Huong (Phan ) Bylenok

Being a leader and an engineer as a female in the workforce, it can be unforgiving, and with all that I've accomplished and all the fun and awesome work that I get to do, I'm most proud of the woman that I've become. There's so much more room to grow, but I felt like I really figured myself out through having great mentors and just being this version of myself that I'm happy with. I really struggled with that in my 20s. But now that I genuinely can say I'm in a good place in my career, I'm only excited for what I can do more for myself and to grow. I've reached a place where I'm actually proud of the woman that I've become, with the values that I've confirmed for myself and having the right support systems in place. I think that took a lot of self-reflection and hard work, but also self-focus and care as well.

I believe in the importance of setting goals, so be goal-driven and manifest all your biggest and wildest dreams, because they can happen. I think a lot of young girls and newly new professionals and people trying to figure themselves out in their career, they don't dream and manifest enough. I manifest in what I want and I'm very goal-driven, but when I believe something is for me and I'm deserving of it, I will work towards it. So be goal-driven and manifest.

Being in aerospace and defense and space exploration, the best part is doing things for the first time - only single digits of companies are doing space exploration, and being with Blue Origin, we're one of the leading in the field. From a technical perspective, it's complex to make sure humans can go to space commercially safely. From a leadership and engineering perspective, I often find myself being the only female and not only that, the only Asian female in the room. Instead of seeing it as just a gap, I see that being in the room itself is a part of making the difference. One of the challenges is pulling that right talent in, but also that diverse talent to a space that's historically not so much of a diverse world. As a leader, I find myself having to either repeat myself or change my tone so I get the message across, essentially working that extra effort to be trusted over and over again and to build a reputation for yourself. It really is a lot of work because on days where people are critiquing who you are as a human being rather than your work, the biggest challenge is emotional regulation - collecting your feelings together and knowing how to put that to the side and proceed with the right business decision, then coming home and reflecting on why and what you felt. It's really exhausting and trying to manage that, but it's important, and I recognize it's a forever effort as long as I'm in leadership and in engineering.

Both professionally and personally, integrity is most important to me. As humans, we are easily tempted to make the wrong decision or take shortcuts, but having that integrity to stand up to your own values while respecting others' differences in values is a challenge, but I really value people with really strong integrity and highest standards in the midst of changing times. Professionally, I love honesty and over-communication. From a personal value, I truly am admired by kindness. I think despite it not always being free, it's usually the hardest route to take in being kind to yourself and with other people. Those two - if you have integrity and kindness while working with me or being around me as friends and family, it brings me a lot of joy, and that's what's really important to me.