Confidence Below the Surface: How I Balance Life, Leadership, and My Own Ambitions as One of the First Women on a Navy Submarine (ft. LCDR Andrea Howard, U.S. Navy Submariner & MIT PhD Student)

Feeling empowered and confident as a leader can be challenging—now imagine navigating that journey inside a steel tube under the sea. Life on a submarine is daunting, mysterious, and something most of us know nothing about. LCDR Andrea Howard shares how she found confidence in her own way—and what that looks like 1,000+ feet below the surface.In this episode, Andrea gives us a peek into “a day in the life” on a submarine, explains how she’s turned her self-described “nerdiness” into a leadership superpower, and why specificity is key to truly connecting with people. We dive into spheres of influence, the importance of carving out time for yourself, and what it means to create an unconventional version of balance in a high-stakes career.LCDR Andrea Howard is a history-making leader in the U.S. Navy, one of the first fifteen female Executive Officers in the submarine force, and the Navy’s 2025 Arthur S. Moreau Scholar. She’s also a PhD student at MIT and has served as Navigator and Operations Officer on USS South Dakota and USS New Jersey, where she helped deliver the first fast-attack submarine designed for gender integration to the Fleet. (Oh, and she also won the 2023 CAPT Joy Bright Hancock Leadership Award… no big deal.)Andrea’s story is proof that you can break barriers, build credibility, and still do things on your own terms—in and out of uniform.Connect With Andrea:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-howard-usn/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.linkedin.com_in_andrea-2Dhoward-2Dusn_&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=X3kjQtZWxblIGESexL8aIQZTMtFTLYkufyuW3Cv9tdo&m=76nV8QPYvCi2tSbwe0BKAIqe22FnO9zqpCjghnR9X6F4UcNkVi0HvJeqjI6xR_B5&s=d0q6PvrRameSeleaIih1Gm_GmttM9CGy8M8xstoUwvE&e=>Instagram: @ar_howard<https://www.instagram.com/ar_howard/>Enjoyed this episode? Check out kelliesbrocchi.com and follow me on IG at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@kellie.sbrocchi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Loved the show ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@doboth.podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠? Leave a review and let me know what you learned—I'd love to hear from you! #DoBoth