Meet Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia of PlayWerks and WhizGirls Academy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia.

Shirin Laor-Raz, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a very passionate old school Gamer, Entrepreneur, and STEM Advocate! “I was inspired by Tom Hanks and the movie BIG to create a dream job for myself (as a toy tester). Losing the passion and having an existential crisis, following the yellow brick road with signs and messages for my mission on this planet, and going back to my gaming roots led me to give back and make a difference by being a tech entrepreneur. I was led to create a business from scratch with technology, gaming, and STEM.” In fact, I have two tech startups now.

I am the first female in my family to start my own business, first woman to start a tech/gaming startup to make a difference for future generations to come. I am actually writing a book about my story which starts with having a dream job and finding your purpose and mission and giving back. My story is very similar to Eat, Pray, Love except I did not go to Bali or Italy, nothing super fancy. But it did start with Deepak Chopra telling me to give back and I have been following the “tech” yellow brick road ever since. You can check out my Instagram account for the most recent updates: Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia @shirinsalemnia.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have dealt with challenges, discrimination, and breaking the glass ceiling as a solo entrepreneur. Every time I wanted to give up something happened that led me back to the “tech yellow brick road”. It’s been a roller coaster ride of extreme highs and lows but so is life. And from what I hear pretty typical for any entrepreneur in any industry.

Please tell us about PlayWerks Inc and WhizGirls Academy.
At PlayWerks, we create original IP that is transmedia and multi-platform for kids of all ages. Our first project is focused on getting girls and boys excited about STEM through gaming and interactive media. We are girl focused and boys inclusive. This includes adults. We also do social good in real time with our WhizGirls Academy branded lifestyle hackathons. Our programs have led students to get excited about future careers in STEM fields like computer science programmers or coders. We have speakers from Google, NASA/JPL, esri, SpaceX talk about their journeys to their careers. And the majority of students have been led to continue learning coding languages online, pursue a degree in STEM, etc. Our founder Shirin Laor-Raz Salemnia has been nicknamed the “Wonder Woman of Tech” because she has been leading the charge to make STEM and healthy balanced lifestyles cool and relevant with the brand that she has created. She emulates that as well as she meditates, codes enjoys fashion and fashion shows, and has a well-rounded lifestyle.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Well, I learned how to code with a female computer science teacher at LAUSD public school in the 3rd grade. Fortran was my first coding language on an Apple 2c green screen computer. My teacher encouraged all of us to code and play on the computer. This is where we played Where in the World is Carmen San Diego too. But watching the movie “Big” with Tom Hanks was a turning point in my life. I knew that I had to test toys as a career.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shirinlaorrazsalemnia.com, www.whizgirlsacademy.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @shirinsalemnia
• Facebook: @shirinsalemnia
• Twitter: @shirinsalemnia

Image Credit:
Google Keynote Speaker Photo Getty Images: Rich Polk

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