Biography
Dr. Melissa Corley Carter, The Barefoot Dancing Rocket Scientist, is an actual rocket scientist, 7 continents marathoner, astronaut reject, speaker, award-winning author, and certified professional coach who helps rockstar women own their awesomeness.
Before becoming a coach, Melissa spent twenty years aspiring to become an astronaut. She earned two engineering degrees from Stanford University, was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, and earned a PhD in astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. Despite perfect vision after corrective eye surgery, her pre-surgical eyesight disqualified her and shattered her astronaut dream.
In the years since, she’s realized that her astronaut dream emerged from an intuitive knowing of her spiritual connection with the universe, from a desire to inspire people to greatness the way astronauts had always inspired her, and from the vision of a unified and harmonious world.
Melissa’s journey has taught her that identity and goals are not synonymous, that even major disappointments hold gifts beyond imagining, and that every experience invites us to take a small step — or a giant leap — into greater alignment with who we really are.
Melissa is the author and photographer of the award-winning 2021 coffee table book, Running the World: Marathon Memoirs from the Seven Continents. In her book she shares her outer journey across the continents and her inner journey of recovering from shattered dreams and realigning her life with powerful purpose.
Melissa is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, where she serves as an executive coach, strategic advisor, and leadership development facilitator. Prior to joining the reserve, her active duty assignments included laser test engineering, adaptive optics research and development, satellite acquisitions and operations, and aide-de-camp and executive officer to senior leaders.
An inspirational force of nature, Melissa is here to celebrate the power of who you are and to fire you up with passion for the life you live.