Born and raised in Texas, Sheila Grace Newsom, MD, was aware of gender incongruence at a young age, but had no concept of what the process represented. Like many transgender women, she aggressively pursued alpha-male activities, which effectively dampened the episodic urges to be a woman.

In high school, she was football team captain and a finalist for the "Young Texan of the Year" award. She attended Texas A&M for one year and was elected Class Vice President. She went on to West Point, where she captained the baseball team and ranked second in the Corps chain of command her senior year. After graduating and receiving an Infantry commission, she earned her Ranger tab and served for four years as a paratrooper. After a distinguished military career, she earned her MD, completed exhaustive training, and became a respected physician and partner in large nephrology practices.

Notable accomplishments include co-founding a branch of the National Kidney Foundation, serving on a state council, and being elected as an advisor to the West Point Association of Graduates. After a medical mission to Africa, she and her family created a 501(c)(3) that funded construction of a new wing of a rural hospital in eastern Uganda. After retiring and traveling to Tibet, she became executive producer of an award-winning documentary, was elected an officer of the Austin Film Society, and created Sheila Rising, LLC, a film production company. She volunteered for a year as a physician at Kind Clinic, which offers free gender care. She is now in the second year of a PhD in Depth Psychology through Pacifica Graduate Institute. She continues to serve on the Development Committee of the West Point AOG, mentor several young women in transition, speak to groups about her own transgender journey, and write.