Girlstart’s Women in STEM weekly series highlights various women who are making a difference in STEM. Be inspired as these incredible women describe how they became interested in their field, provide insight into a day in the life, and share learnings from their experiences.

Sarah Strobhar
Worldwide Applied AI Services Specialist @ Amazon Web Services

Sarah found Girlstart after previously volunteering with other female STEM organizations and wanted to get more involved. She is one of many amazing Women In Tech, and we are excited to highlight her story today as part of our Computer Science week!

Briefly describe your career trajectory.
I’ve spent much of my career in business development and sales strategy for technology companies, from early stage software startups to global tech giants. I’m currently a Worldwide Applied AI Services Specialist at Amazon Web Services for a machine learning service called Amazon Forecast. My role involves working closely with the product management team to build and execute a go-to-market plan, identify the right target market segments and use cases for the product, and accelerate adoption of new AI / ML services at AWS. Prior to this role, I was Head of Sales at Onera, a VC-backed Bay Area startup that leverages machine learning to enhance decision making across the supply chain for enterprise retailers and brands. I have an AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification, that enables me to help customers architect and migrate workloads to AWS. In 2019, I received my MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Was there a specific program in your life that led you to your career?
Early in my career, I worked in sales for a small IT company in New York that sold hardware, software, and implementation services to small-and-medium size businesses. In order to better serve our customers, I decided to do a training program at VMware that dove deep into virtualization and the infrastructure stack required to run private and public clouds. I received my VMware VTSP technical certification, and found that I really enjoyed the technology industry. I also found that an important and valued skill in the market is the ability to explain complex technical solutions to customers in a clear, digestible way. 

What is your favorite thing about being in the technology industry?
Frequent innovation and fast pace of the software industry.

Why is confidence in STEM important for girls?
Confidence in STEM opens the door to a plethora of options for girls, from joining big tech companies, to joining innovative startups, to launching their own company. Skills in STEM are highly valued in the workplace, and will give girls the confidence to believe they can conquer the world and be captains of their own ship. Learning in-demand skills builds confidence, and provides choices. Choices provide freedom. 

What would you like to tell girls who are interested in pursuing a STEM career? What words of encouragement would you share with them? 
You are better at this than you think. Don’t give up, believe in yourself, and know that these skills will help you WIN in a competitive world. Investment in learning STEM now will pay off for the rest of your life. It will make you feel strong, independent, and powerful. It will give you the ability to be the master of your own fate. BE BOLD and know that you can do anything you set your mind to. 

Anything else you want our readers to know about you?
In my free time, I enjoy reading, hiking, mountain climbing, skiing, and race car driving. I have two cats, Oliver & Dodger, and a German Shepherd puppy named Willa who looks adorable but likes to get into trouble.

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