Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if that got her on the cover of Forbes. It's not every day you get the opportunity to redirect your company's funds directly into your own pocket and have it be perfectly legal.
Often I try to get into a career that has a chance of giving me the skills I want. Sometimes that goes very sideways, and I get my favorite characters that way...
My high school's chemistry class was taught by the football coach - but he was a damn good chemistry teacher. (I guess he was a good football coach too. I never paid attention.) (Wasn't a poorly funded school, either.)
Reaching satellites - and even the ISS - is a very doable thing for ham operators today. Power is not the biggest issue; compensating for Doppler shift and tracking are.