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Shayla Rivera was born in Puerto Rico and has earned degrees in
both aerospace engineering and psychology from Texas A&M University.
Shayla worked for 8 years at NASA on the Space Shuttle and International
Space Station programs at the Johnson Space Center in Houston,
Texas. (“NASA and I had to part ways when they wouldn’t
let me put St. Christopher on the Space Shuttle dash board”).
Shayla also
worked as a Motivational Speaker and a Corporate Trainer, holding
seminars on stress management for executives at companies around
the country. It was while she was conducting seminars that Rivera
discovered her comedic skills. Shayla signed up for a weekend
class on stand-up comedy, at the end of which she performed a
five-minute routine. It was a rousing success and a personal turning
point. “I knew I’d found what I was looking for,”
Rivera recalled.
In 2001, Shayla
created her solo show, Rocket Science and Salsa, directed by Debbie
Allen and received 2 NAACP Theater Award nominations for best
actress and choreography. In addition to television appearances
on Showtime, CBS, NBC, Galavision, Telemundo, Lifetime, Oxygen
and numerous TV commercials and short films, Shayla has recently
toured with the Latin King of Comedy… Paul Rodriguez. Shayla
Rivera is recognized as one of the hottest new comics on the scene
and can now be seen on a 13 episode Lifetime series called "You
Are Not Te Man I Married", which is currently playing in
various regions of the country.
In 2004, Rivera
received the “Mario Moreno Cantinflas Award” presented
by the city of Los Angeles in recognition of entertainers who
"represent the Latino Community with the same humor as the
great Cantinflas did" and for her involvement in the community.
Rivera continues to perform live nationwide. In addition, she
applies her expertise as a motivational speaker to help many non-profit
organizations, charitable and educational programs.
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