I don't like to just have a repetitive life where I do the same thing over and over. I love to be able to learn something new, explore something new.

I hope to inspire everyone - especially young people, women, and young girls all over the world, and in Middle Eastern countries that do not provide women with the same opportunities as men - to not give up their dreams and to pursue them.

I wasn't frightened going to outer space. I'd been living this in my head for many, many years, so I sort of had played all of these scenarios of flying into space and seeing earth. I think I was very prepared for it. It was almost a completely joyful, very happy, very exciting experience, and I didn't have time or any desire to think about what things could go wrong.

Space travel is a dream for many men and women. I think my trip will be perceived differently by different genders because for women, a lot of time, not only space travel, it's not accessible to everyone, but is even less accessible to women, there are a lot more barriers for them especially if they live in countries where things like space travel, engineering, any science and technology-related field would be considered a more male-dominated field. And so I want to show them that there is nothing preventing woman, or making them less qualified to be involved in any of these fields.

I always loved science and math growing up. I was born in Iran; I grew up there and then came to the United States when I was about 16 years old. And I thought that this was my opportunity to get involved with something really cool and great.

Being an entrepreneur does require commitment. It is hard work, but it is also highly rewarding. So when you can look back and see yourself building a successful company.

Being an entrepreneur is really exciting for me. Whether it's creating something or just building a company and giving others the opportunity to build a career, I think it's exciting to be at the helm of these types of activities.