Astronaut Sian Proctor overcame 'imposter syndrome' after being rejected by NASA.

Despite becoming the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft last year, Sian Proctor has struggled with imposter syndrome her entire life.

In 2009, when Proctor didn't make it through NASA's astronaut selection process, she experienced self-doubt.

At the Credit Suisse 2022 Asian Investment Conference on Monday, Proctor shared how she felt "devastated" upon receiving a rejection phone call from NASA.

Proctor stated that she could hear her inner "imposter syndrome voice" saying, "You're not good enough, you shouldn't have applied, and all of these things. How will you improve yourself? Clearly, you're not as good as you could be."

Instead of being discouraged by self-doubts, Proctor chose to view the rejection as an opportunity to focus on the positive aspects of the selection process. She celebrated the fact that she had gone further than thousands of others in the process and that she had come close to becoming an astronaut.

She stated that reframing her experience with rejection helped her progress to become an analog astronaut, simulating space missions on Earth. This eventually led her to go into space in September 2021 as part of the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission, making history as the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft.

Imposter syndrome doesn't disappear, admitted Proctor.

To combat her doubts about becoming a NASA astronaut, she remembered what her father would say: "He would say: 'Why are you talking yourself out of opportunity? Let somebody else decide if you're qualified or not. Take that chance, go after that opportunity, even if it's a no.'"

Proctor's entrepreneurial spirit helped her secure the SpaceX mission by pivoting her approach to showcase her artistic and poetic skills in her video application.

A professor of geoscience and sustainability at Arizona's South Mountain Community College for over 20 years, Proctor was one of four civilians to go to space in the Inspiration4 mission, which made history as the first with a full crew of nonprofessional astronauts.