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An image of Finka Jerkovic and Khristian Jones.

Q & A: The Power of an Emotionally Intelligent Workforce Featuring Khristian Jones, Co-Founder of the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship   

Listen to the full interview:

1. What inspired you to jump into the STEM field?

“STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. It covers a wide variety of fields. However, I was always interested in math and science. Technology was up and coming when I was in elementary and middle school, but it was my love for math and science. In 8th grade or so, I was given a project to say what I wanted to be when I grew up. 

Most kids say: ‘I want to be a firefighter.’ ‘I want to be a chef.’ ‘I want to be a nurse.’  

But I always wanted to be an astronaut. When I had that assignment, I really put that to the test of I’m interested in science and math. I’m really good at it and I want to be an astronaut, so what type of career should I go into? Some of the biggest things at the time were astronautical and aeronautical engineering. Aerospace wasn’t as widespread until I got into college. Seeing what aerospace engineering wasbuilding spacecraft, airplanes, designingI was in awe.” 

2. What’s your specific title and what do you do?

“I’m an Interior Engineer at United Airlines. Interiors engineering is like an interior designer on a whole other level, but for airplanes. I’ve worked with Boeing and Airbus. For those who aren’t familiar with the aero industry, there are two different kinds of aircraft, two different companies that dominate the commercial aviation field. Those are the two aircraft we fly. I’m responsible for the Boeing 737 aircraft, anything as far as retrofits. It’s a complete redesign and gutting of our aircraft and making it new and fresh so that it has features like Bluetooth capability. But on the engineering side, we make sure it’s safe. That’s first and foremost, making sure it’s safe for our customers and the public. As an engineer, that’s very important to me. That’s what I went to school for. That’s what I study for, and that’s my responsibility.”  

3. You co-founded the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship? Can you tell us a little bit about the organization and what your mission is?

“Patty Grace Smith is the first director of the Commercial Space Division of the FAA. About 20 years ago, it was all NASA and old space companies that were doing space operations. Then Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson came along and said they wanted to do space, but there was no outline for what the rules were because NASA had been the only ones launching into space. Patti Grace Smith played a dynamic role in bringing old space together with the commercial space, forming common ground to ensure space operations were safe.  

I never got a chance to meet her, but we have a sister program called the Brooke Owens Fellowship, and I was a part of that program. It’s for women and non-binary students in aerospace, meeting the gap when it comes to gender discrimination in the aerospace industry.  

It was at a time with a lot of social injustice happening around race and ethnicity in America, and I felt there needed to be something more happening. I was a senior in college doing capstone building for a small aircraft, trying to graduate, and I knew there had to be more of me.  

Will Cormorant came to me and said, ‘Hey, I have this crazy idea. You could totally tell me this is horrible.” 

I honestly told him at first that I had to think about it because, for me, it’s super important to not perpetuate the idea of separate but equal. It’s about bringing us together and realizing that our differences are actually bringing us closer and stronger together as one to create an even better tomorrow. I talked to my well-knowledgeable advisor, A.K.A my mother, and came to the consensus that this is something I want to do. This fellowship needs to exist. That’s how Patti Grace Smith Fellowship came to be.”  

4. Giving opportunities and space to cultivate talent in the aerospace industry is important to you. Can you talk a little bit about what goes on in the fellowship? What can students expect? What are the outcomes?

The fellowship has three pillars. It’s a scholarship/cash grant. The biggest thing I saw, especially being a student, is paying for school and figuring out how to strive toward an internship that may not pay as great for school. To hopefully help take a little stress off, we give students a cash grant towards academic expenses so that during the summer, they can fully focus on their internship and just be a sponge, learning from their host company.  

That leads to the next pillar of internships. We pair our fellows with host companies, some of the top aerospace companies in the country, if not in the world, like SpaceX and Blue Origin. They have an 8-to-12-week internship in the summer, and then we have a big leadership summit. We bring our students together with 4 days of personal and leadership development, and they get to know each other. The biggest thing is the community you build between the fellows and cofounders/executive teams, as well as the cohorts. The hope is it becomes a camaraderie where they can reach out for help, guidance, and support. 

5. What are some of the challenges you've noticed in the aerospace industry?

The biggest thing is the gender gap. Over the past 6-7 years, it’s been a real push for young women or young people to go into STEM fields, specifically engineering. At the end of the day, aerospace has lawyers. It has people who do admin. We need those things. We need HR. But a lot more women are in technical aspects of those companies.  

There are still some growth areas. I remember I heard a student say that at a particular company there weren’t many females in the building, so they turned a female bathroom into a male bathroom. So now women had one bathroom, two stalls for every woman in the building. It was interesting because it just so happened to be on the engineering floor. It’s that inequity where there aren’t even provisions for us to use the bathroom. It doesn’t feel very inclusive; you have to go to another level or to another building for human nature. I really do feel like there are areas where we can continue to grow. 

6. In the STEM and technology industries, there’s a heavy emphasis on technical aspects, like knowledge and expertise. Often things like communication and emotional intelligence can fall to the wayside. Can you expand more on that and tell us a little bit about what it's been like for you from your own experience?

I think it’s a little bit of EQ as well as mental health awareness. STEM in general, but especially in aerospace, it’s very much: Can you derive triple integrals? Can you create this rocket? Can you build this satellite? But we’re also human. Sometimes I think we’re so high functioning that we don’t think about things at a lower level of eating, meeting friends, and talking to others.  

EQ is super big, but it’s also not really talked about. We always have HR, recruiters, and DEI folk who come in and say, ‘Can you do this thing?’  

But we really need to take it upon ourselves to understand that it’s not just the checking of a box. It’s really important to have a high EQ, especially in leadership. That is very important in any discipline for sure, but I think engineers and STEM professionals have to work overtime because of how we are wired. A lot of times we’re robotic. There’s an answer to everything. It’s this or that, and we call it a day. But there are shades of gray. 

For instance, I have one of the biggest projects of my life and my parents are really sick and I don’t know how to handle that. But you have leadership that’s like: ‘Okay, did you get the project done? Okay, did you meet this deadline?’ They don’t see that their employee is struggling, unable to focus or not really on their square like they usually are. It’s good to have those skills to be able to say, ‘Hey, you know what? Hold on, Khristian, I know we have this deadline. But what’s going on? Because something is off. Do you mind sharing? Do you need some time off? Do you need some time to just step away for the rest of the day? Feel comfortable to do what it is that you need to do.’ 

EQ is important because it plays a part into not just work/life balance and being able to understand that your employees and your direct reports are human beings, but also when it comes to leadership development and personal and professional development. For example, people reading the room and understanding different personalities, understanding how people communicate, what motivates them—all of those things are a part of EQ. Sometimes it’s saying you’re smart and are a great individual contributor, but when you put them in management without those skills, you start to see a disconnect.”  

7. What can people start doing today to become more proficient in EQ?

“I’m a huge reader, and I love podcasts and audiobooks and things like that. I have a mother who has a very high EQ. I started off not even knowing I had a high EQ until she was like, ‘Wow, yeah, you’re doing pretty good, kid.’ 

But I started with Emotional Intelligence for Dummies. It answered what does it mean? How do you realize what your EQ is? I started with an assessment of myself because most people think they have a high EQ, not realizing it’s mediocre and you can grow.  

Start with the basics. Emotional Intelligence for Dummies is not for dummies. It really explains what it means and where to get those intermediate steps. If you’re able to step out of STEM, there’s a lot of programming for emotional intelligence, how you set your skillset, and what that looks like for your individual profession, as well as life. I promise having a high EQ helps with friendships, relationships, and family. It’s not just your professional space.” 

Interviewer

Finka Jerkovic 

Career Advancement Coach and Founder of Finka Inc.  

With 25+ years in leadership and sales and the financial services industry, she has witnessed the power of recognizing and celebrating people’s unique strengths and differences (a.k.a Brilliant Differences™) within a workplace. When everyone’s unique talents are appreciated and people work together using them, that’s when the real magic of career and business growth happens. Fast forward 10 years. Finka has established programs that help mid-career professionals and leaders grow in their careers by tapping into the full potential of their personal brand, so they can clearly define their strengths, value their differences, and perform at their best. 

Interviewee

Khristian Jones

Co-Founder of the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship and an Interiors Engineer at United Airlines 

Khristian is an Interiors Engineer at United Airlines and is the Co-founder of the Patti Grace Smith Fellowship. Khristian is passionate about diversifying the aerospace industry and opening space for all people. 

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