(upbeat music) - My name is LaNita Whittle, and my professional title is Manager of our Aerospace Project Management Office or PMO.

So when you're trying to get a team to a full destination, you wanna make sure everybody's on the bus, everyone's going in the same direction, so we can get to our destination all at one time.

So that's why it was really important to have a plan.

So for me, it's like mapping out our direction, our strategy, where we wanna go, how we wanna get there, and making sure everyone knows their part in how we're going to get there.

So who's going be a passenger, who's gonna to be driving, who's taking over?

So that's a lot of what I do, just making sure we coordinate things, and also setting some of the strategic directions, especially when we look at the roadmap of not only where we want to be short-term, but also looking further ahead and say, "Okay, this might be a stop along the way, "but where do we really wanna go long-term?"

As a kid, I was inquisitive.

I'm sure I asked my dad a million questions, my mom a million questions a day.

But I was always trying to figure something out.

If I didn't know the answer, I would try to figure out the answer.

I've actually gotten in trouble for taking apart things at home.

But it's really out of the passion to know what make things work and how to make things either work better, or use that learning to apply to something else to make something else better.

Because I was always inquisitive, I think that's why my dad probably thought I was gonna be a lawyer.

But also, I was inquisitive but I also liked to teach.

So at the end of the school years, I would ask the teachers for all their workbooks just so I can teach my cousins over the summer and be their teacher.

So I think I definitely thought I was gonna be a teacher or a lawyer.

And then at one point in time, I thought I was gonna be a professional basketball player because I was really into sports.

So what I'm most proud of in life is my children, hands down, by far.

And I'm really proud of them.

But most importantly, I do a lot of what I do because I want them to be proud of me.

So while they make me proud, I'm also trying to ensure that they're proud of me and the journey that their mom has taken and will continue to take.

That hopefully, it's inspiring to them and their children to come.

The advice I would give to younger Black girls who are pursuing a career in STEM is it's not gonna be easy.

But just have that ambition, have that perseverance to keep going, and you'll be even surprised on what you can achieve.

So don't give up, don't lose hope.

You know, make connections along the way, and just keep persevering and having that ambition to set goals.

And even if you're the first to do it, go out there and try, and don't be afraid to fail because every time you fail, you learn from those failures, and it makes you a better person, and a better person for yourself to grow.

Doors will close.

A lot of doors may close.

But as doors close, a lot of doors will open and give new opportunities that you didn't even know would exist.

(upbeat music fades)