The Scenic Route with Victoria Steward
Aerospace to Neuroscience: Giuseppina Derudas Is Building on Her Own Timeline
At nineteen, Giuseppina Derudas left Sardinia for London with an acceptance letter and English good enough to pass a test but not good enough to follow an aerospace engineering lecture. She had wanted to be an astronaut. Fifteen years later she is formulating a sleep supplement. The route between those two points runs through Lockheed Martin, a merger that dissolved the plan she had built her future on, and a question at thirty that has no engineering answer. It also runs through her mother, who could not sleep. She is still consulting full time, and that is deliberate. She is funding all her startup costs herself and refuses to ask a brand-new business to keep her financially afloat while it is still in its infancy. We talk about the years she spent stuck, the trip that unstuck everything, and why she will tell you plainly that there is no rush. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to The Scenic Route: meet Giuseppina Derudas 01:18 From Sardinia to London at Nineteen 06:39 Lockheed Martin and the Leadership Development Program 07:55 When a Merger Dissolves Your Career Plan 12:00 The Identity Crisis at 30 13:17 Depression, a Breakup, and the Meditation That Helped 20:06 Going Back to University for Neuroscience 24:18 Her Mother, Xanax, and the Problem With Benzodiazepines 27:00 She Dreamt Again: the first sign it worked 32:36 Stuck in European Red Tape 33:45 The Miami Decision: launching in the US instead 34:59 How to Build a Company While Working Full Time 37:53 Why She Will Not Let the Business Pay Her Bills Yet 43:36 There Is No Right Path 45:01 Planting Seeds and Letting Them Grow ABOUT GIUSEPPINA DERUDAS Giuseppina Derudas is a systems engineering and project management consultant with a postgraduate degree in applied neuroscience from King’s College London. She is the founder of Amreeta Health and the formulator of Sleep Magic, a sleep supplement launching in the US market in fall 2026. Keep up to date on Amreeta and Sleep Magic: On Instagram Join the Waitlist! ABOUT VICTORIA Victoria Steward is a Corporate Exit and Financial Empowerment Coach, helping senior corporate women stuck in the "one-more-year" loop, build the self-trust and financial clarity to leave corporate on their own terms, their own timing, their own scenic route. Curious? Book a Pivot Clarity Call. RESOURCES The Can I Pivot Yet? Exit Roadmap The Engineer’s Exit Decision Toolkit The 5-Minute Grounding Reset Website : FOLLOW On LinkedIn On Instagram ️ This show is recorded with Riverside , the easiest way to run a professional podcast and livestream simultaneously. Thinking about starting your own show? Try now.
