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Thank you. Okay, so you can find me on LinkedIn under Dr. Ruby Patterson. I'm also on Instagram as Ruby the Space Geologist. And then our podcast is called Hotter, Weirder, Smarter, and that is our. Also our Instagram handle.
- [33:59]
Courtney Johnson
Uh, you have my favorite Instagram bio I've ever seen, by the way. It's Space Rocks and Space Rocks.
- [34:07]
Dr. Ruby Patterson
Space Rocks, man. Space rocks. Thank you, Ruby. Thank you.