Bridgit Mendler: The Disney star who became CEO of a $1B space startup

Before she became the CEO of a billion-dollar space startup, Bridgit Mendler was a child actress and singer. She starred in Disney Channel shows like Good Luck Charlie and films like Lemonade Mouth, all while balancing a music career with Hollywood Records.

But while Hollywood gave her fame, it wasn’t the future she envisioned for herself. She was already saving her earnings and planning for a different kind of leap — one that would take her from entertainment to entrepreneurship.

Bridgit Mendler was born in Washington, D.C. in 1992 and grew up with a love for creativity and learning. Her early years in Hollywood gave her financial security, but also taught her the discipline of building a career from scratch. She learned the value of persistence, resilience, and navigating rejection in one of the toughest industries in the world.

After years of acting and music, she pivoted. Bridgit enrolled at the University of Southern California before earning her law degree at Harvard. She then joined the MIT Media Lab, immersing herself in the worlds of technology and innovation.

For someone best known as a Disney star, the decision to step away and invest in education was radical. It marked the start of her reinvention.

In 2020, Bridgit co-founded Northwood Space alongside her husband, Griffin Cleverly, and her colleague Kaelem Gaige. Their mission was ambitious: to reinvent satellite ground stations, the critical infrastructure that allows satellites to transmit data back to Earth.

Traditional ground stations were costly and complex. Bridgit and her team envisioned portable, efficient systems that could serve as the “data highways” of the growing space economy.

At first, investors were skeptical. Space infrastructure was dominated by governments and large corporations, and it was rare to see a young founder — let alone a former actress — break into the industry. But Bridgit pressed on. She leveraged her savings, academic background, and network to raise seed capital.

By 2024, Northwood Space closed $6.3 million in funding led by Founders Fund. Just one year later, the company reached a $1 billion valuation, positioning itself as a critical player in the rapidly expanding satellite industry.

Reflecting on her journey, Bridgit has said: “The thread that I’ve found across everything I’ve done is this desire to build community — whether through storytelling or through technology.”

That value has guided her across industries. On screen, she built community through characters that young people could relate to. In music, she built community through her voice. And in technology, she is building community by connecting satellites to Earth, enabling global communication in ways that were once unimaginable.

Bridgit has spoken about the challenge of walking away from a world where she was already successful. She emphasizes that reinvention doesn’t mean rejecting your past — it means building on it.

Acting gave her discipline. Music gave her confidence. Education gave her tools. Together, those experiences created the foundation for her next chapter.

Her advice is simple: if you feel called to change directions, trust that the skills you’ve already built are transferable. Reinvention is not about starting from zero. It’s about carrying your past forward in a new way.

1. Reinvention is possible
She walked away from a successful entertainment career to pursue education and entrepreneurship.

2. Use your resources wisely
She saved her Hollywood earnings and reinvested them into her future.

3. Bet on industries others overlook
While most investors chase consumer apps, she went into space infrastructure.

4. Lead with community
Her throughline is connection, whether in art, music, or technology.

5. Grit outlasts expectations
She proved that perseverance matters more than stereotypes about who belongs in tech.

Bridgit Mendler’s story is a reminder that your first chapter doesn’t define your last. She could have stayed in entertainment forever, but instead she chose to radically shift her path. That decision placed her in one of the most exciting industries of our time.

Her rise shows that reinvention requires both courage and planning. She didn’t just dream about leaving Hollywood — she prepared for it, invested in her education, and bet on herself when others doubted her.

The lesson is clear: your past can be a platform, not a prison. If you feel the call to pivot, don’t ignore it. The very skills you’ve been building may be the foundation for something entirely new.

As you think about your own journey, ask yourself: what resources am I sitting on today that could power my reinvention tomorrow?