For nine years, Code 105 Radiological Engineer Sasha Norfleet has dedicated himself to Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) and being someone his fellow shipyarders could turn to for assistance. What has become a lifelong career for him was something he never dreamed of having in his younger days.

Norfleet graduated from Old Dominion University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s of Science. His original intent through school was to pursue medical school following his graduation; however, he felt he wasn’t on the right path.

“I am very big into health, fitness, and the medical field so I thought this was what I wanted to do with my career,” said Norfleet. “However, after four years of undergraduate it just wasn’t something I felt was in the cards for me.”

Looking for a next step, he was encouraged by his family to try his hand at America’s Shipyard. “My parents were both nuclear engineers and said that I could build a future at NNSY. They were able to support us growing up and very proud of their careers. My dad was someone I always looked up to and I wanted to be someone like him, someone who could make my family proud and provide for those that mattered to me. So I applied and got accepted to the NNSY team and have been growing in my career in Radiological Controls ever since.”

As he continued to pursue ways to better himself in his career, Norfleet spoke with Addis Woldetsadik, Brian Darden, and Mike Williams – three previous graduates of the Executive Development Program (EDP). They shared with him what the program was about and encouraged him to apply. “I began filling everything out and a few days before the application was due I felt myself not wanting to pursue this venture, saying to myself that I could always try again next year,” said Norfleet. “However, these men stayed on me and built up my confidence to follow through. And it was honestly one of the best decisions of my career. Because they believed in what I could accomplish, I was able to apply and was accepted into the 2020 program.”

Norfleet was recently selected as one of the four candidates in Cadre 9 of the EDP and is excited to build up his skills as a future leader of the shipyard.

“There’s so many things I hope to accomplish with the EDP,” said Norfleet. “I want to learn how to network with others and learn about the organization as a whole. Many of us in the EDP have been bottlenecked in our codes and all we really know is our codes and what we do every day. Therefore, I want to understand the big picture by learning the organization, the leaders of our organization, and to come out of this experience as a better leader. I want to learn what true leadership can be.”

The EDP is a six-month program designed to give qualified personnel the opportunity to experience, firsthand, the leadership competencies and styles, as well as the operational parameters and guidelines, that make up the total picture of successful naval shipyard operations.

Getting to Know Sasha Norfleet

Q. What is some advice you’d give to your fellow shipyarders?

A. One of the biggest things I think more people need to do is to drown out the naysayers. Negativity is all around us every day, overpowering and causing us to lose sight of the positives in our lives. There’s always going to be someone out there who wants to bring you down. But if you want to accomplish something, don’t let their negativity dictate your decisions. Pursue your dreams and build yourself up to be the best you can be.

Also if someone is out there offering you advice or constructive means to better yourself, listen to what they have to say. They are actively taking the time to help you be better and their advice can help you succeed in ways you never thought before.

Q. Are there any mentors you’ve had that have played a role in your career?

A. Honestly, there are so many out there that have helped me along my path in life. I never really thought I had any official mentors until I started looking back at my career and realized that mentors don’t always come where you expect it. They can come in all shapes and sizes, helping to lead you down your path. Their input can be a few conversations like Mike, Brian, and Addis who saw potential in me and pushed me to pursue the EDP. Or someone like my father, who to this day I still look up to, who always taught me to pursue my dreams and be proud of what I accomplished. The multiple mentors throughout my life have helped shaped me into the man I am today and I’m very thankful for them all.

Q. Talk a little bit about your family and life outside of work.

A. As I said, I’m a huge health and fitness guy. I actually run a little gym from my garage called Hard Knox Gym – which is named after my one-year-old son Knox. He’s my wife and my miracle baby and he helped pave the way to this exciting adventure about a year ago.

We were so thankful to have our son; however, being as my time was spent between the shipyard and helping my wife take care of our baby, I was unable to make it out to my previous gym to work out every day like I was used to. So we decided as a family to start gathering equipment at home to keep up our fitness journeys. What started out as our own personal place of fitness soon turned into a full community gym. I have people at my house throughout the week working out, a diverse group of personalities all working together to be our best selves. We’re working together to achieve our fitness goals and it’s honestly one of my biggest accomplishments I’ve done in my life building this from the ground up. I’m extremely proud of Hard Knox Gym and my family.

Oh and we also have a little book club as well, the Hard Knox Book Club – which encourages all of us to read and share what we’ve learned from these books. We all have a goal of 20 books through the year and it’s been fun to encourage one another as we pursue these goals of ours and share our differing opinions.

Q. What do you hope will be your legacy at the shipyard?

A. I want to be the leader that everyone can come to no matter what. If someone had a problem they needed help with, they could come to me and talk to them. I would listen and help them where I could. And if I didn’t have an answer, I could help them find someone who could assist. I’m a people person and genuinely care about everyone I work with. So I want to be able to do what I can to help them succeed, personally and professionally, just as others have done for me in my career. I want everyone to feel they matter and are heard when they come to me. Because everyone deserves to be heard.

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