Cady Coleman with Steve Broback

Working hard and following your dreams can lead you to places and accomplishments beyond what you thought possible- or at least that’s always the hope. For astronaut Cady Coleman, lofty goals became literal as she moved through years of intense training and study and successfully blasted off into space - not just once, but a casual three times. And throughout her career, Coleman continued to learn not just the skills of an incredibly competitive specialized field but how the takeaways from her zero-gravity adventures continued to impact her once the expeditions were over. In this conversation with Steve Broback of Dent the Future, Cady will discuss her debut memoir Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder and Making Change, where she chronicles both the professional achievements and personal growth that took her to new heights and shaped what kind of person she wanted to be back on solid ground.
Sharing Space explores the multitude of unique experiences that have informed Coleman’s journey thus far. From studying in deeply male-dominated STEM fields to watching women break new ground in uncharted science and then becoming one of those women herself, Coleman recounts lessons learned in her own beginnings and across her 24-year career with NASA. After years spent overcoming obstacles in competitive, high-performance environments, including grappling with her own doubts and training in a spacesuit that was too big, Coleman shares how she grew to be a more complex version of a role that wasn’t built with her in mind.
Coleman details the insights and adaptations that carried her not only as an accomplished astronaut with over 180 days logged in space, but also as a mother, team leader, and continually curious person back on Earth. Filled with tales from meteorite hunting in Antarctica to launching a $1.6 billion telescope into space to the wonder of spending six months living and working in zero gravity, Sharing Space dives into themes of determination, adaptability, and leveraging insecurities to beat expectations, even in less than hospitable environments. Coleman encourages readers to try to reshape their worlds and mindsets and to develop the confidence to succeed even when they’re not an obvious “fit.”
Former NASA Astronaut and retired Air Force Colonel Cady Coleman is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions and a six-month expedition aboard the International Space Station (ISS). A popular public speaker and media consultant, Cady is also a frequent contributor to ABC for space exploration news and a sought-after expert for ABC, CNN, the BBC, and other outlets. She and her family were recently featured in two documentaries, PBS’s Space: The Longest Goodbye, and The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station. As an amateur flute player, she is known for her “Space Duet” with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull and her work with the acclaimed Irish band, The Chieftains.
Steve Broback is the cofounder of Dent the Future, an organization that produces events and experiences focused on science, innovation, inspiration, and entrepreneurship. He has had the opportunity to interview noteworthy individuals on various stages - including Town Hall - where he interviewed genetic genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter (credited with helping to catch the Golden State Killer). He has also interviewed Cady Coleman (astronaut), LeVar Burton (actor and director), Daymond John (entrepreneur and author), Alvy Ray Smith (co-founder of Pixar), and Brian Boitano (Olympic gold medalist). He is also an angel investor and the author of two books covering technology topics. Born in Seattle, Steve earned his degrees in economics and finance at the University of Washington.
Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Dent the Future.