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Varsity Women's Club
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Issue 05 · June 2026
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Issue 05 · Jun 15, 2026
It’s Going to Be a Hot AI Summer
SpaceX goes public, Washington tightens its grip on frontier AI, and we’ve got roles at three companies building the next wave.
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★ Upcoming Event · Tomorrow Night
AI Demos & Drinks
Monday, June 16 · 5:30–7:30 pm · Penthouse, 48 East Ave, Austin, Texas
Washington just banned foreign nationals from touching the two most powerful AI models on the planet. The tech is too hot to ignore—come learn how to actually use it. We’re doing live demos, building real AI agents for daily tasks, and answering every question you’ve been too afraid to ask. Drinks included.
RSVP Now →
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Last Friday, the U.S. government dropped a bombshell. Citing national security authorities, it issued an export control directive suspending all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for any foreign national—whether inside or outside the United States, including foreign national employees at the companies that built them. The most capable AI in the world just got a velvet rope.
If that tells you anything, it’s this: the gap between those who know how to use AI and those who don’t is about to get a lot wider, and a lot more consequential. That’s exactly why we’re hosting tomorrow night.
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Varsity Spotlight
Gwynne Shotwell Takes SpaceX to the Public Market
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Gwynne Shotwell · President & COO, SpaceX
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Some names are just destined for greatness. Shotwell. A varsity basketball player who drains shots on the court, and a rocket company President and COO who shoots them into orbit. You really can’t make it up. And now, Gwynne Shotwell is the executive who just shepherded SpaceX through its historic IPO last Friday.
Here’s the part that should fire up every athlete reading this: she didn’t start in rockets. Shotwell kicked off her career at Chrysler, in a management training program—about as far from spaceflight as it gets. The thing that nudged her toward engineering in the first place? As a teenager, she sat in on a Society of Women Engineers panel and got hooked, the story goes, by one woman’s confidence and presence on stage. One room. One example. One pivot.
She stacked the reps from there—two engineering degrees from Northwestern (mechanical engineering plus a master’s in applied math) and roughly a decade doing space systems research at The Aerospace Corporation. Then, in 2002, she made the call that defined her career: she joined a scrappy startup called SpaceX as one of its first handful of employees—cited as somewhere around #7 to #11—back when the company hadn’t put a single rocket into orbit.
Then came the comeback story. In 2008, SpaceX was nearly bankrupt after three failed launches—down to its last shot. Shotwell drove the business work behind a ~$1.6B NASA resupply contract that kept the lights on. That’s a game-winning play under the buzzer if there ever was one.
Today she runs SpaceX day-to-day as President and COO—handling operations and customers while Musk chases the engineering vision. She’s widely called the real operator behind the company. The quiet captain who actually runs the locker room. Sound like anyone you know?
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Open Roles
This Week’s Opportunities
Three companies. Defense tech, AI healthcare, and AI ops. All early enough that your reps actually count.
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Allen Control Systems
Austin, Texas · Defense Technology
ACS builds autonomous control systems for defense applications. They’re scaling fast and hiring across engineering, quality, and supply chain—exactly the functions where athletes thrive: high-stakes environments, tight tolerances, zero margin for error.
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Mechanical Engineering
Allen Control Systems · Austin, TX
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Engineering is film study in physical form—solve a problem, test it, iterate. Athletes who loved the “why” behind their sport tend to thrive in technical roles like this.
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Mechanical Engineer I →
Mechanical Engineer II / Senior →
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Quality
Allen Control Systems · Austin, TX
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Athletes know what a standard looks like—and they know what it feels like to enforce it on themselves before anyone asks. Quality roles are built for that mindset.
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Quality Engineer →
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Supply Chain
Allen Control Systems · Austin, TX
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Supply chain is logistics under pressure—think of it as coordinating a team where one dropped baton stops the whole operation. Athletes who thrived in fast, high-consequence environments are a natural fit.
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Supply Chain Manager →
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Tennr
New York City · AI Healthcare Operations
Tennr automates the administrative layer of healthcare—the faxes, prior authorizations, and referral workflows that slow down patient care. They’re building with AI at the core and growing the team across talent and marketing.
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Talent
Tennr · New York City
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Recruiting is scouting. You already know how to evaluate talent, build relationships, and sell someone on a vision. That’s the whole job.
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Talent Acquisition Specialist →
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Marketing
Tennr · New York City
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Marketing at a startup is like being a utility player—you need to execute across channels, adapt fast, and make every rep count with limited resources.
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Marketing Manager →
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Laurel
New York City · AI Productivity
Laurel uses AI to automate time tracking and billing for professional services firms—giving back hours that used to vanish into admin. They’re looking for their next business development rep to build pipeline from the ground up.
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Sales
Laurel · New York City
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BDR is one of the most athlete-friendly entry points in tech sales. Outbound volume, daily scoreboards, direct feedback loops. If you loved competing, you’ll love this.
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Business Development Representative →
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Don’t See Your Role?
Tell us what you’re looking for and we’ll find it for you. That’s the whole point of this network.
Email Us Your Targets →
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Pass It On
Know three athletes who’d get value from this? Forward it their way and tell them to subscribe. The bigger the bench, the stronger the network.
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