From Disney star to space start-up CEO, here’s everything you need to know about Bridgit Mendler

By Abby Amoakuh

Published Apr 19, 2024 at 09:00 AM

Reading time: 3 minutes

Email Facebook WhatsApp X Flipboard

Copy Link

Image courtesy of Mediapunch/Shutterstock

It is one thing to have a successful career as a film and TV actress, make it onto the Billboard 100 as a singer, graduate Harvard Law School, work towards a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), or pioneer a space start-up, but it is an entirely different thing to do all of these things in the same lifespan. You might already know who I am talking about: Disney darling and scholar extraordinaire Bridgit Mendler.

This woman might actually be living proof that there must be more than just 24 hours in a day because she is scoring high in absolutely every game life has to offer. So, let’s take a closer look at what Mendler has been up to in recent years.

Mendler is an American actress, singer, academic scholar and business executive, best known for her roles as Teddy Duncan in the Disney Channel original series Good Luck Charlie, Juliet van Heusen in Wizards of Waverly Place, and Olivia White in the musical movie Lemonade Mouth.

Mendler also had a big role in the Lindsay Lohan movie Labour Pains and joined Ashley Tisdale in the Netflix comedy series Merry Happy Whatever. In truth, I simply don’t have time to list all of this woman’s cinematic accomplishments, so let’s just wrap them up with this. Mendler truly hasn’t slept for 31 years.

Next to the screen, Mendler is also no stranger to the Billboard Charts. The singer and songwriter released her debut studio album Hello My Name Is… in 2012, which peaked at number 30 on the Billboard 200 and included the hit single ‘Ready or Not.’ In 2013, she followed with another pop banger ‘Hurriance’, which also also serves as a staple at every Gen Z dance party that has a bit of nostalgia for our old Disney days.

In the late 2010s, the entertainer started focusing on her academic career and graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in anthropology. I think it’s fair to say that Mendler was wanting to move out of the spotlight and redirect her focus.

In 2017, Mendler began working at the MIT Lab as a researcher and enrolled in the graduate program in 2018. The 31-year-old has been registered as a PhD candidate with the school’s Center for Constructive Communications and Social Machines group since 2020.

The actress then further diversified her career through enrolling in a Juris Doctor (JD) program at Harvard University. It is an entry-level graduate degree in Law, which qualifies graduates to practise as lawyers in a number of countries around the world. In other words, she is doing it all.

So, when CNBC announced in February 2024 that Mendler had become the CEO and co-founder of a satellite data startup called Northwood Space that was backed by major VCs, the internet naturally went wild.

“We are designing shared ground infrastructure from first principles to expand access to space,” Mendler wrote on X.

The former actress added: “We have a lot of work ahead of us but that’s the fun part. If you like building quickly and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe with real impact, we want you at Northwood.”

The start-up raised about $6 million in initial funding from investors including Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz and Also Capital. The name comes from a lake in the rural state of New Hampshire, where Mendler got the idea for the company during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“While everybody else was making their sourdough starters, we were building antennas out of random crap we could find at Home Depot … and receiving data from [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] satellites,” Mendler told the news publication.

Although Mendler had to jump on X, formerly Twitter and warn netizens to slow their horses on calling her Dr Mendler, because she is still working on completing her PhD, this did not stop her fans from continuing to praise the entertainer and even making plans for her next career move: President.

Next to some major professional development, Mendler also celebrated some personal wins over the past few years. In 2019, the muti-hyphenate married mechanical engineer Griffin Cleverly.

“Griff you are a deep thinker, a steadfast companion, a cheerleader and a challenger, and the biggest goof I know. Looking forward to holding ur hand forever,” is what the CEO captioned the post that announced their engagement. This is all too much for me to handle.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Bridgit Mendler (@bridgitmendler)

Cleverly is another co-founder of the start-up and working there as Chief Technology Officer, according to his LinkedIn page.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Bridgit Mendler (@bridgitmendler)

Mendler does in fact have a child now! The 31-year-old singer and songwriter shared the news on Twitter shortly after announcing her new role as CEO of Northwood Space.

Mendler and her partner became parents to a 4-year-old boy, whom they had started fostering in 2021 and adopted around Christmas time in 2022. Congratulations!

“We don’t have the same 24 hours as @bridgitmendler,” one commenter on X joked. “An actual queen and MOTHER in every sense. READY OR NOT, we are here to support all of the great things you’re doing,” someone else added.

“Congratulations on your journey into motherhood! Adopting and fostering truly change lives, and that first holiday season as a family is always extra special. Here’s to many more shared sunsets and precious moments,” another user congratulated.

It seems like Mendler might just be the friend or cousin you never want to stand too close to in order to avoid any and all direct comparisons. Trust me, you will fall short. It truly feels as though now Mendler has established that there is nothing left for her to accomplish on earth, she is quite literally reaching for the stars with her satellite start-up to achieve some more. Respect.