Meet Carol Craig

Astroprenuer. Founder. Unconventional CEO.

MY COMPANIES

Here's My Why

“I don’t like being told I can’t do something,” says Carol Craig, a self- described ‘astropreneur’ who’s recently become the first female founder and owner of a space company to go public Sidus Space Inc. (NASDAQ: SIDU) was listed on Nasdaq for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Tuesday, December 14, 2021 (without employing a SPAC- special purpose acquisition company). On her way to employing hundreds of people delivering on multi-million-dollar contracts to NASA, and building and launching satellites with companies like SpaceX, Carol first founded Craig Technologies, an agile engineering and technology business that she grew from a single person consultancy in 1999. From her namesake, she’s also brought software products to market and helped to start a non-profit organization that funds medical research.

The serial entrepreneur says, “A friend told me to incorporate ‘just in case’,” when she reflects on her early career as a software engineering consultant. “When I started from my kitchen table, I had no thought of ever owning or running a business. I just wanted to develop software in a corner somewhere!”

Carol says of her early life before her career as an accidental entrepreneur, “I was blessed to be adopted by parents who believed that children should have equal chances for success, no matter what their economic situation or class in life… They told me I could do anything and be anything I wanted.” Now, she is making a constellation of 3D printed satellites called ‘LizzieSats’ which belies her birth name of Elizabeth Sanchez. “I was an avid reader of science fiction by authors such as Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. When I was younger, I pictured being able to build my own robot to be my friend,” Carol muses. The SBA’s Small Business of the Year Award recipient was adopted as an infant born of Cuban descent and was raised in rural Central Illinois. She credits her adoptive family for providing her with a strong support system that gave her the ability to succeed at this astronomical level.

“I walked the line between being the good girl and the bad one – luckily my parents recognized that fact and kept me so busy with activities that I didn’t have time to get into too much trouble,” she admits while now realizing all the extracurriculars helped to set the pace for her future in engineering startups. Going on to compete in track and field, Carol broke athletic records (some still in place) and graduated with a BA in Computer Science from Knox College and earned a BS in Computer Science Engineering from the University of Illinois in a unique dual-enrollment program. Following graduation and working with the Naval Air Warfare Center- Indianapolis as a civil servant, Carol challenged herself to become a Naval Flight Officer despite suffering from chronic motion sickness and an initial fear of flying, “It’s better to suck it up and power through.” Carol was the first female aviator to join her P-3C Orion squadron and learned to eventually transfer military discipline and know-how to her entrepreneurial career.

“It’s important to keep an open mind,” Carol says. “You may think you know what your business is and where you want it to go, but you may end up turning down the best opportunities because you have tunnel vision, or you may think something is ‘too big’ for you. Some people may have thought that taking on the shuttle depot was out of my traditional business scope of providing services and foolish. But If I hadn’t, we would not be here talking about Sidus Space today.”

ACCOLADES

Innovation and Performance Award

Presented by U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce

Making a Difference Award

Presented by The American Business Women’s Association Oceanside Charter Chapter.

Special Congressional Recognition

from Congressman Bill Posey for outstanding community service

Small Business Person of the Year

for the State of FL and South FL District. Presented by the Small Business Administration

Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Presented by the Great Minds in STEM Hispanic Engineers National Achievement Awards Conference (HENAAC)

Trailblazing women:

Founder and CEO of Sidus Space

“I helped to make this historic thing happen.”

Sidus Space prepares

to launch LizzieSat-1 as the Space-as-a-Service company takes off

“a little bit of a conservative CEO, I’ve been doing this for 20 years.”

Female CEO of a space company

goes one-on-one with AccuWeather

“The story keeps getting better and better.”

Early in My Journey

“Women have to do ten times as much as our male counterparts… I realized I need to share my story and empower women,” Carol explains of her role as a trailblazing woman.

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