EP 7 — SAS's Heather Bulk on Building a Diverse and Passionate Workforce in the DIB

On this week's episode of the DIB Innovators podcast, David talks with Heather Bulk, President, CEO, & Co-founder at Special Aerospace Services (SAS), a tactical engineering and advanced manufacturing firm. They discuss how SAS grew from advisory services to providing tactical engineering in civil and DoD industries, and how they've seen the commercial space industry grow through increased interest, funding, and demand. They also talk about how to solve the challenges of workforce development in the DIB, efforts to get more women involved, and how they build diversity starting with how they recruit. 

Topics discussed:

• How SAS got started in advisory services for clients working with NASA and evolved to providing tactical engineering and advanced manufacturing services in both civil and DoD industries.
• How the commercial space industry has grown through increased interest, funding, and demand for new engineering.
• Why the biggest hurdle to overcome when working with the government is compliance, and why growing companies should look to outside experts to build their capabilities.
• How SAS fosters a culture of autonomy and "unintentional diversity" by being deliberate with its recruitment efforts.
• The story of Deanna and how to get more women interested and involved in the space industry.
• Why workforce development is the biggest challenge to the DIB today and the initiatives that can help solve it.
• Why, when, and if a growing company should seek venture capital, and how SAS's bootstrapping allowed them to take more risks.