Shaw releases ‘It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist’

HUNTSVILLE – Former Madison County resident Denise Shaw’s new book, “It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist” offers insight to residents in the Tennessee Valley affiliated with the aerospace industry.

“It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist” shares plenty of laughs, self-discovery and frustration in the work place. The book is her first-hand account of her encounters to earn a living that developed into a full-time career and ultimately to self-discovery.

Shaw attended Indiana University and earned bachelor and master’s degrees in technical theatre/lighting design. After working in professional theatre, she followed her husband, a theatre design professor, to several universities.

In Ogden, Utah, Shaw completed her MBA degree at Weber State University. She later received a master’s degree in quality engineering from Eastern Michigan University … all while raising two sons and working full time for a major aerospace company.

In Utah, Shaw “didn’t understand the ramifications of being non-Mormon in the Mormon culture. It would be three years before I even received my first job interview for an adjunct professor of technical computers position.” That professorship led to a full-time job in aerospace.

“It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist” is based on Shaw’s personal experience working for a major aerospace company in the defense division in Utah.

In her first job, she wrote and edited manuals and procedures and led to a full-fledged career in quality engineering. “My career path was neither straight nor easy, as I navigated learning new skills while being the object of harassment, discrimination and plain jealousy by those with less skill and even less motivation or ability,” Shaw said.

Shaw’s book takes her readers from Utah to Kwajalein where she worked as the quality representative on the GMD Interceptor Test Launch Team. She transitioned to work at Vandenberg Air Force Base and spent time in Alaska and Huntsville.

She returned to Utah when her career in aerospace ran its course, leading to a new challenge in a different industry. “Inevitably, people were determined to exploit my quiet, hard-working demeanor. My book chronicles how I handled the personal attacks, not always with finesse but definitely … dealing with difficult people in the work force,” Shaw said.

Shaw’s book is available from Amazon and Amazon Kindle. For more information, email Denise_6003@msn.com.