Adam Torres and Ashima Gupta discuss Mega Mix Expo.
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Show Notes:
Listen to Mega Mix Expo coverage. In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Ashima Gupta, Owner of Code Ninjas (Northridge, Los Angeles, Altadena), explore the upcoming Megamix expo.
About Ashima Gupta
Ashima Gupta, owner of Code Ninjas Northridge, Pasadena, and Silverlake, is dedicated to inspiring and educating young minds in coding and technology. Her programs are designed to be fun, engaging, and inclusive, ensuring that all children, including neurodivergent learners, develop essential skills in coding, critical thinking, and teamwork. Through a supportive learning environment, she empowers every child to thrive and reach their full potential.
About Code Ninjas
Code Ninjas offers a variety of programs, including the CREATE (8 classes per month) and LITE (4 classes per month) programs, as well as Summer Camps, which have enrolled over 200,000 students in recent years. The unique curriculum goes beyond teaching coding fundamentals, providing an engaging and innovative approach unlike anything else on the market.
Beyond coding, Code Ninjas helps students develop essential life skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration while emphasizing digital citizenship and responsible technology use.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest on the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on Be Our Guest to Apply. Alright, so today I have Ashima Gupta on the line, and she is owner of the franchise Code Ninjas, and she has three different locations, one in Northridge one in Los Angeles, and one in Altadena.
Ashima, welcome to the show. Thank you, Adam. Thank you for having me on the show. Well, great to have you on, and I understand that you’re going to be, and this is how you were introduced to the show, is that you’re going to be participating in the Megamix Expo coming up in Arcadia, California. That’s going to be on March 12th and 13th, and a great time.
I’m going to be there as well doing some live podcast interviews and having a whole lot of fun. Is this your first time coming to the Expo? I’m just curious. Yeah. Yes, this is my first time going to this expo, and I’m actually very excited to set up a table and showcase what we do at Code Ninjas. Oh, that’s amazing.
And I would love to meet you there. I will, and this is, by the way, this is my first time too, just so you know. I’ve never done it before. I’ve done a bunch of interviews with some of the vendors and individuals that are going to be there, and sponsors. And so I’ve gotten to get a good feel for the, for the for the expo overall, but I haven’t been in person.
I’m curious. So what attracted you to the opportunity? And why did you decide to participate? A lot of things you could do with your time. Why come out to mega mix expo? Okay. A couple of reasons. First of all our Altadena location was by the fires. It wasn’t burned. It is impacted by the fires.
And this expo was just around the corner. And I thought when I saw the vendor list, there were a lot of promising vendors that can help promote. What we do at Code Ninjas, and I thought it’s a good opportunity to take part in the expo and I want to thank Altadena Chamber of Commerce for giving us that exposure as well.
They were the ones who sent me the link for this expo That’s how I found out about it. And It seems a good fit for our business and hopefully I will network with some good, you know cross Yeah, you know business platforms are different, you know Business areas. Yeah. Yeah, that’s awesome. And let’s switch it up a bit here.
Actually, I want to learn a little bit more about CodeNinja. So maybe tell us a little bit more about, about the locations and, and exactly what you do. Okay. So we have three locations. One is in Northridge, like you mentioned earlier, Northridge, Los Angeles and Altadena. CodeNinja is a place where kids, it’s a STEM school, after school learning program, where kids come in You know, and learn programming, coding by making their own video games.
And the reason why I’m part of it, my daughters did this program and I saw firsthand how it changed their lives. It’s not only learning coding, but also and I want to empower this education and expand it as much as possible. So I decided to have, you know, open these locations. And the reason why we chose Altadena is the one where my daughters did the program and the business owners were not wanting to continue.
So I took over it. Silver Lake. Is also close to our house and very close to where we live. We go there often and it just felt bad that there’s nothing like this in Silver Lake, Los Angeles area. So we decided to have there and the same reasons in Northridge. Hmm. What makes Code Ninjas different from other coding programs for kids?
Like, well, what’s the competitive advantage here? Okay, so there are a lot of reasons why Codeninja is different, but what really sets Codeninja apart, we make coding a fun and an engaging program. They’re making video games while they’re learning. It’s instead of, you know, a traditional classroom setting, we have a dojo style environment Kids learn through a martial arts inspired belt system, white through black.
And as they progress, they start with block based programming and very quickly they get into JavaScript and C sharp languages. But more than this, we at Codeninja, we also offer hands on experiences in 3D design, robotics, and game development in Roblox. Or Minecraft, different platforms, so kids can bring their ideas to life in multiple ways, whether they are programming robots.
Or designing virtual world, or experimenting with microcontrollers, makey makey, different things. They’re building skills that prepare them for the future. The other thing that I believe sets us apart is our flexible. drop in schedule. It’s a self paced environment. Kids learn at their own pace. So parents can schedule their kids classes based on their availability.
It does not conflict with their schedule. And as a parent, I love that, flexible scheduling. And that was one of the reasons I could take my daughters for the classes. Hmm. So those are the things I think sets us apart. Talk about the ages. Like, the ages a bit and like who this is a good fit for?
It’s a good fit for kids. As young as five year old all the way through 14, 15 year old, any kid, you know, who’s into STEM, I think every child should try it. Neurodivergent kids, any kid, you know. It’s a very good program, self paced, customized to child’s needs. And maybe give a little bit of insight into the, some of the programming, like, is it like there’s different, is there different tracks or what, how do you, I know you have a belt system and different things like that.
So I want to use your language, not mine, but like some of the, like the curriculum, give me some of the curriculum. That’s what I’m trying to say. So, yes, so our computer science curriculum is a belt system. They start with block based programming using Microsoft’s MakeCode Arcade. We have our own competency based AI model built in there.
As they’re building, you know, as they’re working on their projects, they’re building, they’re debugging codes, they’re leveling up and learning through, learning various concepts in there. Now, they start with block based programming, but then they move on to JavaScript and C Sharp. What we, that’s our, you know, that’s our self paced computer science program.
We also offer, you know, different clubs, we say them, like 3D clubs, robotics club Roblox development club. Man, this sounds fun. I’m kind of jealous as I’m listening to you, Ashima. I’m like, man, I would, I would probably know something about coding if this was around when I was growing up. This is amazing.
Yes, yes, it is amazing. I wish that too, you know, every day when I work with the kids. Yeah. And I see them bringing their ideas to life. I feel, why wasn’t this there when I was a kid? I’m jealous. I’m like, when I was a kid. Yes, yes. They make, you know, beautiful games, interactive games, their own game controllers using Makey Makey with fruits and vegetables.
, it’s a lot of fun. Yes. And that’s the beauty. It’s so much fun that kids don’t even realize they’re learning concepts like velocity, you know loops, different concepts, and, and they just learn it. They just grab it because they’re making something they enjoy doing, games. It makes sense too though, because then if you think about it, they’re just having a bunch of fun.
They’re probably, I’m guessing, Playing with their buddies or over time you meet people. Oh, you go, you go to, you know what I mean? And then all of a sudden you’re having other conversations and then they’re working at home on stuff for other things. And they’re not even thinking of it as work. They’re just playing and having fun.
They just play. Yes, and you brought up a good point. I forgot to mention. Our system does allow access at home. They access sandbox at home and many times kids make games there and they let their cousins play, their friends play, and they’re working with kids. I made this game. Give me 1 for playing. I made it.
It’s That’s awesome. So they’re over here selling games to their cousins. That’s awesome. I was selling basketball cards to my cousins I wish I could have sold them some games.
I Don’t know my parents might have wanted a cut what’s the royalty I paid for your education now I know, parents should do that. Yes, I’ve had conversations. I want to take a cookie from my daughter. She’s not letting me. She charged her grandmother 50 cents for playing her game. Take that grandma, right?
Give me the cookies too, and the 50 cents? Yes. Yeah, that’s true. First off, I love, I love the concept. I love the idea of what you’re doing over at Code Ninja. This has been a lot of fun having you on the show. You mentioned you’re going to have a booth at Megamix Expo. So I definitely, for everybody listening, it’s megamixexpo.
com. Definitely go to the website, grab some tickets, come out and see Ashima at her booth. I’m going to be there too, doing some live interviews and just really walking around and shaking some hands and being out there in the community and meeting people, I’m really excited. I don’t always get to go to these.
Cool thing. So I was excited to be invited out. But Ashima for those that are at home and that won’t be attending, how do people follow up, how do they learn more about code ninjas? It’s very simple. You can Google code ninjas. com and it’s a global, you know, it’s a, we are, we have 400 locations here across us.
You can go to the closest center where you live or come to my fence, Northridge, Los Angeles, and Altadena, or you can give us a call. Our number is 818. You can follow us on Facebook as well. We have at Code Ninjas Northridge, at Code Ninjas Silver Lake, at Code Ninjas Altadena. You can use any of those hashtags and you’ll find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, any social media you can think of.
Code Ninjas is, it’s a brand. National level. You can find us anywhere. Perfect. And for everybody listening, just so you know, we’ll definitely put the links in the show notes and so you can just click on them and head right on over. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters and you haven’t done it yet, hit that subscribe or follow button.
This is a daily show each and every day. I’m bringing you new content, new ideas, and hopefully new inspiration to help you along the way in your journey as well. So again, hit that subscribe or follow button and Ashima, I look forward to seeing you at the expo. Same here. Do connect, you know, I would love to meet you there.