Hey #That Girl,
Here at Being That Girl Headquarters we are thankful and grateful for continuing our hunt for ambassadors and mutual partners with an impressive end result. We're excited to share our platform with remarkable women who are pillars of woman culture, legacy & history makers, dream chasers who, despite all odds and challenges, have become the woman they are.
Starting today, we will share the voices and faces that we have entrusted to help with my ever-loving desire to celebrate and support women. Without further ado we would like to introduce Sharon McDougle to our That Girl Tribe as our That Girl Hidden Figure Ambassador.
Sharon Caples McDougle is a modern day hidden figure. McDougle joined the NASA family through Boeing Aerospace Operations/United Space Alliance where she worked in the Space Shuttle Crew Escape Equipment (CEE) department as a suit technician. She was responsible for processing the orange Launch and Entry Suit assemblies worn by all space shuttle astronauts. When she began her career she was the only African American CEE technician and one of only two women suit technicians. Two years later she made history suiting up Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to travel into space. McDougle would go on to garner a fewmore firsts of her own throughout her career.
McDougle was promoted to Crew Chief making her the first woman and first African American Crew Chief in CEE. In her new position she was responsible for leading a team of technicians to suit up astronaut crews. Her team was responsible for ensuring the astronaut crews were provided with outstanding support during suited training, launch, and landing. She traveled to Kennedy Space Center quite often where she worked in support of many space shuttle launches. As Crew Chief, McDougle had the honor of leading the first and only all-female suit tech crew. McDougle went on to become the only female and only African American promoted to the position of manager of the CEE department. In this position, she managed a team of 25+ employees responsible for processing the Advanced Crew Escape Suit ensemble. Her team assisted the astronauts in donning/doffing the suit, testing the equipment, strapping the astronauts into the space shuttle before launch, and recovering the crew upon landing. She held this position until the Space Shuttle Program ended in 2011. She continued working until 2012 to help close-out the program, ending an illustrious 22 year career.
During her career she was recognized with the Astronaut “Silver Snoopy” Award, Space Flight Awareness Honoree Award, USA Employee of the Month Teamwork Award, USA Employee of the Month Community Service Award, and the coveted Women of Color in Flight Award from Dr. Mae Jemison recognizing her career as the first and only African American woman suit tech/crew chief in her field. She absolutely loved her job and is proud to have been a part of our nation’s historic Space Shuttle Program.
McDougle was recognized by her home state as a 2018 Mississippi Trailblazer where she received two awards: the Calvin “Buck” Buchanan “FIRST” Award named for Mississippi’s first United States Attorney for the Northern District -honoring a Mississippian who holds the distinction of being the first in their profession, and the Dr. Cindy Ayers “Legacy” Award - honoring a Trailblazer whose singular work and contributions will leave a legacy long after their life has ended. She was also recognized as a Living Legend with the Lifetime Achievement award from the Moss Point Visionary Circle.
Most recently, McDougle was honored by Our Mississippi Magazine as one of the Most Influential African Americans in the state of Mississippi.
McDougle is also a United States Air Force (USAF) veteran, which is where she began her aerospace career after graduating from high school. She served proudly in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) as an Aerospace Physiology Specialist at Beale Air Force Base, CA as a member of the Physiological Support Division (PSD). McDougle was responsible for suiting up and strapping in the SR-71 and U-2/TR-1 reconnaissance aircraft pilots before they performed high altitude operations. McDougle spent much of her enlistment on temporary duty traveling abroad to Greece, Korea, Japan, and England, as well as stateside locations, in support of the reconnaissance aircraft missions.
Sharon and her husband Maronald McDougle are both natives of Moss Point, MS currently residing in La Porte, TX, and have been happily married for 27 years. They have two children, Dominique and Corbin, and a fur baby, Diesel.
Who’s That Girl? ・・・ I AM That Girl who is a Loving Wife I AM That Girl who is a Loving Mother I AM That Girl who ensured the safety of Astronauts I Am That Girl who served her country for 7 years I Am That Girl who volunteers in her community I Am That Girl who roots for other women I Am That Girl you can depend on I Am That Girl who loves to dance I Am That Girl who loves an adventure I Am That Girl who loves to dress up in costumes I Am That Girl who loves to read to children I Am That Girl who is a good cook I Am That Girl who loves to eat I Am That Girl who is a daredevil I Am That Girl who loves musicals I Am That Girl who loves to travel I Am That Girl who lives life to the fullest I AM That Girl who brings Sunshine wherever I go I Am That Girl from Moss Point, Mississippi I Am That Girl who persevered and overcame I Am That Girl who inspires others I Am That Girl who is a Trailblazer I Am That Girl who is a History Maker I AM That Girl who is a Modern Day Hidden Figure I AM THAT GIRL Sharon Caples McDougle @thatshaymac .
Now do you understand why Sharon Caples McDougle is THAT GIRL? Now do you understand why I can not resist but to celebrate, support and shout her to the roof top?
I was always taught by my mother to treat the janitor like the CEO.
I met Sharon at our Being That Girl Houston Launch Party. This beautiful spirited arrived as our first guest.
Sharon approached me with a beautiful smile while explaining to me that she drove 1.5 hours to see me (OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG little ole me lol) to tell me that she was proud of me and that you loves my vision for this brand, the work that I've done. At the time I had no clue that I was speaking with a LEGEND. I simply thanked her for attending. I apologized for the unexpected occurrences and instantly we became sisters. Here's the thing ladies, I had absolutely NO CLUE who Sharon was until I arrived back home to Detroit. While watching her interview with Marcy K from Doing the Mo Podcast I discovered that a Modern Day Hidden Figure was in the same room as me. Click here for a recap of her interview.
Now we are here present day, the lovely Sharon McDougal agreed to be our Hidden Figure Ambassador. MY MOUTH IS ON THE FLOOR!!! ❤️❤️❤️🎉💅🏾💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾
Here's my favorite picture of Sharon and I. Lets applaud two women who didn't know anything about each other besides the fact that we were celebrating and supporting the success of other women. Get this, that's all we needed to know!! 💅🏾Subscribe to our website for more updates on Sharon and our That Girl initiatives.
Yasssssssssss That GIRL, I met a full blown QUEEN of our lifetime. I'm honored and shouting her to the roof top. Do you want to meet Sharon in person? Guess what???? She's coming to DETROIT, STAY TUNED!!!!!