10 Questions with Suz Somersall & Malena Southworth
Cofounders at KiraKira
Suz Somersall is the CEO of KiraKira, a female-centric community focused on 3D modeling and mechanical engineering education.
Malena Southworth is the CDO of KiraKira. She is a self-proclaimed ex-disgruntled-engineering-student-turned-graphic-designer, a mom of three and has a passion for encouraging and inspiring girls to dream big.
- When did you know you wanted to be in tech?
Suz: It came after spending time working with both engineering and art students at the University of Virginia and realizing there was a void of curriculum focused specifically on teaching women mechanical engineering skills. My interns wanted to learn to 3D model through content that was compelling to them. They did not want to learn how to make auto-parts and wrenches; they wanted creative autonomy and the tools to create their own designs.
Malena: I’ve always loved computers. My dad is a mechanical engineer and I can remember as early as age 5 that I would visit him at work. I would sit on his lap, and he’d lead my hand around with the mouse showing me how to rotate the object he was designing and view it from different angles. It was mesmerizing!
2. Who’s a role model you’ve looked up to?
Suz: Jessica Alba & Karlie Kloss — I think they’re both incredible role models for women in entrepreneurship and tech.
Malena: My mom. She is incredibly smart and determined, and she is an amazing mother. She came to the states from Thailand at age 20 speaking very little English, and the only person she knew in the country was my dad. She had a 5th grade education but was determined to go to college. She used her marriage certificate, written completely in Thai and not easily translated back in the ‘70s, as “proof” of a high school diploma and started taking classes at a local community college — and she did really well! She is fearless and clever and strong. I hope to be all the things she is.
3. Why did you start KiraKira?
Suz: In the US only 7% of women are mechanical engineers. 3D modeling is an amazing way to get a wider audience of girls interested in learning mechanical engineering skills. I started KiraKira because I want to see that statistic change!
Malena: We saw an opportunity and a need. While working on a previous venture together, Suz and I began 3D printing our prototypes in an effort to cut costs. We had several female interns who were interested and excited to learn the 3D modeling programs we were using, so we signed them up for intro engineering classes. Within one week they all quit. We saw their excitement go from 100 to 0 in just a few days time, and we couldn’t understand why. So we took the classes ourselves and they were really, really boring. The content was very male-focused — designing wrenches, auto parts, wind turbines — and it just wasn’t engaging for all our female interns. So we started designing the classes at first to teach our interns, then we quickly realized we could have a much, much broader reach. After researching the gender gap in STEM, specifically engineering, we knew there was a need and opportunity for female-focused online engineering education.
4. What’s a challenge you’ve faced in your career journey?
Suz: Building a new team in San Francisco. I moved to SF from Virginia, where I had a great team of employees and interns. I left them on the East Coast to continue on while I joined an accelerator on the West. I had to network and put myself out there to meet our new, amazing engineer Julia and our SF-based team of incredible employees and interns. I feel really lucky to be working with such talented, intelligent women now from coast to coast! (P.S. If anyone out there is looking for an internship definitely contact us at love@kirakira.com!)
Malena: Having 3 kids presents its own unique challenges. Pair that with co-founding a startup, and there are sure to be difficulties. I’m (still) figuring out the work-family balance. My work is very important to me, as is my family. They each require my time, my love and my attention. Ultimately, I feel that being a mom strengthens my passion for our mission and my resolve to make KiraKira a great success!
5. When’s a time you felt immense pride?
Suz: The day our first KiraKira intern created her first design on her own, only to be surpassed by the day she created her first KiraKira class and posted it online.
Malena: Our first customer email. A mom and her bright, tenacious daughter had just completed our very first class. Mom was so excited she wanted to order her daughter’s design right away as gifts for the family. And by the way, her daughter is 5 years old! That was an amazing moment! The excitement from that wonderful mommy-daughter duo was confirmation that we were on to something and our classes were easily understood. Even by a 5 year old!
6. What’s something you want to get better at?
Suz: I would love to become a better cook. I really want to take more cooking classes — French, Italian, Vietnamese…
Malena: Coding.
7. Comfort food of choice?
Suz: Avocado toast!
Malena: Truffle French fries.
8. Favorite book?
Suz: I’m currently reading Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely for a book club I’m in. It’s really fascinating both in relation to my business and my personal life!
Malena: Night Circus by Erin Morgentern. Easily the most beautifully descriptive book I’ve ever read.
9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?
Suz: A cinematographer. I love film and thinking visually, especially thinking about how the world and lives can be presented and re-framed through another lens.
Malena: Pro-surfer.
10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?
Suz: Live in the moment and stop stressing! Stress is a choice. There will always be things that can create stress in life, but each of us has the power of perspective. Each day we have the choice to be anxious over the future and distracted from the present or to be fully immersed in life moment to moment.
Malena: Enjoy every minute because your life is what you make it.
