Today on the podcast I’m welcoming Molly Mae Potter. She is a United States Air Force veteran, who since sustaining an injury in a rocket blast accident, has dedicated herself to advocating for and empowering other veterans. In this episode, you’ll hear Molly Mae’s story of deployment on a special ops command in Afghanistan in 2010. You’ll hear her personal experience of getting hit by a rocket blast during that deployment, and the spiraling trauma and PTSD that ensued thereafter. You’ll learn how she’s overcame her trauma and been able to empower and advocate for support of women veterans through her platform of Miss Veteran America, and more.
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Molly Mae has an extensive background, beginning her career with NASA’s astrobiology research team, to testifying before congress to change policy allowing combat veterans to have service dogs, to leading a successful career in tech, serving as Miss Veteran America, and more.
In this episode, Molly Mae paints us a beautiful picture of unification of our country through her “one wish for America”. Given our recent presidential election here in America, and the fact that we celebrated Veteran’s Day this month, it felt appropriate to share my conversation with Molly Mae with you today! Perhaps we can all take Molly’s wish to heart, and consider how we might unify ourselves instead of dividing ourselves.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Molly Mae's story of getting hit by a rocket blast and how that resulted in physical injury, emotional trauma, and PTSD - leading her to an in-patient mental health facility
- How she began to heal with the help of her family dog, Bella - the first official Air Force dog!
- How Molly and her service dog Bella, testified before congress on the benefits of trained services dogs in the healing process for combat veterans.
- How she became Miss Veteran America and the platform it gave her to advocate for other women veterans, while finding a sense of belonging and empowerment through community
- Molly Mae's greatest wish for unification in America!
*Don’t forget to mark your calendar to go see “My Dead Friend Zoe” in theaters February 28!
Molly Mae's Bio:
Born and raised in North Carolina, Molly Mae Potter developed an early passion for aviation, science, and space. After graduating from Salem Academy in 2003, she went on to receive degrees in Space Physics and Astronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University before launching her career with NASA's astrobiology research team. While there, she invented and patented key technology that enabled detection of biomarkers in geological materials on two of the Mars Rover Missions.
In 2007, Molly Mae joined the United States Air Force, where she served as a flight test engineer and a USSOCOM acquisition specialist. During a deployment to Afghanistan with JSOC in 2010, she was injured in a blast accident; after receiving treatment, she was honorably discharged from active duty in 2013. In 2015, Molly and her service dog Bella, testified before congress on the benefits to trained services dogs in the healing process for combat veterans. Their testimony and story laid the groundwork for the PAWS ACT- dedicating funding in the DOD budget to enable service dogs as a legitimate and sustaining program for veterans’ health care in the VA Health Care system. To continue to support other women veterans, Molly Mae ran for and won the title of Ms. Veteran America 2016.
Locally, Molly Mae has served the City of Austin as a commissioner for veterans' affairs, and she currently supports political strategy initiatives to give a voice to veterans. She has emerged as a national advocate for Afghan refugees, securing congressional funding for resettlement resourcing and job placement.
Professionally, Molly Mae is the Vice President of HPE Greenlake Platform for Security and Compliance. She is also active in promoting veteran tech entrepreneurship, and in 2017, she was named a National Military Influencer and has served as an active CEO and co-founder, and board director for successful tech start-ups focused on metadata solutions.
Molly Mae holds a Master's in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Florida and a Business Master's in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas. She serves as a member of the Air and Space Forces Association Board of Directors at Large and holds board director positions for the Arnold Air Society, Silver Wings, and Det Bozeman organizations.
She currently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Tate Selby and young daughter, Pepper Potter.
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