Daily Inspiration: Meet Camille Bergin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Camille Bergin.

Camille, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I was 4, I saw a Space Shuttle launch and was enamored with humanity’s ability to launch a spacecraft with people on board to the stars. I looked up at my parents and said, “I want to be an astronaut!”

Unfortunately, the women in STEM movement was not as popular in the early 2000s as it is today, so I didn’t grow up seeing many women in STEM in movies, TV, books, or in my day-to-day life. I grew up in rural North Carolina without access to the space industry, or really any STEM at all.

I was often teased and bullied in elementary/middle school for being really smart and liking math and science. And because I’m an only child, that social connection at school was incredibly important to me. So I suppressed a lot of my love for math and science simply to fit in.

When I was in middle school, I joined the band and played trumpet (only because my dad has a degree in tuba performance and bribed me to play a brass instrument by gifting me a brand new, shiny trumpet LOL). I was naturally very good at trumpet, and by the time I entered high school, I had learned of a boarding school called the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) where I could go to further explore my art. UNCSA is one of the top arts conservatories in the world.

After a rigorous audition process, I was admitted to the school, and at 15, I left home to attend it.

Over the next few years, I was consistently a nationally-ranked trumpet player. I played at national competitions, was recruited by the top universities and military bands, and was well on track to make a career out of the trumpet.

But something was lacking… And that something was STEM. But the difference this time was I was at a school that allowed me to be myself. Everyone there were unique and different passions were encouraged. I was also getting older and was caring less and less about what people thought of me.

Fast forward – I chose to attend the University of Tennessee Knoxville for college so I could pursue aerospace engineering and continue to play the trumpet. I played in the marching band and wind ensemble for several years and was even on a music scholarship.

I graduated from UTK in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, 3 internships plus undergraduate research, and a load of extracurriculars under my belt. That landed me a job at Lockheed Martin in Denver, CO working on the Orion Crew Capsule that is sending humanity back to the Moon, this time to stay.

I worked on the Artemis I, II, and III missions before shifting gears to a mission operations position on a classified program. I then transitioned to Business Development and joined the Advanced Programs team working on strategies to develop critical technologies needed for humanity’s future in cislunar space and beyond. (Cislunar space is the area of space between Earth and the Moon.)

After that job, I transitioned to a start-up called Orbit Fab. Orbit Fab is a Denver, CO-based company working on the in-space propellant supply chain and their Gas Stations in Space(TM) satellite refueling service. I currently am the Advanced Programs Business Development Lead.

In 2020, I started my science communication social media platform, @TheGalacticGal. I have since accumulated over half a million followers and have reached tens of millions of people worldwide. My goal is to make STEM education more accessible by breaking down the barriers to entry, making engaging content, and encouraging everyone to pursue their STEM passions. I have been featured in the New York Times and Washington Post, and I have been interviewed on NASA TV and Fox Business. In 2022, I was named a LinkedIn Top Voice. I am also a zero gravity coach for the Zero Gravity Corporation and have flown on 2 zero-g flights from Denver.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My first struggle was that I didn’t think I could be an engineer since I was a woman. My dad would always tell me that I would make a great engineer, but I would always say, “No, Dad, that’s for boys.”

In college, I graduated top of my class with a 4.0 GPA. That was also not easy, not even just for the amount of work that went into it, but it definitely affected my relationships too. Some people didn’t want to be friends with the person at the top of the class, and others took advantage of me for help and “status”.

My career hasn’t necessarily been filled to the brim with misogyny and sexism, but I’ve definitely had my fair share of issues. I’ve been paid less than my peers, talked over in meetings, had my ideas ignored only to have a male say the same thing and be listened to the following week, etc.

I have to work twice as hard and always be on my A-game, all while being under constant scrutiny that my male counterparts don’t always endure. And there have been too many times to count where I’ve worn what I thought was a cute shirt to meetings only to have my chest stared at the entire time by men.

Social media is way worse than my career job though. On there, I am constantly being belittled, harassed, hit on, called names, etc by men. They assume I don’t have a degree and am unintelligent just because I’m a woman. They also see everything as a dating site, even LinkedIn and my TikTok comment section.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a science communicator and content creator. We can also call it a “STEM Influencer”! My social media platform, @TheGalacticGal, has accumulated over half a million followers across Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and all other social media. I started it in 2020 when SpaceX launched the Demo-2 mission which marked the first time we had flown US astronauts from US soil since 2011 when the Space Shuttle was retired. It was an incredibly monumental day for the future of the space industry, and I decided to share it on social media.

I didn’t know what would happen after that but since then I’ve been featured in a number of high-profile news outlets, been interviewed on NASA TV with an astronaut, become a zero gravity coach (and have experienced weightlessness twice now and counting!), speaking to students and professionals around the world, and so much more.

I focus on “edutainment” short-form content that is widely accessible and entertaining while educating about cool science and space facts. I’m also a prominent voice in the industry as well.

I’ve spoken to professionals at conferences around the world in the past few years and was recently named a LinkedIn Top Voice, which recognizes my expertise in the industry. One of my most popular topics to talk about is that the space industry has a PR/communications problem and it’s imperative for a society that we become better communicators and communicates the value and criticality of our industry to those outside of it.

What do you think about luck?
There is definitely a huge element of luck in social media. You have to get lucky on the right platform, at the right time, with the right content, etc. So I’d definitely say luck was a factor, but ultimately the most important things are:

Have a clearly defined goal and a path to get there.
Ask for help and get mentored along that journey.
Set incremental goals that you can track and measure.
Be consistent and persistent, don’t take no for an answer.
Have a solid work-life balance and know when to take a step back.

Those things have been far more important to my journey than luck.

Contact Info:

• Website: linktr.ee/thegalacticgal
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thegalacticgal
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheGalacticGal/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/camilleelizabeth
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/thegalacticgal
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/thegalacticgal
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@thegalacticgal