Episode 2: Erin Gatling & Casey Schilling — Endless Playtime

Recorded October 21, 2020

Jeff:
What I really want you to know is that if you’ve ever dreamed of quitting your job and sailing around the world, Episode 2 of It’s Not Rocket Science will give you food for thought.

My name is Jeff Ward, and for a few years I was the VP of Avionics at SpaceX. This podcast is my project to understand and document the lives of people who worked for Elon Musk, got the T‑shirt, and then decided to do something else.

When you work at a place like SpaceX, your work life and your social life tend to merge, so there are a lot of SpaceX couples on my interview list. For this episode, I spoke to one of the OG SpaceX couples: Erin Gatling and Casey Schilling.

Okay, I think we’re up and running. Go ahead and introduce yourselves.

Casey:
I’m Casey Schilling, and this is my wife, Erin Gatling.

Erin:
Hey there. We both started at SpaceX and met there in 2008, and we worked there for ten years.

Jeff:
Did you meet because you were doing similar jobs?

Erin:
Very different jobs, but we intercepted a lot, especially in the early days when the company was small—around 500 people. By the end it was about 8,000, so we didn’t cross paths nearly as often.

Jeff:
What did you do at SpaceX?

Casey:
I started as a structural dynamics analyst. I figured out how much different parts of the rocket shook, how to design and test parts to deal with that, and how to measure it. Toward the end, my team was responsible for every sensor that flew on every vehicle, so we got to dabble in every part of the rocket.

Jeff:
How about you, Erin?

Erin:
I started as a Falcon manufacturing engineer—figuring out how to build the rocket, writing instructions, then taking those instructions to the floor and working with technicians to actually build the hardware. Every time we ran into an issue, we solved it and fed those lessons back to the design engineers. Over time, we turned what was basically a garage into a full production facility and assembly line.

Jeff:
How did you end up at SpaceX?

Erin:
I was working at Raytheon for three years after college. My neighbor worked at SpaceX as a Dragon manufacturing engineer and kept encouraging me to interview. I resisted at first, but eventually I took a tour just before the first successful launch—and the moment I walked onto the floor and saw those engines, I knew that’s exactly where I was supposed to be.

Casey:
I kind of stumbled into it. I interned there between undergrad and starting a PhD, and once I was in, I never left. Meeting Elon finally tipped the scales. I interviewed with him, and my final question was, “Can I drive your car?” He said sure. That car was the Tesla that later launched on Falcon Heavy.

Jeff:
So I’m talking to Starman.

Casey:
Yeah. When Elon tweeted that he was going to launch his car, Erin was shocked—and I had known for months but couldn’t say anything.

Jeff:
What was the atmosphere like at SpaceX in those early years?

Casey:
It felt like college—small, risky, a bunch of eager engineers working late hours and getting creative.

Erin:
Everyone worked incredibly hard and wanted to be there. I grew up around NASCAR shops, and SpaceX felt like that—but with much bigger, more powerful engines.

Jeff:
I’m guessing there weren’t many women engineers in rocket factories.

Erin:
It’s male‑dominated, but SpaceX was different in important ways. The president was female, and leadership cared about one thing: can you do the job excellently? Of course, not everyone was perfect—but those people didn’t usually last.

Casey:
I never had a male boss my entire time at SpaceX. Every manager I had was a woman.

Jeff:
What was it like working for Elon?

Casey:
Surprisingly hands‑on. We’d meet with him every four to six months for very detailed technical reviews. He’d notice tiny things and immediately pull engineers in to explain them.

Erin:
And when we were trying to speed up manufacturing, he actually moved his desk onto the production floor.

Jeff:
That wasn’t a myth?

Erin:
Nope. He was right there.

Jeff:
When you think back, what stands out most?

Erin:
Falcon 9 Flight One. We worked so hard on it. I thought something would go wrong—I just hoped it wouldn’t be at liftoff.

Casey:
I was on console. I just wanted the rocket to get away from the pad before anything bad happened.

Jeff:
Were you at the launch?

Erin:
No—we were in the Maldives. We planned our first vacation ever thinking there was no way it would overlap the launch. It did.

Casey:
We watched at 2 or 3 a.m. with hotel staff helping us get internet. Then we popped champagne at breakfast.

Jeff:
Eight years later came Falcon Heavy.

Erin:
That was career‑defining. Seeing two boosters land side by side—that’s when I knew I’d be okay leaving SpaceX with no regrets.

Jeff:
So what did you do next?

Casey:
We left SpaceX, bought a sailboat, and started sailing around the world with our two kids.

Erin:
Becoming a full‑time mom and homeschooling was the hardest transition of my life. I had to completely relearn how to exist day‑to‑day—but I loved the challenge.

Casey:
Then I nearly lost my leg in a sailing accident. That, plus losing a coworker shortly after, made us realize how short life really is.

Erin:
We realized we could work later—but we couldn’t get this time back with our kids.

Jeff:
So this isn’t just a vacation—it’s a rethinking of life.

Casey:
Exactly. We sold almost everything, downsized to a boat, then an RV, and learned how little you actually need.

Erin:
Our kids make friends instantly, across cultures and languages. That might be the greatest benefit of all.

Jeff:
How can people follow your journey?

Erin:
Our boat is called Endless Playtime. You can find us at endlessplaytime.com and on social media.

Jeff:
Thanks so much for sharing your story—and thanks for listening to Episode 2 of It’s Not Rocket Science.