For my new series, Thank You Notes, I teamed up with Olay to challenge a group of women to surprise their role models — the women who inspired them to face anything — with a thank you note.

In this episode: Astrochemist Ashley Walker had to deal with a, well, astronomical amount of naysayers and doubters early in her career. But luckily, she had a pioneering scientist to turn to for advice: Astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz of the Adler Planetarium, who reminds her, “Astrochemists are rare and it’s even rarer to see a black woman in that field. You need to be that woman.”

Watch Ashley thank Lucianne for always having her back… Lucianne’s words are so important for any woman in science and tech to hear. 😭