As a young girl growing up in Atlanta, chemistry and math were a passion for Stephanie Espy, our podcast guest, this week. This passion followed Stephanie to college, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from MIT. Upon earning her degree, Stephanie became one of the women who earned 19 percent of bachelor’s degrees in engineering, as well as one of the minority women awarded 3 percent of bachelor’s degrees in engineering.  

Stephanie went on to further her education by graduating from UC Berkeley with a master’s in chemical engineering and obtaining an MBA from Emory University.

With a strong career path projected before her, Stephanie felt compelled to set her own course, focusing her work on making STEM subjects more relatable and engaging for kids and highlighting women role models in STEM. Stephanie started her own business in 2008 and is the Founder and CEO of MathSP. Additionally, she authored the book STEM Gems, a book for girls and young women to explore STEM careers through the stories of 44 inspiring women STEM leaders.  

In my conversation with Stephanie, who is recognized as the #1 LinkedIn Top Voice in Education, I asked her who were her role models growing up, how she had the courage to leave a stable industry job and start her own business, and she shares the entrepreneurship lessons she learned along the way.

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