This Woman's Viral "Career Shower" Is The Party I Never Knew I Needed
Astronaut Kellie Gerardi (@kelliegerardi), 34, of Jupiter, Florida, is one of the first 100 women to travel into space. She was part of a research mission in 2023, and now she's going viral for the truly heartwarming way her family celebrated the news that she's headed back into the stars for a second assignment.
On TikTok, Kellie shared a video with the text, "POV: the women in your family throw career showers with the same energy as a baby & bridal showers."
In the video, Kellie and her family can be seen enjoying some cute drinks, tasty snacks, space-themed decorations, and presents.
In the comments, people are so ready to start this tradition in their own families, too:
Others are sharing how much it would mean to them to have their accomplishments celebrated in this way:
And a few folks chimed in to share that their loved ones have thrown similar "career showers" for them too:
Kellie told BuzzFeed, "I have a lot of supportive women in my family, and we've always had a 'celebrate all the things' approach to important life milestones, whether those are personal accomplishments like graduations or career wins or family developments like weddings or pregnancies."
She continued, saying, "Baby showers and bridal showers are beautiful, but I've also loved the Garden Shower we threw for my mom becoming a Master Gardener and the recent Space Shower my mom threw for me following the announcement of my second spaceflight assignment. It makes me so happy to see how powerfully the tradition resonated with people when I shared our recent video on social media. I hope it starts a tradition of many more career showers... and space showers!"
Kellie also shared how having her daughter has impacted the way she thinks about achieving her dreams. "When you have big career dreams and you also want a family, I don’t know that there’s ever a mythical 'right time' — it’s all a balancing act. But I didn’t lose my identity with pregnancy. Becoming Delta’s mom made my dreams burn brighter, and my sense of purpose grow so much deeper."
@kelliegerardi / Via instagram.com
She went on, saying, "This is part of the reason I choose to share glimpses of personal life on social media — I want to reach any mission-driven younger women who are second-guessing if they can make an ambitious career and family work one day and I want to re-assure moms who are made to feel guilty on the days or weeks when those scales don’t quite balance. I feel grateful for the opportunity to set an example for my daughter to probe the boundaries of her full potential in this one precious life she gets."
Finally, Kellie shared what it means to her to be one of the first 100 women to travel outside of the Earth's atmosphere. "I'm always amazed by the reality of how much can change in a single generation. When my mom was born, human beings hadn't yet been to space. And when she was growing up, women weren't eligible. Just one generation later, she watched her daughter reach the stars and watched her granddaughter take it for granted. Fewer than 100 women in history have flown to space, but in Delta’s mind, that's just another thing moms do! She’s growing up knowing that not even the sky is a limit. It's a paradigm shift, and I'm filled with excitement for her generation. I hope I'm around to see the future she inherits, but I feel so lucky to be able to contribute to it in some small way."
What do you think about the idea of a "career shower"? Share your thoughts in the comments!
