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[00:00:00] Hey, everyone, this is Lynn Vartan and you are listening to the A.P.E.X Hour on K91ɬÂþ. Thunder 91.1 in this show, you get more personal time with the guests who visit Southern Utah University from all over. Learning more about their stories and opinions beyond their presentations on stage. We will also give you some new music to listen to and hope to turn you on to some new sounds and new genres. You can find us here every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. or it on the web at suu.edu/apex. But for now, welcome to this week's show. Here on Thunder 91.1.

Lynn Vartan [00:00:47] OK. Well, welcome in, everyone. This is Lynn Vartan, you're listening to the A.P.E.X Hour K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1. We have an awesome guest in with us today. She gave a great event, great talk at our Apex event today and her name is Shayna Begay. Welcome into the studio, Shayna.

Shayna Begay [00:01:06] Thank you. Thank you so much.

[00:01:07] I'm going to tell our audience a little bit about you. And then I I have tons of questions, of course. So Shayna Begay currently is project team leader and senior mechanical engineer at the Nuclear Weapons Systems Group at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She's responsible for leading a multidisciplinary team of engineers and scientists, and she oversees the design, testing and production of over 50 components in a multi-billion dollar program. I think you were saying that you manage like 200 people. That's amazing. Yeah. It's definitely a huge responsibility. And it's a lot. It's a mouthful. Yeah. And you're unofficial title that I've heard you kind of say it's something like rocket doctor. Yeah. Rocket surgeon. I love it. Tell me a little bit more about what that means.

[00:01:57] Yes. So I think the easiest way I can relate it to people is that, you know, we have a in the United States, we have a nuclear weapon stockpile that, you know, we've had since the end of World War Two ran as a country. And so just like how people for whatever reason, though, from ever since the time that you're you're born, your baby, you go and you have your regular checkups with your doctor. And and that's that's kind of the way that I see my job is that, you know, I kind of feel like, all right, I I'm kind of the the physician in charge of maintaining the health of our of our nuclear weapons stockpile. So it's just like you go to visit your doctor. I'll do the same thing. But it just happens to be for for nuclear weapons.

[00:02:46] It's so amazing. I have to admit sheepishly that I had no idea that such a position. I mean, it just never crossed my mind. But of course, this body of armament needs to be taken care of. Absolutely. So and I know your work is super top secret, so we won't get into to my details. But how long have you been working at Sandia?

[00:03:04] So it'll be about eight years in January. I went there straight out of out of my my master's program. I'm in graduate school and I've I really, really enjoy the work there. It's it's humbling. You know, you have a larger purpose contributing to national security. But at the same time, it's just an incredible place to work. A lot of really intelligent people from all sorts of backgrounds and places across the United States. And it's just a really great, great place to work in. You know, we're situated there in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is only a short drive from from where I grew up. So, yeah, it's it was it was great because it's almost like a homecoming, too.

[00:03:48] That's perfect. Well, so many people that you're in charge of. I'm sure of all. Like you said, all different backgrounds, all different ages and everything. And then you talked a lot about leadership today, and I want to get more into that. Yeah, but you mentioned that it was a bit of a homecoming. And I love your story of where you came from and your time on the reservation. I wonder if you could just share a bit of the snapshot of kind of where you come from.

[00:04:13] Sure. So I grew up in Cortez, Colorado, living partially on and partially off of the Navajo reservation. So right in the Four Corners area, right where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, me, there's there's even a monument there. Yeah, my dad's probably there right now. And, you know, my family comes from that area. So I grew up at my grandma's house while I was younger in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona. And then I also had family in Shiprock and Hardback. And and then I went to school off the reservation in Cortez. And I did all of my school there. And I went from from growing up in a small town community, living the reservation life where you had to navigate, not having running water, not having electricity. And certainly, you know, resources like having access to the Internet and and TV was was a challenge to then going to college at Fordham Institute of Technology all around Melbourne, Florida. And that was a huge journey. I didn't really recognize how big of a journey that was going to be. But it was I think I mentioned in my in my talk that it was it was a bit eye opening because I had to I went I went all the way out to Florida and my family left me there. I had no relatives. I had no family, my close, immediate family, no friends that I knew that were out. There and no recognizable Native Americans at my school either, so I don't really know how isolating that could feel and so being being able to go there and experience that, it was hard at times. Other times it was really humbling. And other times it was a really wonderful experience because I just it just directly exposed me to other cultures and other people a lot a lot faster. And then than I then I thought I would be able handle and then getting to come back and moving to Albuquerque, back out to the southwest. It was it was so nice because, you know, like I said, my family is close by. But at the same time, you know, we're told as young Navajo children that, you know, we're Roy's challenged with going out and getting our education and then bringing that. And then we're challenged with bringing it back and bringing it back to the homeland and helping to forward the cause or the the tribe in some way. And so me being able to come back and work at the laboratories has been a wonderful experience because it's giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do as an engineer, but also give back.

[00:07:02] Yeah. So back to those early days. Yeah. It was with the engineering. Was that always the dream you were you were really laying sort of a beautiful story about connecting with the stars as a young. Yes. And I don't know if you don't mind sharing that. I just know that to be so beautiful.

[00:07:19] I'd love to. Yes. So growing up on the reservation, as I mentioned, a lot of the areas even to this day, still don't have access to running water or electricity. And as a result of that, we actually have the most the darkest and the most beautiful skies because we don't have all that light pollution. Right. So it's a negative turned into a positive. And really, that's what my family's always been about, is focusing on the positive and growing up with my uncles and my cousins and my whole family surrounded by me, they'd always tell me stories about, you know, traditional constellations and things that we were looking up at the night stars because we didn't have the distractions or the luxury of having iPads or, you know, having laptop computers and and those types of things at our disposal. So we we got along by sharing stories and learning about our culture or even just just talking as a family. So looking up at the night sky is really where my love of astronomy and science and technology really stem from, because I was just so curious about looking up at the stars and wanting to know more about what was I looking at? What what were these stories that I was hearing? And then I'd go to school to try to find out more. And I just started getting more and more curious. I had a lot more questions. And and that's and that's just that feeding that natural curiosity is what led me to where I'm at. And it turned into a love of astronomy, then digging into more. And I just I didn't know what an engineer was until I was in high school. Oh, yeah. I don't know. One really explain that to me. And driven and and that's kind of when I had the revelation of, oh, yeah, like I'm actually more interested in how you how how the mechanics of a telescope or satellite works. What goes into designing that and putting it together as opposed to like super caring about what I was looking at. And I still love to do astronomy. I'm still like in a somewhat of an amateur astronomer on my own at home. I certainly love enjoying and sharing that love and passion with my niece who's who's also super into it. So, yeah, we still share that and we do that together. But I think making the choice to become an engineer was was definitely the right way to go for me.

[00:09:40] Yeah. Yeah. And would you say that that curiosity was always there? I'm at one of the things we talk about on campus a lot is how to foster curiosity is one of the keys to shower, you know? And how do you bring that out? I'm curious in your particular story, was it always there or was it something that kind of blew up when you've felt a little success and then it blew up into more and then the curiosity blossomed?

[00:10:09]  So I think for me, I was always a very inquisitive child getting to see my niece, I get to hear a little bit more about it because my mom and dad will chime in and say, you know, she reminds us so much of you when you were little. And she is just so full of questions about everything. And I'm like, I'm so sorry. No, no, no, no, it's fine. It's fine. It's just it's your turn to deal with it. Yeah. OK, fine. But yeah, I think in terms of not only did I have that curiosity from a really young age, I think the real key factor to it is my parents were. Afraid defeat it, so I think a really good memory that I have is when I was younger, I want to say probably in middle school, seventh, maybe eighth grade, somewhere in there. My dad actually took me to two junior college in ship rock and they invited an astronomer from Caltech, called to give a talk at the school. Much like this A.P.E.X Hour you guys have here at as you use. So. He took me there and had me sit in on the lecture and I got to hear about it and you know, and then he forced me to get up and go ask the talker, the presenter, a question. I love to ask them a question. I love and stuff. And so from an early age, you know, both of my parents traded off. You know, my mom helped me. Fine. Well, first of all, she helped me enroll and participate in science fair projects. I went to the there's the American Indian Science and Engineering Society has a national what we call science fair. That they host every year. And so she made sure I could participate and it would drive me all the way out to Albuquerque so I could participate. And yeah, they were just always even when I wasn't with them, you know, and they were on the road at different powwows or events. They would if they'd see something about NASA or space or strong anything, they would they would get that and they'd bring that back to me. So I think it was just not just me having an enthusiasm for it. I think it was also a big part of that was my parents who fed it.

[00:12:25] That's a great lesson for all of us, because sometimes I think we feel that we have to create the curiosity and maybe it's not so much that, but we need to see the seeds of it and water those see. Absolutely. That's great. Well, thank you for all that great info. Yeah. It's time already for our first musical break. Oh, my gosh. I did a little research on you and I think you like music and perhaps went to a music festival recently. Yes. And so I don't know this artist, but I think it's one that you saw and I'm probably going to say is wrong. Tinashe? Yeah, So I hope that this is the same artist that you like. The song is Fires and Flames. You're listening to the A.P.E.X Hour. K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1.

[00:16:52] Well, welcome back to the A.P.E.X Hour. This is Lynn Vartan. I am joined in the studio with Shayna Begay. We are talking about her life and career and all the cool things that she does as a rocket surgeon. That song that you just heard is called Fires and Flames by Tinashe. So, yeah, check out more from this artist. 

[00:17:23]  One of the things that I really was so excited about and enjoyed today is your discussion about leadership. You take your job as a rocket surgeon. But one of the things as you come into your leadership role there is that you've really studied and maybe grown into your own leadership mode and model. And so I'd love for you to just talk about that a little bit. I know we don't want to do too many of the things right a discussion today. But if you could just talk a little bit more about kind of that path of how you developed your own leadership style. Yeah.

[00:18:02] It was a much more inward journey than I thought it was going to be all. So, yeah, I think something that I've always kind of recognized is that people have always told me from a young age like, oh, yeah, no, like when you're when you're a leader like this is, you know, like they always talk in that kind of tense of like. Yeah. In the future we won't know. Yeah. So they knew it. They knew didn't and I didn't want to hear it. And so I always shied away from being a leader. Why, I wonder. I don't like attention. I don't lie. I'm not I'm not the person who goes out and seeks attention. And I. And that might be a little bit of a cultural thing, because I think, you know, from you know, I've always been taught to be humble. And that's something that's a really core value from my my background, my family being Navajo. And so that was something that I was always taught, like, you know, your you're your your. No matter how much individual success that you have, it's never as important as the group success as the family's success and stuff. And so I've always been very humble. And I think that's why I kind of shied away from like, oh, if I'm a leader, like, I'm going to stand out too much or my perception of people who were leaders were people who would tend to stand at the front of the line and beat their chest and stuff. And so having that image of leadership and going. Going into college and being away from family and kind of outside of that sphere of influence, I started to learn a different perception of what leadership was by participating in different groups and activities on the college campus, searching for, you know, a home on campus. Right. And then I think the the really important part of what I thought developed me into being a leader is being being a part of a society called the Women of Engine Society of Women Engineers on campus. And I had a friend who was very loud and outspoken, and her family is very, very proud Italian Americans. And and so she took me literally by the by the arm and said, we're going to run for president and vise president for the society. And she's like, you know, I'll be president. You can be vise president and we're going to have fun. This is going to be great. So I kind of got pulled into, you know, leadership, you know, by by her initially. And then that kind of fed into a few other few other areas. And I know I shared one story. During my talk. But I think that experience really taught me, you know, watching her lead and taking over and and having just that enthusiasm and seeing how much personality and care she put into being a leader for for that group of women and how much just just pure love and friendship that she wanted to extend to every single member of our group. You know, it was really inspiring watching her do that. And it was something that, you know, just had a profound effect on my perception of what a leader is and can be. I see. And so once once I kind of had that experience and talked about and shared a story, I'm in our interview after my talk about how I got thrown into the middle of a leadership position, I my senior capstone project. And that was a complete failure. Spoiler alert. Yeah. And the I think, you know, kind of from that point forward to where I'm at today in my career, I've had to go back and kind of revise my views on leadership. And so in order to do that. I had to start, you know, I'm a I'm a scientist and an engineer first. And so what what do we usually like do is research. Yeah, we love data. Yeah. And so I would I took classes and I started reading about it. If you look at my on my phone right now, I'm actually listening to a book about about leadership right now. And it's actually a book by Simon Sinek and it's about how eaters leaders eat last. It's really fascinating. I just started it. And and so I'm always looking for people's different perceptions. And it's when I had I started to struggle with being able to identify with how people described leaders because I just couldn't culturally connect to that. It wasn't my upbringing. And so that's why I say it was more, more, more of a journey about discovering my culture and going back. Going back to that and starting to ask my my parents and some of my relatives about what do you guys think about leadership? What what would you say makes a really good leader or even just sitting there with with my elders while they're having a discussion and listening to what are they talking about? How do they talk about these these different things we either hear on the news or stories or things going on with the family. And it was from just, you know, doing those observations and trying to read about my culture and learning more from for my family that I started to realize that, you know, the philosophy of leadership from within my own culture and tribe is has a lot of similarities with what we talk about in terms of what makes a good leader in Western society. So, you know, when we when we imagine a leader, we always think of an executive or the president or, you know, different people. Right. And usually it's a very masculine kind of image, whereas the no, the tribe that I come from being Navajo is a very matrilineal society. And so our image of leadership is feminine, you know, which is which is huge because you don't you don't see that a lot. Right, in Western society. So I felt it was really important to to own that and to bring that with me and make sure that I understood it. And I was able to embrace it. That's on stuff. And so that was something that I found as I started doing more research that, you know, I needed to share that story.

[00:24:21] Oh, that's awesome. And what are some of the ways that that manifest itself on a day to day? I think you were telling me that you have some sort of special practices on how you deal with your team and adapt with them. I mean, and there's so many of them. I just don't know how you do it.

[00:24:37] There's a lot of them. I have my core team members. And I think a really important thing is, regardless of my position within within my my career, I've always made a point to kind of share little tidbits of my culture with people just so they know and understand where I'm coming from. So if we have a difference of opinion or if I'm having trouble like at the beginning of my career with not being being too afraid to speak up while I'm sitting in, I'm in a meeting. Right. And really, it was it wasn't really that I was afraid to speak up. I think that the perception was that I was afraid. Right. It was really just a sign of respect. Yes. Right. We had a lot of I was new new to San Diego. We had a lot of people that, you know, had a lot of experience that had been at the laboratories for decades. Right. And that's intimidating.

[00:25:29] Well, it's cultural as you were. Yeah. I mean, not just Navajo, but I mean, I've seen it in some of our pilot students here, too. But I think that there's just this beautiful sense of respect and especially in meetings, conversations, this kind of thing that is very different than sort of the western eyes. And we're just going to jump right in at any time and always wait for somebody to finish what they're saying out of respect. And so I imagine that was a bit of a challenge to us.

[00:25:54] It was definitely a challenge. And and like I said, I think that once I started once I started to share a little bit of my culture with people, and I think the biggest thing that I started to share with people was just, you know, little words and Navajo or like little concepts and Navajo. And I think the first one I shared with a lot of people was, hey, like, you know, like direct eye contact is a little hard for me because that's kind of a sign of disrespect. And once I kind of started to share and explain, I felt like people started to recognize that in me. And so and I also think that being being at the laboratories, it's a very inclusive type place to work anyways. So it really didn't take much. It wasn't a huge hurdle to overcome. So I think that people were recognizing that in me. And and so they would stop and ask Shayna, what's your opinion? That was those very empowering.

[00:26:52] And how about the transition on the other end, like going back to the reservation? Did you have that moment where you would sort of exercise these these different skills and then you come back and they're like, OK, girl, you need. Yeah. I get yeah, I get.

[00:27:09] I think my favorite is like I'll get heat checked by. That's definitely by my mom. She's never one to hold her opinion back. And I love that about her. And and so that's something to you know, she would tease me and that's what we like to do is as native people as we like to tease each other a lot. And so they're like, oh, big shot or, you know, like, oh, that's that East Coast attitude or whatever. And it was just a good signal to me. OK, I need to slow down and then back off and kind of remember my place in my family and make sure I pay respects to that. I love it. I look forward to carrying it on.

[00:27:49] That's awesome. Yeah, well, one of the other aspects of what you do has a lot, I think, to do with service and giving back. I know that on a ton of outreach, a ton of teaching, a ton of, you know, being involved in science fairs and all these different things. And I understand that that component of giving back and services is of paramount importance to you. I wonder if you could talk about your thoughts on that.

[00:28:16] Absolutely. Yeah, it's definitely one of my biggest passions, and it's something that I'm always striving and asking myself to what what else can I do to give back? And it's actually a cornerstone I want to stay of Navajo culture is that we're always challenging our youth to go get an education to better ourselves. And then with the with the aspect of bringing back with the expectation that we come back and we contribute to our tribe in some way. And, you know, that's been, like I said, a cornerstone of our of our culture for a really long time. And so it's something that's been instilled in me since I was young, you know, hearing my elders and my grandparents and my my parents telling me, you know, directly that this is what I must do. But it wasn't until I was in college and actually, you know, being challenged by my professor, too. I developed a nanotechnology outreach program for high school students. And then I also worked with the Society of Women Engineers to, you know, to really break break ground on that program and develop it. And I realized that I had just I just got this huge sense of accomplishment from being able to share what I learned in the classroom and being able to take it and help inspire other young people to go into the STEM field or to go get, you know, a higher education, go to college just to, you know, dream a little bit bigger about the world. And I think that that sense of accomplishment is addicting. And I think that it's something that is really important to me and a big reason why I love. So my job my I love my job so much at Sandia is because I get to have my dream job working in the aerospace industry. But they also really encourage me to give back. And the way that I get to do that is by participating in outreach programs. So I've been able to participate in something we call the Dream Catcher Science Program. It's put on by by my company. And so we have members of our of our workplace that, you know, all participate. And we we take it to different communities in New Mexico. We teach we give workshops on different science and technology themed classes. And so that's something that's that's branched into now. You know, I keep asking myself, what else can I do? What else can I do? And now that's brought me all the way to serving on the engineering advisory board for Navajo Technical University, which I absolutely love, just encouraging students to, you know, go after their education and just, you know, really embrace what they love and what they love to learn about.

[00:31:11] That's great for sharing all of that. I love it all. I think it's time for another song. And so in my deep dive into your music festival, vacation or travels, I found Martin Gerrix.

[00:31:30] It was an amazing show. I could not tell you how much fun that was.

[00:31:37] Well, that's great. I love it. The song I have cued up for you is In the Name of Love. Have a listen to that. And you're listening to the A.P.E.X Hour K91ɬÂþ Youth.

[00:35:01] Welcome back, everyone. Okay. So that was in the Name of Love by Martin Gerrix. And this is Lynn Vartan. You're listening to the A.P.E.X Hour K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1. Welcome back into the studio Shayna Begay. So ok... rocket surgeon, I know you can't talk about it too much, but I'm sure people are wondering, what does that even mean to you? Generally, can you give me a little bit more insight, what is the rocket, doctor?

[00:35:44] Sure. I mean, it's a it's a mouthful for sure. So, you know, I'm working for Sandia National Laboratories or primary mission is the oversight and maintenance of the nation's stockpile, nuclear weapons stockpile. OK. And so where I work in particular is in the modernization program. And so what what we're doing there is essentially taking weapons that have been in our stockpile and taking them apart, inspecting them and refurbishing them, and then making sure that we put them all back together, repackage them so that they can go back into service. So it's kind of like almost restoring an old car.  Which is which is really fascinating because I think the thing the mindset you almost have to have is, you know, like not just just to keep with the imagery here. Right. Is that, you know, monitoring the health of the stockpile and everything. But you almost have to play both engineer as well as historian. You have to dig into the history of it a little bit and really appreciate, you know, the design of these of these weapons and just how sophisticated they are. It's amazing.

[00:37:03] So I mean, you had to learn the design basically of all of them. And when they were designed, probably also makes a huge difference.

[00:37:12] Absolutely. You know, if I could sit down and interview someone that, you know, worked in that era, it would I would answer so many questions. So you would love to. I would love to. Is there any chance and we have some chance like that. And, you know, and thankfully, you know, Sandia has, you know, a lot of great people and even people that have been great mentors to myself. Yeah. As I've taken on this endeavor, because, you know, I'm very young and, you know, very young, especially compared to the age of some of these weapons. And so that's that's been a huge learning experience. And, you know, being able to delve into the history of them, as well as the importance that they play in protecting our country is it's been astounding. Wow. It sounds fascinating. Absolutely. It's. It's a new challenge every day. Yeah.

[00:38:04] Really a lot of problem solving, provider problem solving. Yeah. Everything's different. I mean, when you think like using the car analogy, you know, different cars, maybe rust at different rates because of where they are. Yeah. If they were out in the rain more if they were in an environment. So I'm sure you run across all that kind of stuff.

[00:38:22] Absolutely. And then, you know, even talking about, you know, a car that was a Ford Fiesta that was built in the, you know, in the 80s is completely different than a Ford Fiesta built today. Right. It's it's just, you know, the design evolves and, you know, people change things. The technology evolves. I mean, you know, you you look at some of the the technology that I'm looking at. I'm like a one that doesn't exist today. Yeah. So we have to engineer our way around that and stuff. And so that's a lot of what I owe. A lot of the challenges that I face today is, you know, how do we take these these weapons and bring them into the future with us and make sure that we can that they stay safe, secure and reliable.

[00:39:11] Right. Right. That is so cool. Yes, it's so cool. And then, you know, going forward into the future, I mean, what do you hope or or what do you feel? And this is pretty obvious. But the significance of your position and your job in terms of our future, in terms of like what's the impact of what you do?

[00:39:35] Oh, the impact is huge. And I think that's what what drew me to working at the laboratories is the mission. The core mission is, you know, monitoring the health of these weapons. And the impact it is really comes down to national security. You know, nuclear weapons ended World War Two. And ever since then, we've we've never experienced another World War. Right. And that's that's a huge impact if you can sit there and become. Of the work that you do that I do every day, going into work and knowing that this is literally preventing another world war from breaking out, this is literally saving lives by going to work every single day and solving these these many challenges that we have every single day makes. Makes sure that our country stays safe. And that's that's, you know, inspiring. Yeah. It's what keeps me going every single day.

[00:40:26] That's amazing. Would you like to go into any other areas? Is this your dream job or do you have other dreams?

[00:40:42] Oh, that's that's a really good question. I mean, this is a really fascinating area. And very much so. A niche community. And yeah, I do have other interests. You know, I said earlier that, you know, I like to still do a little bit of amateur astronomy. Yeah. And, you know, I still have some some interest in getting back to my aerospace roots. You know, I'm going back and going back to space exploration and things like that. So, yeah. But at the same time of working working in this field at the laboratories, this is still just it's so challenging and it's a really unique environment to be in. So it's not something I'm completely done with yet. But yeah, I definitely have other interests.

[00:41:30] There's more. Stay. Yeah. Stay tuned. But Sandia sounds like an incredibly diverse and interesting environment to work.

[00:41:37] Yeah, absolutely. Nice. Like I said before, you know, the core mission of the laboratories is, you know, the nuclear weapons systems. But really, that accounts for only about half of what people at the laboratories do. You know, it is a national laboratory. We have what we call work for others that we do as well. So there's and there's multiple locations. So our main location is in Albuquerque. I didn't know we have about 11000 employees that work there. So it's our main campus life and thousands. Oh, my God. In the eyes of our universe. It's huge. And then there's another site in California at Livermore, California, about a couple thousand there. Wow. And and so a lot we have a combustion research facility where they're doing a lot of work on either car engines, diesel engines, all the way up to jet engines. Just all kinds of research there. We have materials scientists that work for us there. They're great group of people to people that, you know, work with small businesses, even helping them to develop their technologies. I ran across the guy who was helping small businesses. A guy who created a business in Albuquerque who is an EMT. And he designed his own shares that he wanted to use in the ambulance truck with himself and had like a multi tool. Oh, and stuff. And so he was working with this with this guy through the Small Business Association to help them improve his dying design and take it. So it was ready to go be manufactured. So it does the work that we do at the laboratories is so wide and so diverse and it has many, many more impacts. I would say then just beyond what we do with nuclear weapons,.

[00:43:17] I guess I didn't realize how big the campus you're on is. And there were other locations. Is it a private organization or what's its affiliation?

[00:43:30] Right. So it's a federally funded research and development center. I see. So we have a private corporation. I am a private considered to be a private contractor. But it is a Department of Energy run facility. I see. Yeah. So it's it's I would be considered a government contractor.

[00:43:55] Interesting. Yeah. Fascinating. Is there anything that you can say about your job right now or any and not specifics? It could be about the leadership or about the communication, I think. Is there anything that really surprised you about about about your job or or continues to surprise you?

[00:44:15] I I would say what surprised me when I first got to Sandia and still continues to surprise me is just how wonderful a place it is to work. I mean, you want to talk about, you know, a lot of companies these days, they talk about how, oh, you know, we're all about work life balance and got it on it. But, you know, you have employees that are working 24/7, right? No, from day one. Sandy has really promoted work life balance. You know, just from having lots of great benefits and everything, which you don't really think about when you first coming out of school. Right. Right. To today, where, you know, even in my leadership position, I have this. Great, wonderful team that works really, really hard. But then I have a manager that will come in at the end of the day every day. And if I'm still in my office, he strongly encourages me to go home. It's it's such it's such a unique and awesome place to be.

[00:45:17] That's great. That's funny I say. What surprises you about your job and your like How amazing it is. What a great place to work. Yes. It's really such a great time to talk to all of you that work there and to the to the organizational structure and just the way that that company is run. That's amazing.

[00:45:35] Absolutely. I love it so much.

[00:45:38] Cool. I have one more song, and this is the band Odessa, which you told me was new to you. . And we both now really like like it. And you've heard them at festival as well. This song is called A Moment Apart. You're listening to the A.P.E.X Hour. K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1.

[00:49:44] All right. Welcome back, everyone. Well, Shayna and I have just been here geeking out on music and all kinds of things. So you're listening to the A.P.E.X Hour K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1.

[00:49:56] That song was a moment apart by Odessa. So cool. This perfect blend of like chill but yet also energetic at the same time, don't you?

[00:50:10] Yeah, I do my best work while listening to them. It's yeah. It's just the perfect blend of like energy. But chill.

[00:50:17] Totally. It puts me in the zone. Yeah. And speaking of work, you were mentioning this cool concept cause I was asking you. Speaking of work, how did your email go since you have like 200 people? And and I was saying how I can get a little overwhelmed. I love trying to stay up with email. But there's this like Sisyphusian in Mountain always to climb. And you had some great insight. Would you mind sharing?

[00:50:42] Absolutely. I think yeah. I used to get so overwhelmed with all of the e-mail and trying to keep up with a lot of people. Yeah, I read. And it never ends and it never ends. Right. And and stuff. And so I actually had a coworker tell me like Sheena, like it's always going to be there. And I think just just, you know, having him tell me that it kind of made me realize I was like, wow, OK, so this is my burden to bear. But for now and I'm going to keep doing that until I can no longer do it. And then I'll just pass it on to the next person. So it's kind of helped me relax a little bit and say, yeah, I know this is my burden to bear and it's my privilege to bear it. Right. And I will continue doing that until I no longer can. Then I know it's someone else's turn to take it over. So it kind of helps me relax and say, all right. Yes, it's a mountain to climb. But, you know, it's just because it's my turn to do it right now.

[00:51:31] I love that. I'm totally gonna like remember that I might go back to the transcript because I think that's just a really great outlook to have on it. It's a very holistic, very group oriented, you know, serving the all you know, that this mountain of e-mail is not just about you. It's about who you're serving and what you're serving. Absolutely. Absolutely.

[00:51:55] Well, that was amazing. That was like an unexpected in the music break. So you go I have one last question for you. It's harder. It's my last question. I know the hour goes by so quickly then, but it's my favorite last question to ask. And it's the question is, what's turning you on this week? And it can be anything. It can be a book or a TV show or a movie or food or whatever you want. It doesn't matter.

[00:52:19] I could probably spend at least another 10 hours talking about that.

[00:52:22] So that means you like a lot of things that love a lot of things. Well, so, you know, that's that's what we do. And it just gives our audience a way to kind of get a little more insight. So Shayna Begay. What is turning you on this week?

[00:52:34] Oh, my gosh. Right now I am all about the Mandalorian. OK. So Disney plus just came out this week and they've been showing this like TV series based on Star Wars and oh, my gosh, I watched the first episode on my way up here. So thank you, Southern Utah University. Give me an opportunity and excuse to watch it. And I watched the first episode and my mind was blown.

[00:53:04] Did you love it? Gosh, I'm I'm so in love with it right now. OK.Yeah. Only on Disney Plus or Disney plus. Yeah. Oh my gosh. And it's called the Mandalay. The Mandalorian. Yeah, right. That's what's trending on our bounty hunters love. That's so cool. Well, thank you so much for sharing that. Thank you so much for spending the time here. I have loved learning about your life and your history and what you do, and I just find it so inspiring. So thank you so much for your generosity and for being here.

[00:53:36] Absolutely. Thank you. A pleasure to be here. Yay! All right.

[00:53:39] Well, we have one more week in this fall semester for our A.P.E.X Hour series, so we'll be back right at you next week.

[00:53:47] Thanks so much for listening to the A.P.E.X Hour here on K91ɬÂþ Thunder 91.1. Come find us again next Thursday at 3 p.m. for more conversations with the visiting guests at Southern Utah University. And new music to discover for your next playlist. And in the meantime, we would love to see you at our events on campus to find out more. Check out suu.edu/apex. Until next week. This is Lynn Vartan thing. Goodbye from the A.P.E.X Hour. Here on Thunder 91.1.