Ex-Disney star Bridgit Mendler says being rejected hundreds of times by Hollywood gives her the same ‘traditional background’ as other space CEOs

To Gen Z, Bridgit Mendler is a Disney Channel star—known from her hit childhood roles on Good Luck Charlie and Lemonade Mouth. But in Silicon Valley, she’s known as the founder and CEO of Northwood, a space startup that recently closed a $100 million Series B funding round.

Looking back now, at 33, she says aspiring for TV stardom and start-up success have more in common than meets the eye: namely a willingness to take risks and endure rejection.

“I actually think my background is very traditional when it comes to space CEOs because they tend to just have a very high tolerance for risk,” Mendler said at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech Conference this week in Aspen, Colorado. “And that’s been a part of my life story as well.”

Growing up, she admitted she always wanted to “be everything”—making her current role as a space CEO feel less surprising than it might seem. And that her tolerance for the job was forged early by starting out as a child actor at age 11. She slowly landed a few voice actor and guest roles, but faced rejection “hundreds of times,” including from Disney. Among the setbacks was........

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