Rhea Seddon
- One of the first 6 women accepted by NASA, former astronaut, & veteran of three space shuttle flights
- Entrepreneur, national speaker, & award-winning author who today encourages young and old alike to Go for Orbit and reach for the stars.
Travels From
Tennessee
Rhea Seddon Speaker Biography
Dr. Rhea Seddon is a woman of many firsts. One of only six women in her medical school class of one hundred, she was the first woman ever accepted to the surgery residency program at her university. In 1978 she was one of the first six women accepted into the Astronaut Corps, and when she married fellow Astronaut Capt. Robert “Hoot” Gibson, they became the first active Astronauts to wed. Together they produced the first official “Astrotots” (children born to two Astronauts). In addition to her space career, Dr. Seddon’s life experiences have led her from surgeon to licensed private pilot, to healthcare executive, entrepreneur, author, president of a large women’s charity group and now, professional speaker.
Entering the Astronaut Corps in 1978, she served the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for nineteen years, spending thirty days in space aboard three Space Shuttle flights.
After leaving NASA in 1997, Dr. Seddon was appointed the Assistant Chief Medical Officer of the Vanderbilt University Medical Group in Nashville, where she focused on innovative systems and methodologies for improving teamwork in healthcare. Eleven years later, she continued that work as a founding partner of LifeWings Partners, LLC, which teaches those concepts to healthcare institutions across the United States.
She is a member of both the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame and Tennessee Women’s Hall of Fame, and her significant contributions to aeronautics and science were recognized in 2015 when she became the eighth woman inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame. That year, she also published her autobiography, Go For Orbit, and in 2016 she was awarded the Independent Book Publishers Association Ben Franklin Gold Award for Best Autobiography/Memoir.
Based on her diverse life experiences, Dr. Seddon enjoys sharing the wisdom gained and lessons learned as she speaks nationally and internationally about teamwork, leadership and inspiring others to recognize and act upon life’s many opportunities.
OPPORTUNITY
So many of us fail to take advantage of the myriad opportunities that appear in our lives. Some of us don’t see them, others are afraid to pursue them. Dr. Rhea Seddon went from small-town girl to outer space and on to other amazing careers.
Her story will inspire you to realize when opportunity knocks by understanding:
- The power of planning, preparation and being ready
- The wisdom of having a goal…and a back-up plan
- The appearance of an open door
- The search for a new path and why it’s never too late
- The value of the network of people you know
- The challenge of overcoming the fear of moving on
TEAMWORK
Wherever you go, whatever your life’s work, it is teamwork that will make your dream work. After a lifetime of working with, participating in and leading diverse teams of varying sizes, constituents and goals.
Dr. Rhea Seddon will share lessons learned about:
- Molding a group of people into a team
- Defining the team’s goals
- Choosing and developing team players
- Recognizing what motivates your team
- Dealing with “outliers”
- Practicing and learning from failure… and success
LEADERSHIP
Dr. Rhea Seddon didn’t start out to be a leader but the paths she chose required that she become one. Using examples from her multiple careers she will reveal the keys to discover the leader within you.
She will show you the secrets of:
- What to do if you are not a born leader
- How to apply the 3 principles of military leadership
- Why “it’s the people, stupid” and understanding “the led”
- When a failure is an option and how to learn from it
- Who your role models can be – the good, the bad and the ugly
