Shayla Rivera
- Aerospace Engineer and former Rocket Scientist with NASA
- Stand up comedian featured on NBC’s Today Show and HBO Latino's "Shayla Rivera: It's Not Rocket Science"
- Professor of Practice - College of Engineering at Texas A&M; Director of ENGR[x]
- Breast Cancer Survivor
Shayla Rivera is not just any kind of rocket scientist—she is a hilarious rocket scientist. Who knew science and engineering could be so entertaining? Fascinated with human behavior and having the desire to inspire people with laughter, Shayla Rivera draws on her experience from NASA, education in aerospace engineering and psychology, time in corporate sales,
read the restShayla Rivera is not just any kind of rocket scientist—she is a hilarious rocket scientist. Who knew science and engineering could be so entertaining? Fascinated with human behavior and having the desire to inspire people with laughter, Shayla Rivera draws on her experience from NASA, education in aerospace engineering and psychology, time in corporate sales, and life on the road during her comedy club tours to liven up audiences.
Her skills and abilities are not limited to comedy and science. Shayla has delved into both the sales and financial services industry, which has given her the expertise to train personnel for Fortune 500 companies and organizations nationwide. She has also acted and appeared in numerous television shows on major networks, including NBC, HBO, Lifetime Real Women Network, Univision, and Telemundo, just to name a few. She was nominated for Best Lead Actress by the NAACP Theater Awards.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Shayla Rivera is bi-lingual in English and Spanish. She is a recipient of the Mario Moreno Cantinflas award, granted by the city of Los Angeles for her influence in the Latino community. She is also invested in offering comedy and hope to the United States servicemen and women stationed around the world, earning the President’s Volunteer Service Award by the President’s Council on Service Participation.
On top of all that, Shayla is also a breast cancer survivor. With her life experiences, her professional experiences, and her comedy skills, she strives to encourage and uplift others. Shayla currently resides in Austin, Texas as a Professor of Practice at Texas A&M and Director at ENGR[x}, a professional training program for engineering students.
read less"Fearing what we don't understand only promotes limitations in our growth."
Shayla Rivera in Media
Speaker Programs
Doing what she does best, Shayla Rivera infuses hilarity and spunk into her message for your group. Her comedy based keynote can be tailored to various topics and audiences based on Shayla’s life experiences – ...more
Doing what she does best, Shayla Rivera infuses hilarity and spunk into her message for your group. Her comedy based keynote can be tailored to various topics and audiences based on Shayla’s life experiences – from leadership, personal improvement, womens empowerment, human psychology, corporate training, technical sales, to science and aerospace engineering. ...less
Drawing on her unique background as a NASA rocket scientist, corporate trainer, and professional comedian, Shayla Rivera delivers an engaging exploration of how empathy serves as the foundation for transforming disconnected teams into cohesive, engaged ...more
Drawing on her unique background as a NASA rocket scientist, corporate trainer, and professional comedian, Shayla Rivera delivers an engaging exploration of how empathy serves as the foundation for transforming disconnected teams into cohesive, engaged communities. She combines insights from aerospace engineering, psychology, and her extensive work training Fortune 500 personnel to demonstrate practical strategies for building workplace cultures where every team member feels valued and connected. Through humor and real-world examples from her diverse career—including her current role as Professor of Practice at Texas A&M—Shayla shows leaders how intentional design of empathetic practices creates environments where belonging drives both innovation and performance. ...less
Drawing from her journey as a NASA rocket scientist, breast cancer survivor, and corporate trainer for Fortune 500 companies, Shayla Rivera reveals how leaders can recharge from within by cultivating presence, managing stress, building resilience, ...more
Drawing from her journey as a NASA rocket scientist, breast cancer survivor, and corporate trainer for Fortune 500 companies, Shayla Rivera reveals how leaders can recharge from within by cultivating presence, managing stress, building resilience, and practicing mindfulness. She combines insights from psychology, aerospace engineering problem-solving, and her comedy background to demonstrate practical techniques for maintaining the internal energy and clarity that sustainable leadership requires. Through humor and hard-won wisdom from her diverse experiences—including military comedy tours and her current work training engineering students at Texas A&M—Shayla shows leaders how to develop the mindfulness practices and stress management strategies that prevent burnout while enhancing their capacity to lead effectively over the long term. ...less
Drawing from her experience as a NASA rocket scientist, corporate sales professional, and trainer for Fortune 500 companies, Shayla Rivera demonstrates how small, strategic shifts in approach can transform hard work into measurable impact by ...more
Drawing from her experience as a NASA rocket scientist, corporate sales professional, and trainer for Fortune 500 companies, Shayla Rivera demonstrates how small, strategic shifts in approach can transform hard work into measurable impact by focusing on excellence and continuous improvement. She combines insights from aerospace engineering's precision-driven culture, her psychology education, and her comedy career to show how raising the bar doesn't require working harder—it requires working smarter through intentional adjustments that compound over time. Through humor and real-world examples from her diverse background—including her current role training engineering students at Texas A&M—Shayla provides practical frameworks for leaders and teams to identify the small changes that create outsized results and elevate performance from effort to genuine impact. ...less
From her experience ranging from NASA, to engineer, to technical sales, to engineering leader working with and training the next generation of leaders - Shayla knows that team work is how high performing organizations get ...more
From her experience ranging from NASA, to engineer, to technical sales, to engineering leader working with and training the next generation of leaders - Shayla knows that team work is how high performing organizations get work done and accomplish the mission. Shayla's style is to blend lots of comedy, laughs, and stories into her talk to engage audiences. She inspires the individual to be change, be more adaptable, and contribute more in their roles to the overall team or organizational goal. It starts with the individual and team performance accelerates when powerful relationships are built. That's where WE can accomplish our mission. ...less
Like everything else, leadership begins with the individual. A leader is not defined by a title or a position of leadership but by their ability to inspire others to work towards a common goal. Traits ...more
Like everything else, leadership begins with the individual. A leader is not defined by a title or a position of leadership but by their ability to inspire others to work towards a common goal. Traits of leadership such as having a vision, setting goals, charisma, communication skills, character, intelligence, and many more, can be found within every person. I focus on helping individuals recognize and strengthen these traits within themselves. Then give them the tools that will help them do the same for others.
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Evidence of our reaching new heights, our resilience and our 'why' are all found in our story. We fully forget that we all are the hero in the journey of our life and it is ...more
Evidence of our reaching new heights, our resilience and our 'why' are all found in our story. We fully forget that we all are the hero in the journey of our life and it is by sharing this journey with one another that we encourage, inspire, and often give wings - not just to others - but to ourselves. This presentation focuses on the hero's journey Joseph Campbell describes in his book "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" or what Shayla calls "Our invisible Hero". ...less
This keynote focuses on encouraging young women to pursue their dreams in the STEM and STEAM fields. As a female rocket scientist who is still hands on motivating youth involved in science, Shayla motivates young ...more
This keynote focuses on encouraging young women to pursue their dreams in the STEM and STEAM fields. As a female rocket scientist who is still hands on motivating youth involved in science, Shayla motivates young women to not be discouraged by external circumstances or self-doubt but to trust in their inner strength and drive to set them apart in the world of science. ...less
Storytelling from her own life experiences, Shayla Rivera unveils the powerful knowledge behind believing that you are in control to open the door to unlimited possibilities. She will open your audience’s eyes to no longer ...more
Storytelling from her own life experiences, Shayla Rivera unveils the powerful knowledge behind believing that you are in control to open the door to unlimited possibilities. She will open your audience’s eyes to no longer being constrained to their circumstances and/or upbringing but to empower themselves to have the courage to change. ...less
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