In honor of National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Day, Hera Hub member Laura Windecker reflects on how her academic training in marine science, coupled with nearly a decade in science policy and management, is helping her transition into her new role as a business owner.
It’s fall in Washington, DC, and I’m thinking about transitions. Not just the planetary one we’re all experiencing, but also the professional transitions of my fellow Washingtonians due to government layoffs, and my own transition from a traditionally employed science policy professional to an entrepreneur.
I’m currently building my first business, Blue Nexus Strategies, where I partner with organizations, especially those in the ocean space, that are doing important work but are struggling with the operational side—underperforming boards, stakeholder groups that need to be managed, or strategic plans that are still waiting to be implemented. I serve as translator, connector, and process designer—bridging technical and strategic work to help organizations achieve their missions.
As I make this transition, I’m reflecting on how rare it was for my environmental science-trained colleagues in either academia or policy positions to transition to entrepreneurship—but in the past few months, I’m seeing more folks take the leap. I know this decision isn’t for everyone; it can be hard to leave the well-worn path of working for a university, NGO, or government agency because of the risks and uncertainties. I’m still at the beginning of my journey, but I’ve realized several aspects of our training are helpful for starting and running a business. Some might be obvious, like an experimental mindset or comfort with spreadsheets but there is more we bring to the table.
Here are three skills and mindsets from my STEM education and related professional experience that I’m both grateful for and leaning on:
Thinking in Systems
Studying systems ecology changed my worldview. I learned to see the natural world not as isolated parts but as an interconnected system where nearly everything affects everything else. I now think in terms of nested, interconnected systems almost by default—for example, seeing how natural and human components (such as fish and fisheries) interact in the coastal environments I studied earlier in my career. This way of thinking makes it easier to see my business as its own system with characteristics common to all systems. For example, I see inputs and outputs (resources in, successful projects out), feedback loops (happy clients lead to more opportunities), and leverage points (a well-connected client, a specific marketing strategy that works). This framework makes strategic thinking about my business much more intuitive. Systems thinking also helps me see how my business fits within bigger systems—like the broader environmental science enterprise—and where I can have the most impact, for example, on coastal ecosystems and the lives of humans that depend on them.
Comfort with Messy Data and Uncertainty
I still remember my master’s thesis advisor—a well-respected coastal ecologist—who, when asked about how the analysis of a new dataset was going, would reply with a grin and some variation of “well… it’s complex and variable…as usual,” and then he would get back to writing the paper. By being so upfront about his struggle to make sense of the signals in the noise, I learned three key lessons:
1) that data, no matter how well collected, will often be messy because environmental processes are messy;
2) that there is fun in the challenge of trying to sort it all out; and
3) that at some point, you need to stop collecting data and reading the literature, live with not knowing everything, and write up your results – and then also plan the next experiment. As I’m launching my business and collecting potential customer data-– both quantitative and qualitative—I’m not surprised that things are messy (because people are highly variable). I’m also comfortable that I’ll never have all the answers and trust that while I need to pick a direction for now despite the uncertainty, there will always be a next iteration or experiment on the horizon. It’s also very fun talking with people and collecting data, and I’m having a blast.
Collaboration
Early in my career, I was fortunate to secure a fellowship that placed me as one of the advisors in a federal interagency committee composed of over two dozen agencies, departments, and bureaus. Our organization existed because the area we focused on, marine transportation, was so multifaceted that the governance and expertise for this system could not live in one part of the federal government. My colleagues and I spent most of our time sharing information broadly and working on multi-stakeholder projects because without our efforts, all sorts of critical activities (like building system resilience) just would not happen. I loved this work. Learning from colleagues across disciplines, building relationships that crossed organizational boundaries, designing processes that helped diverse groups to make better decisions—this quickly became one of my favorite ways of operating, and I’ve carried it into every role since. Now I’m applying the same approach to entrepreneurship. In my business, I’m focusing on facilitating stakeholder groups, translating between technical experts and leadership, and designing processes that move from strategy to action. In running my business, I’m building relationships with fellow entrepreneurs (Hera Hub has been invaluable), asking for help without hesitation, and embracing that even solopreneurs need collaborators.
Something else I’m carrying forward is the expectation that I’ll continue to mess up. In experimental work and ambitious projects, failure—and especially learning from it—is part of the process. I’m already experiencing this. For example, I recently tried explaining my business at a networking event and watched someone’s eyes glaze over. I revised my pitch, tried again with someone new…and watched it happen again. I’m still learning how to talk about my business, and I recognize this will get easier. I’m also reminding myself that worthwhile things take longer than expected, and that lofty goals often seem impossible right up until the moment they suddenly exist.
I hope more science-trained professionals see entrepreneurship as a real option. The skills we’ve developed and used repeatedly – including systems thinking, comfort with uncertainty, cross-boundary collaboration – transfer well to owning and developing a business. This path can also provide flexibility and autonomy while still working on problems that matter.
About the Author
Laura Windecker is the Principal and Founder of Blue Nexus Strategies, a consulting firm that provides fractional senior-level expertise for science and environmental organizations that need extra help achieving their mission. She brings scientific rigor and systems-thinking to organizational challenges, combined with a proven ability to build consensus across diverse stakeholders. With a PhD in Marine Science from UC Santa Barbara and nearly a decade managing complex environmental programs, she excels at translating technical concepts, designing effective processes, and moving ambitious initiatives from strategy to execution. Her work spans strategic planning, board management, and multi-stakeholder initiatives for organizations including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Laura was a NOAA John A. Knauss Fellow and also holds an MS in Oceanography from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island and a BA in Physics & Marine Science from Bowdoin College.
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/laura-windecker
Website: www.bnstrat.com
