"How I Built This" - the Story of Entrepreneurship, Determination & Athena Racing - Drive to Success Podcast

What sparked the idea for Athena Racing?!? Learn how this concept came to life. How all of the steps in Loxley’s career led to her creating this nonprofit extracurricular program. As she says in the podcast, “I never thought I would start Athena Racing, I never could have guessed that I would have done anything like this. But now that I have done it, I couldn’t imagine never doing it.”

Her Key Take-Aways:

Build your career, one step at a time.

Always be ready to learn.

Develop multiple skillsets.

"How I Built This" is a Q&A with Athena Racing's Founder, Loxley Browne and members of the Student Advisory Board, Volunteers & Board of Advisors.

Two years ago, a spark ignited that has grown into an award-winning STEM education program. Using a racecar, we teach essential life skills and career development with interactive and creative methods to stimulate curiosity and expose STEM career opportunities.

Athena Racing is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides free training for young girls in middle school and high school who are interested in discovering career paths in engineering, design, robotics, driving or business in the automotive, motorsport and transportation industries. This is a girls-only program that provides a safe space for young girls to be surrounded by like-minded female students. Additionally, they learn to apply design thinking (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) to all aspects of life in an environment where they experience how to learn, to fail, and to persevere.

Your Support Fuels Athena Racing

DRIVE change

DRIVE education

DRIVE success

Visit AthenaRacing.org to discover more!

startup, nonprofit, entrepreneurship, athena racing, automotive, motorsports, STEM education, girls in STEM, girls in engineering, girls in robotics, business, marketing, podcast, vlog, students, how to build a business, how to build a nonprofit, tips in entrepreneurship

"How I Built This" is a special series of the "Drive to Success" podcast. For the next 11 weeks our Founder, Loxley Browne, will be sitting down with members of Athena Racing's team for Q&A sessions of how she created this award-winning, girls-only, STEM education program. 

Her vision to demolish the status quo involves a Racecar. We are racing towards a new future with fearless female leaders as we teach them essential life skills and career development. The interactive and creative methods to stimulate curiosity and expose STEM career opportunities drives them with confidence towards more inclusive and diverse opportunities.

Athena Racing is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides free training for young girls in middle school and high school who are interested in discovering career paths in engineering, design, robotics, driving or business in the automotive, motorsport and transportation industries. This is a girls-only program that provides a safe space for young girls to be surrounded by like-minded female students. Additionally, they learn to apply design thinking (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) to all aspects of life in an environment where they experience how to learn, to fail, and to persevere.

Your Support Fuels Athena Racing

DRIVE change

DRIVE education

DRIVE success

Visit AthenaRacing.org to discover more!

startup, nonprofit, entrepreneurship, athena racing, automotive, motorsports, STEM education, girls in STEM, girls in engineering, girls in robotics, girls in tech, women in tech, extracurricular program, STEM role model, female leadership, female role model

When life sends you in a new direction you have to listen! After battling cancer and winning, the multi-patent scientist, entrepreneur, and yoga instructor -Laura Flanagan- combined all of her talents into creating a new business in a new county. Laura, an R&D scientist at Promega, worked in  scientific and business roles within the company. Her awakening led her to creating her very own Equine Therapy Center in Costa Rica with her horse Socrates where she combined her intense passion for plants, animals, yoga and healing.

To learn more about Laura, visit her website: https://www.socratescenter.com/

In this episode you will learn: 

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Today's Episode Included: 

Áine Shivnan, the Vice President of Program Management at Qualcomm Research, is responsible for operations and strategy management for research programs primarily focused on artificial intelligence. She works with scientists and engineers to develop state-of-the-art technologies with a particular concentration on machine learning techniques optimized for mobile devices to enabling autonomy, mobility, and low-power for use in smartphones, robotics, IoT, and automotive applications.

In this episode you will learn:

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Visit us at AthenaRacing.org to learn more about our STEM program and events for girls in middle school and high school.

Today's Episode Included: Aine Shivnan + Mihika Tiwari + Loxley Browne = Priceless Conversation!

Dani Phan is a recent SDSU graduate and now works as a Mechanical Engineer at NuVasive. During her years in university, Dani was an active leader of the Aztec Racing, SDSU’s SAE Team, and has volunteered for several notable organizations, and also held a few different STEM internships in helping others!

In this episode you will learn:

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Today's Episode Included: 

Shirley worked at Qualcomm for a decade before jumping into the startup world and then returning to Qualcomm to work in the Technology Licensing business unit. Hear about her background working with new business startups and in the Qualcomm Licensing business unit. 

Abby Hempy is a recent master's graduate of mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and is now a Vehicle Systems Engineer at NASCAR R&D. Her experience and wisdom that she shares with our high school girls is priceless in helping them understand what path to take through college, the challenges they will face and how to be best prepared for their next step in education.

In this episode you will learn:

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Today's Episode Included: 

Tegan Hammond is a professional stunt driver and the first woman to be featured in a promotional video for Ferrari. Tegan's driving career began at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2011 where she currently holds two land-speed records—302 mph & 294 mph. Her first time in the driver's seat where she set a 294 mph record was captured and featured in a Canadian Discovery Channel episode. 

In this episode you will learn:

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Today's Episode Included: 

Dean Case is a communications consultant for multiple companies, like MOTIVO Engineering and Grassroots Motorsport Magazine. Hear about his background with major automotive companies like Mazda, Ford, and Nissan. Listen in on his stories and advice as a significant volunteer and Board Member for the Society of Automotive Engineers.

In this episode you will learn: 

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Today's Episode Included: 

Juliana Vida is a retired military officer and experienced technology executive, liaison to the Pentagon. Juliana sees technology innovation as an opportunity to not only drive business and mission outcomes, but also motivate workers at all ages and levels of technological maturity to contribute in meaningful ways and do their best work. 

In this episode you will learn: 

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Today's Episode Included: