In this episode of Diverse, a Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Podcast, Dayna Johnson, President elect of the Society of Women Engineers, sits down with Sara Schonour, winner of Netflix’s Baking Impossible! Dayna, a big fan of the show and an aspiring bakineer herself, asked Sara all the questions that have been on everyone’s minds – including why everyone is wearing the same clothes in every episode.
Listen on SWE’s website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on your favorite podcasting platform.
Baking Impossible: Behind the Scenes
The show married baking and engineering together to create a hybrid term, “bakineering” where teams consisted of one baker and one engineer. Each episode had the teams completing a mission where they had to create an edible design, such as a 2 ft sailboat, robot, and even a mini golf course, that had to endure a stress test. Sara won the show with her partner, Rodolfo Goncalves. Together, they beat out 9 other teams to win the grand prize of $100,000 and the Baking Impossible trophy.
During this podcast episode, Sara talks about her experience on the show, how her engineering background prepared her for the competition, and how her life has changed since the show wrapped in 2020. You can watch Sara’s journey to victory on Baking Impossible on Netflix.
Guest: Sara Schonour
Sara Schonour is the Vice President of Education and Engagement at Lytei, where she helps lead a team of lighting enthusiasts who tell empowered stories about light. Prior to working at Lytei, Sara founded and led the award-winning CannonDesign Lighting Studio, where she and her team designed exceptional architectural lighting designs to clients around the world.
Sara is highly engaged in both the design and her local community, and regularly volunteers her time. She serves on multiple industry boards, and wears many hats at the Footlight Club – her local community theater. Sara has taught as adjunct faculty and guest lecturer for multiple university lighting programs, and speaks regularly at local and national conferences on various topics surrounding light, engineering, and now, what it’s like to be on reality TV! You can see another side of Sara on the hit Netflix show, Baking Impossible.
Host: Dayna Johnson
Dayna Johnson is the Emerging Technology Program and Operations Leader at GE Gas Power. Prior to this role, she held a variety of other commercial roles within GE Renewable Energy. She is also the President-elect of SWE.
In addition to her volunteer work with SWE, Dayna has served on other non-profit boards and is currently president of her Toastmasters club. She enjoys traveling, DIY home improvement projects, and spending time with her family, including her 2 sons and her 2 dogs. One of her hobbies is baking and cake decorating, always making her children’s birthday cakes, and she is an aspiring bakineer.
