If you were a kid in the 2010s and ever watched anything on Disney Channel, you probably know who Bridgit Mendler is. Her first appearance on Disney was as a guest character in Wizards of Waverly place in 2009, but some of her more well-known roles during her time there were as Teddy Duncan in Good Luck Charlie (2010-2014) and Olivia in Lemonade Mouth (2011). While she continued on as an actress into the late 2010s, she is now the CEO of Northwood Space, a startup aiming to improve connectivity around the world by building ground stations that will enhance space communication.
In addition to Mendler’s career in acting before her startup, she had a career in the music industry. This singing career began with one of her acting projects, as she contributed to the soundtrack of Lemonade Mouth with songs such as “Somebody” and “Determinate.” While her music career started as a part of her acting career, she went on to release a studio album titled Hello My Name Is… in 2012. Off of this album, two of her songs, “Ready or Not” and “Hurricane” would be the most popular. I’ve linked videos of those songs below. In addition to the album, she released her EP Nemesis in 2016 and numerous singles up until 2017.
"Ready or Not" - Bridgit MendlerMendler clearly has a love for creating music and she was quoted in an interview with MTV in 2016 saying that making her EP was “a very therapeutic process.” This immediately reminded me of Rick Rubin’s discussion of the therapeutic power of creativity in the chapter titled “The Possessed” in his book The Creative Act: A Way of Being. He states that artists are often portrayed as “tortured,” but emphasizes that one does not need to be “broken” in order to create. He argues that the creative experience can be agonizing or enlivening, but it is up to the artist to decide. Mendler remarked in the same interview with MTV as above that her EP was one of the projects that she felt she put the most of herself into. Thus, as Rubin argues that the creative process can be beneficial for the artist, it seems that Mendler felt this way about the music she had created.
While still in the midst of her music career, Mendler enrolled as an undergraduate student of anthropology at the University of Southern California, where she graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 2016. She then went on to earn a master’s degree in media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is now working on obtaining a PhD. Additionally, she is set to graduate from Harvard Law in 2024 with a Juris Doctor degree.
In between all of her schooling, Mendler’s creative outlet has shifted in a sense from her music towards her interest in furthering space communication. Mendler said that the idea for the company came to her during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she and Northwood Space’s co-founders, Griffin Cleverly and Shaurya Luthra, began building antennas and receiving data from satellites. Thus, Mendler’s creative process seems to be a collaborative one in which she starts with an idea or a question and expands upon that until it gets to where she wants it to be.
Since then, Northwood Space was founded in 2023 and has since received over $6 million in funding. According to Northwood’s website, the aim of the company is to build “a data highway between earth and space” by building masses of satellite ground stations. It is hoped that these will then expand the abilities of communication on earth.
It's clear that Mendler’s career has taken many different turns and it is exciting to see where her startup will go. While where she is now is much different from where she started, she obviously possesses a drive for innovation that takes her forward in multiple domains.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/21/how-bridgit-mendler-went-from-disney-star-to-space-startup-ceo.html
https://pagesix.com/entertainment/bridgit-mendler-career/
https://www.northwoodspace.io/about-us
https://www.livenowfox.com/news/bridgit-mendler-space-northwood-disney-education
Like you noted at the beginning of your post, Bridgit Mendler is someone that I know from her days at Disney Channel. It has been interesting to watch her branch out over time after she left Disney. It was recently that I saw her post talking about her newest endeavor as well as the fact that she recently adopted a child. She has don so many different things in all avenues of creativity and it is so interesting to see how the manifests each time.
ReplyDeleteBridgit Mendler is truly a force not to be reckoned with. She really has lived 1,000 lives and her success is amazing. I was not too familiar with the songs she's created but the fact that she was able to create music while enrolled in undergrad is incredible. I have since followed her on LinkedIn because she creates amazing things from songs to space companies. Very interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI loved Good Luck Charlie growing up and as with many other Disney stars, it was not surprising that Mendler went into a music career following her time at Disney. It is crazy to think she went from Disney Channel to getting her doctorate from Harvard, but I think that is such a cool thing to see because it is so unexpected. I typically assume that young actors will make acting their profession, but she forged her own path. I definitely want to keep an eye on what Mendler will continue to do in the future!
ReplyDeleteI love that Bridget Mendler did not feel constrained by one creative field, as seen by her various endeavors in music and academia. She truly follows whatever she is passionate about, regardless of what she has done in the past. I think it is so inspiring to see her live her life pushing beyond the boundaries of societal expectations.
ReplyDeleteBridget Mendler is such an accomplished person!!! I loved Good Luck Charlie and Lemonade Mouth as a kid, and it is super cool to see that she has expanded herself into the realm of science and law. With all of the stigma surrounding the negative experiences of child actors right now, it is refreshing to see somebody make it out and away from that domain.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting to hear about her life now and how different it is from most of the other 2010s Disney stars. It's amazing that she was able to be creative and successful in two totally different realms. I also think it's ironic how much she seems like her character in real life, in relation to how driven and school smart her character was portrayed to be.
ReplyDeleteI think Bridget Mendler is the perfect creative to write about for this blog because she truly embodies innovation and ingenuity across multiple artistic and creative fields. Even within her music career, she was never constricted by one genre. Her song "Do You Miss Me At All", which lead her to be compared to the soul musician Erykah Badu, is a testament to that.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about Bridget Mendler from her previous acting projects and her time on Disney Channel, however I had no idea about her work as a scientist and in an educational setting. She is truly a multifaceted individual that is living proof that creativity can expand across many different fields.
ReplyDeleteLike many others, I first saw Bridget Mendler during her Disney Channel days in "Good Luck Charlie". Clearly her talents go far beyond acting and into music as well as anthropology and space. It's really fascinating that she was able to juggle a music career while getting a bachelor's degree. On top of that, she got a master's from MIT and is getting a JD from Harvard, neither of which are easy accomplishments. Mendler apparently has no bounds to her creativity and is a great example of the expanse in which creativity can be applied.
ReplyDeleteAs an academic, Bridgit Mendler, is inspiring, but she truly excels in all she does. We've seen so many Disney Stars, especially young women, scrutinized or pressured post-Disney. However, it seems Mendler has embraced the transition and is welcoming the new challenge and changing her career trajectory. I wonder if receiving unusual schooling as a child actor drove her to find some academic normalcy in an undergraduate setting or what the transition was like when she arrived in college? I always wonder how famous actors feel when confronted with their own fame. She is an amazing and truly accomplished individual, role model, and academic!
ReplyDeleteBridgit Mendler's journey from Disney Channel to her diverse creative endeavors, including music, academics, and ventures into space companies, really highlight various aspects of her versatility and determination. I love how you focus on her ability to follow her passions and break free from societal expectations. Her success story is a refreshing example from the Disney channel industry.
ReplyDeleteI know seeing a blog post written on Bridgit Mendler brought quite a bit of attention from our class to this specific post because she was such a part of our youth. For her to be such a creative person and also become a lawyer simultaneously is so interesting and impressive. I loved how you noted that this was almost a therapeutic process for her, which I am sure she need as a Law student and child star. It is so interesting how her form of therapy was so substantial to many of us as kids.
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