What does it take to fly a helicopter off a Navy ship in the middle of the night? Not bravery alone. Not luck. It takes training, teamwork, and the courage to make calculated decisions when everything is on the line.

In this episode of Books That Build Skills, retired Navy helicopter pilot and commander Julie Vida shares the real skills behind one of the most demanding careers in the world — and how those same skills start developing long before adulthood.

This conversation connects the skills inside the Charms books with the real-world skills used in high-stakes careers. Julie Vida served 24 years in the U.S. Navy, flying helicopters on missions ranging from supply delivery to search-and-rescue and submarine hunting. She explains how students today can develop the same core skills used by pilots, leaders, and innovators.

You’ll hear how teamwork, geography, physics, decision-making, confidence, and trust play a role in both aviation and everyday life. And you’ll discover why the skills you’re learning right now may lead to careers you haven’t even imagined yet.

🎙 Guest Info

Name: Julie Vida

Title: Helicopter Pilot & Commander

Company: Navy, Retired

What she really does: Julie Vida is a retired U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and commander who served for 24 years. Today she leads the growth team at a government contracting company that supports the federal government and Department of Defense by delivering advanced engineering and technology systems. Her job involves building partnerships, identifying mission-critical opportunities, and helping teams win projects that support national security.

🔧 Skills Highlighted in This Episode

⛭ Courage and calculated risk

⛭ Leadership and decision-making

⛭ Teamwork under pressure

⛭ STEM skills in aviation (physics, geography, aerodynamics)

⛭ Trust and crew communication

⛭ Time management in demanding careers

⛭ Budgeting and resource planning

⛭ Networking and connecting people

⛭ Confidence building

⛭ Following curiosity to discover your path

📘 EXPLORE MORE

📖 Buy the books: BooksThatBuildSkills.org/Shop

❤️ Donate to our literacy programs: BooksThatBuildSkills.org/Donate

📚Participate in the 31-day Reading Challenge: BooksThatBuildSkills.org/middle-grade-march

🎯 Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianavida

📚 About the Books Behind This Podcast

The Charms Book Series isn’t just a set of stories—it’s the foundation of everything you see on the Books That Build Skills podcast.Each book follows a curious teen inventor navigating real-world challenges using the same skills our podcast guests talk about—problem-solving, communication, leadership, resilience, and STEM thinking. The podcast shows kids who uses these skills in real life. The books let them practice those skills through story.

📘 Explore the books, read along, and turn every episode into a real-life learning adventure.

📚 What Is Books That Build Skills Podcast?

Short Episodes. Real People. Real Careers. Real Skills. Zero Boring Adult Talk.

🗳 YOUR VOTE MATTERS

If this topic resonated, vote by:

👍 Liking the video

💬 Leaving a comment

📤 Sharing it with someone curious about this path

🔔 ABOUT SUBSCRIBING (NO PRESSURE, PROMISE)

If this channel consistently shows up with conversations you’d actually want in your feed—subscribe.

juvenile fiction series, books for ages

What if the future of space exploration started on a farm?What if crop rotation was once considered radical?What if preserving history was actually protecting tomorrow’s breakthroughs?

Welcome to Mount Vernon — and yes, it matters to space.

In this Middle Grade March special, Sara Marie Massee from George Washington’s Mount Vernon connects 18th-century farming innovation to modern sustainability and scientific thinking. We explore crop rotation, soil health, civic duty, and the women who saved Mount Vernon from collapse. This episode shows how research, leadership, and systems thinking build nations — and careers.

🎙 Guest Info

Name: Sara Marie Massee

Title: Manager, Historic Trades Department

Company: Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association

What she really does: She leads the living history team at Mount Vernon, managing demonstrations like blacksmithing and farming while overseeing research, preservation projects, and public programs. She blends leadership, research, communication, and historical analysis every single day.

🛠️ Skills Highlighted in This Episode

⛭ Systems thinking

⛭ Scientific experimentation

⛭ Crop rotation & sustainability

⛭ Research & documentation

⛭ Leadership without formal power

⛭ Civic responsibility

⛭ Project management

⛭ Preservation science

⛭ Analytical thinking

⛭ Passion-driven career paths

📘 EXPLORE MORE

📖 Buy the books: BooksThatBuildSkills.org/Shop

❤️ Donate to our literacy programs: BooksThatBuildSkills.org/Donate

🎯 Guest Website: MountVernon.org

🎯 Guest LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/company/MountVernon

🎯 Guest Facebook: Facebook.com/HistoricMountVernon/

🎯 Guest Instagram: Instagram.com/mount_vernon

🎯 Guest Youtube: youtube.com/c/mountvernon

📚 About the Books Behind This Podcast

The Charms Book Series isn’t just a set of stories—it’s the foundation of everything you see on the Books That Build Skills podcast.Each book follows a curious teen inventor navigating real-world challenges using the same skills our podcast guests talk about—problem-solving, communication, leadership, resilience, and STEM thinking. The podcast shows kids who uses these skills in real life. The books let them practice those skills through story.

When kids read the books and watch the podcast together, learning sticks. Characters make choices, face consequences, and solve problems—just like the professionals you’re meeting in this episode. That’s why we say these are books that don’t just entertain… they build skills.📘

Explore the books, read along, and turn every episode into a real-life learning adventure.

📚 What Is Books That Build Skills Podcast?

Short Episodes. Real People. Real Careers. Real Skills. Zero Boring Adult Talk.

Every episode is a behind-the-scenes look at how incredible careers are built—(industries relevant to this guest)—plus the mistakes, risks, and skills learned along the way. From “I kinda like this…” → “Whoa… I really DID THAT.”

🗳 YOUR VOTE MATTERS

If this topic resonated, vote by:

👍 Liking the video

💬 Leaving a comment

📤 Sharing it with someone curious about this path

When certain topics light up, I invite guests back for longer, deeper-dive episodes—walking kids through the full path from middle school → college → career, step by step.

Your engagement helps decide

What does it actually take to work at NASA?

Not as an astronaut.

Not as an engineer.

But as the person responsible for capturing history as it happens.

In this Space Week special episode of Books That Build Skills, Loxley Browne sits down with Eric Galler, a television producer and director who has worked behind the scenes filming rocket launches, astronaut interviews, and high-stakes NASA missions—including launches tied to the Artemis era of space exploration.Eric’s story is not a straight line.

It’s a layered, skill-stacked journey that starts in a Brooklyn high school focused on oceanography, winds through Hollywood film sets, Discovery Channel and Smithsonian documentaries, and ultimately lands at NASA Headquarters—after four years of persistence, rejection, and trying again .In this episode, you’ll discover:

• What it feels like to stand on site during a rocket launch—when the ground vibrates, the sound arrives late, and history has no rewind button
• How Eric went from marine biology labs and chemistry classes to producing space content seen around the world
• Why storytelling, communication, time management, and project planning are just as critical to NASA missions as science and engineering
• How creative skills learned in high school—band, photography, writing, building things—quietly became career-defining tools
• What persistence really looks like when breaking into one of the most competitive organizations on Earth

Eric also shares what most people never see:the daily NASA meetings with 200+ people across multiple space centers, the pressure of filming missions with zero margin for error, and the mindset required when you’re trusted to document moments that will be studied for decades .This episode is especially for:

• Students ages 8–14 exploring future careers
• Teens who love space, film, storytelling, or building things
• Parents who want to understand how skills grow over time
• Educators showing students that careers are built, not discovered

📘 EXPLORE MORE

📖 Buy the books: BooksThatBuildSkills.org/Shop

❤️ Donate to our literacy programs: BooksThatBuildSkills.org/Donate

🎯 Guest Website: https://www.ericgaller.com

🎯 Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericgaller

📚 About the Books Behind This Podcast

The Charms Book Series isn’t just a set of stories—it’s the foundation of everything you see on the Books That Build Skills podcast.Each book follows a curious teen inventor navigating real-world challenges using the same skills our podcast guests talk about—problem-solving, communication, leadership, resilience, and STEM thinking. The podcast shows kids who uses these skills in real life. The books let them practice those skills through story.

When kids read the books and watch the podcast together, learning sticks. Characters make choices, face consequences, and solve problems—just like the professionals you’re meeting in this episode. That’s why we say these are books that don’t just entertain… they build skills.📘

Explore the books, read along, and turn every episode into a real-life learning adventure.

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