Lisa Corbasero is leading a highly specialized American manufacturing company that plays a critical role in aerospace, defense, and turbine engine performance.

In this episode of The Disruptors, Lisa shares the story behind High-Tech Honeycomb, how her father built the company from the ground up, what it takes to manufacture precision aerospace components, and why leadership in a family business requires humility, resilience, customer focus, and constant presence on the shop floor.

Lisa Corbasero is the CEO and co-owner of High-Tech Honeycomb, a specialized aerospace manufacturing company that produces honeycomb components used in turbine engines.

For most people, honeycomb may sound like something simple. But in aerospace, it is a highly technical, precision-built part that plays an important role inside turbine engine seals and cylinders. Lisa explains that honeycomb is used across commercial and military aircraft engines, helping regulate airflow and support the performance of critical engine systems.

The episode begins by breaking down what High-Tech Honeycomb actually makes.

Lisa describes honeycomb as a corrugated metal structure that literally looks like a honeycomb. It is brazed into turbine seals and used inside engine systems where pressure, air movement, and precision matter. Every part is built to spec, every customer has unique requirements, and the work requires a high level of technical discipline, quality control, and hands-on manufacturing expertise.

High-Tech Honeycomb is also a family story.

The company was founded by Lisa’s father, a Brazilian immigrant who came to the United States with a limited formal education and first worked as a lobster fisherman in San Diego. By chance, he entered the aerospace world, learned the industry from the ground up, and eventually became a senior leader at another aerospace company before starting High-Tech Honeycomb in his garage.

That origin story shaped the entire culture of the company.

Lisa explains that her father saw an opportunity in a difficult niche. Honeycomb was not an easy part to make. It required patience, craftsmanship, quality, and a willingness to do work that many companies did not want to take on. He built the first machines himself, started producing parts, and began growing the company around a standard of precision and accountability.

Lisa did not join the business immediately.

After college, she worked in sales, telecom, and other roles outside the family company. That experience helped her understand what it was like to work outside the family environment. Eventually, in her mid-20s, her father asked her to come into the business. But he did not bring her in at the top.

He told her he was going to teach her how to make honeycomb.

Lisa started by answering phones, packing parts, learning hand welding, visiting customers, working across departments, and understanding the company from the inside. At the time, she did not fully understand why learning the shop floor mattered so much. Today, she sees it as one of the most important parts of her leadership foundation.

That hands-on education gave her credibility.

As CEO, Lisa understands the technical side of the business because she has worked through it herself. She knows the people, the processes, the customers, the certifications, and the pressure that comes with manufacturing a part that goes inside an aircraft engine.

The conversation also explores the role of culture inside High-Tech Honeycomb.

Lisa describes her father as tough but deeply respected. He could be demanding, but he also cared about the people around him. That combination influenced the way Lisa leads today. She makes it a priority to walk the floor, speak to employees, ask about their families, visit every department, and stay close to the work instead of leading only from behind a desk.

That presence matters.

Lisa explains that many employees tell her they have never worked at a company where the owner walks around, checks in, and knows what is happening in the shop. For her, that is not a leadership tactic. It is part of who she is and part of the family culture that High-Tech Honeycomb was built on.

The episode also touches on the importance of long-term employees.

Some team members have been with the company for decades, including employees who were among the earliest hires. Lisa makes a point of recognizing them when customers visit, because they represent the continuity, craftsmanship, and loyalty that helped build the company.

High-Tech Honeycomb’s work also depends on trust from the aerospace industry.

Lisa explains that the company has approvals and certifications from major original engine manufacturers, including GE, Rolls-Royce, and Pratt & Whitney. It is also AS9100 certified, which requires documented quality processes and ongoing audits. Customers regularly visit the facility to review quality systems, processes, and documentation.

In aerospace, that level of quality control is non-negotiable.

Because High-Tech Honeycomb manufactures parts that go into aircraft engines, the company has to document what it does, maintain strict procedures, pass audits, and prove that it can deliver consistently. Lisa emphasizes that customer trust is earned over time through precision, responsiveness, and the ability to meet demanding specifications.

The conversation also covers major industry challenges.

Lisa reflects on the Boeing 737 Max grounding, COVID, and the supply chain disruption that affected aerospace manufacturing. While the Max grounding created pressure, she says the supply chain disruption was more challenging. Even when new aircraft production slowed, planes still needed maintenance and repair, which meant honeycomb components remained necessary.

The episode then moves into global customer relationships.

Lisa travels frequently to visit customers in person. She believes face-to-face meetings are essential, especially in a technical industry where long-term trust matters. She has visited customers in Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, and other global markets, and she also attends major aerospace events like the Paris Air Show.

For Lisa, these trips are not only about selling more parts.

They are about listening, gathering intelligence, understanding customer needs, learning what competitors are doing, and showing appreciation to companies that have worked with High-Tech Honeycomb for years.

The episode also explores what it means to be a woman leading in a male-dominated manufacturing and aerospace environment.

Lisa does not present herself as someone who needs to know everything. Instead, she leads with authenticity, humility, customer focus, and emotional intelligence. She understands the technical side, but she also understands that leadership depends on relationships, trust, and the ability to keep showing up.

That leadership is now becoming generational.

Lisa’s sons have joined the business, and she is encouraging them to learn the same way she did: from the shop floor. She wants them to earn the respect of employees, understand the work, inspect parts, expedite jobs, and eventually learn more technical processes like working with laser machines.

High-Tech Honeycomb is not just a manufacturing company. It is a story about immigrant entrepreneurship, family legacy, American aerospace, precision manufacturing, and the kind of leadership that is built by knowing every part of the business from the ground up.

What makes this episode relevant

This episode shows a side of innovation that often does not get enough attention: precision manufacturing.

High-Tech Honeycomb is not building a consumer app or chasing a trend. It is making highly specialized components that support aircraft engines, defense platforms, commercial aviation, and the broader aerospace supply chain. That kind of work requires patience, quality, trust, certification, and years of technical credibility.

Lisa Corbasero’s story also shows what leadership looks like inside a family manufacturing business.

She did not inherit authority without learning the work. She entered the company through the floor, the phones, the parts, the customers, and the processes. That experience gave her the ability to lead with both emotional intelligence and operational understanding.

The episode is especially relevant for young women thinking about leadership in technical, industrial, or male-dominated sectors. Lisa’s path shows that leadership does not always come from having every answer first. It can come from showing up, learning deeply, respecting employees, listening to customers, and building confidence through experience.

It also highlights the importance of American manufacturing at a time when supply chains, aerospace production, defense readiness, and global industrial competition are all under pressure. Companies like High-Tech Honeycomb may operate in specialized niches, but those niches are often essential to larger systems that millions of people rely on.

For founders, operators, manufacturers, aerospace professionals, and family business leaders, this conversation offers a powerful lesson: culture and quality are not separate. The way a company treats its people affects the way it builds its products. And in aerospace, where precision matters, that culture becomes part of the product itself.

Watch the full episode to understand how Lisa Corbasero is leading High-Tech Honeycomb, why aerospace manufacturing depends on precision and trust, and how a family business built by an immigrant founder continues to shape the future of American manufacturing.