Meet Get Girls Going’s 2021 Cohort of Teen Entrepreneurs!
TAYANA ANTOINE
founder of ainoa
Tayana Antoine is a 16 year old junior at Fenway High School in Boston MA. She grew up around pregnant women in her life and was exposed to the struggles that come with pregnancies. Tayana aspires to one day become an OBGYN that utilizes traditional and psychological practices to ensure that pregnant women are getting what they need to have successful pregnancies. Tayana’s passion is constantly thinking of ways to improve the lives of pregnant women, especially minority women who are at higher risk for prepatrum, postpartum, maternal mortality and morbidity. She created Anioa to help women feel confident and excited during and after their pregnancies. Ainoa’s mission to ensure that each pregnancy is a pregnancy to remember. Ainoa will provide mothers-to-be monthly subscription box filled with stylish maternity clothes, loungewear, lingerie, affirmation cards and natural products. As beautiful as pregnancies are, not every woman gets to enjoy the process. Tayana believes that every second counts and every memory that is made is a special one when you’re pregnant. Her goal is to make sure moms all over the country can create as many memories as possible throughout their journey with Ainoa.
DAENISHA OLIVER
FOUNDER OF SAVE A TEEN
Daenisha Oliver is a 16 year old sophomore at Boston Community Leadership Academy in Boston MA. Daenishas passion is writing, cheering and helping others. As a teenager, She has been a victim of sexual assault and has friends who have shared with her that they too are victims of sexually assault and rape. Daenisha knows that if this was happening to her friends in middle and highschool then young people all over the world must be experiencing sexual assault. Data shows that 28% of youth in the U.S between the ages of 14 and 17 have been sexually victimized. While there are resources to support sexual assault youth, there are not many safe spaces created for young people in schools to discuss the trauma they have faced as a result of sexual assult. Daenisha and her friends never told their teachers or guidance counselors because they feared what may happen since they are mandated reporters and are required to bring the situation to light. She believes that sometimes to start off, victims need a safe space to talk about what they have gone through and to get the support to deal with it mentally. Daneisha created Save a Teen which will give victims a safe place in a learning environment like schools to talk about their experiences with sexual assault and rape, by having small therapy groups and programming after school and that will provide resources through an app for middle and high school victims that become apart of the save a teen program.
daenisha@getgirlsgoing.org
KALEYAH VATEL
FOUNDER OF RIVERS OF EDEN
Kaleyah Vatel is a 18 year old graduate from the Edward M. Kennedy High School in Boston MA. Her passions are creating comics, researching, painting, creative writing and listening to music. Kaleyah believes that all cultures should be represented in comics and storytelling so that young people can see themselves in the content they are reading and watching. Kaleyah’s artistry and desire to see culture represented in comics led her to create Rivers of Eden. Rivers of Eden aims to use the art of storytelling by illustration and comics to open the eyes of many by enhancing the experience of heartfelt stories and the wonders of imagination through African culture. Kaleyahs vision is to fix the misrepresentation of Africans and it’s diaspora is by creating a comic that highlights all the beauty within their cultures and highlights the important problems that are normally swept under the rug within Black communities
NAJAE LIGHT
FOUNDER OF NAJAE & CO
Najae Light is an 18 year old freshman studying at Roxbury Community College in Boston MA. Najae suffered from hyperpigmentation for years and wanted to find natural ways to treat her skin. She knows that as a teenager and young adult feeling beautiful and confident in your skin is important and she wanted to create a solution that could not only benefit her but others who experienced the same problem. Najae wants to see people of color feel comfortable in their skin and created her business Najae & Co which is a an all natural skin care line that includes cleanser, toner, and moisturizer that would help people with uneven skin, hyperpigmentation and other skin problems such as acne and scaring. Her vision for her skin care line is to help youth, women and men by providing a natural and less harsh treatment that can support all skin types. Through Najae & Co, she hopes to educate people on hyperpigmentation and how to take care of their skin in general.
NERCY SOLANO
founder of fuerza
Nercy Solano is 18 year old freshman at UMass Boston in Boston MA. Nercy developed Fuerza:
A space free of judgment and harassment for all types of women to workout. Nercy wants to create an all women’s gym where women of all ages can workout safely and not be surrounded by potential predators who may have ulterior motives to harm women or make women feel uncomfortable. Ner experience in her community exposed her to the different reasons why some women do not workout or feel comfortable going to the gym such as religious women not being able to wear the workout clothes they desire because they are not allowed to wear certain attire around the opposite gender. The vision of Fuerza is more than just a space; there will be various resources such as nutrition classes to educate all women on their health and bodies, free menstrual products, showers and steaming rooms, childcare for mothers and specific personal trainers that will teach women how to workout based on their body types. Nercy believes that working out in a safe environment should be everyone’s right and hopes that her business will open doors for all types of women to come together and grow a community through health and wellness.
nercy@getgirlsgoing.org
AMALIA WHETSTONE
FOUNDER OF BRIDGING THE GAP
Amalia Whetstone is a 17 year old senior at Boston Latin School in Boston MA. In fourth grade, Amalia was diagnosed with ADHD and has since been through many school systems to support her learning. Through her experience, she found that teachers don’t quite know how to help the students like her and more often than not the students don’t know how to help themselves either so at the end of the day those students are still at a disadvantage when it comes to learning in the classroom. Amalia believes that students with mental illness conditions are not properly supported in schools even if they go through the official process. She believes there needs to be a solution so that teachers feel confident in teaching students with IEPs and students feel confident in their ability to learn. Amalia created Bridging the Gap: a service business to provide teacher training in order to ensure that teachers know how to best support students with mental illnesses. Amalia aims to provide training that includes students and family perspectives so that teachers understand what students need from them. Amalia’s vision is to manifest equitable learning experiences for all students.
ASHLEY Tejeda
Founder of Beauty Bloomé Cosmetics
Ashley Tejeda is a 15 year old sophomore at John D O’bryant in Boston MA. Growing up Ashley always felt self conscious about her hair and accepting the beauty of her hair because she grew up with a disease that made her hair fall out. Over time Ashley began to find self love as she embarked on a hair care journey and found ways to get her hair to grow back again. She committed herself to taking care of her hair and created natural hair care products for herself. Ashley realized that beauty can come in all hair textures and she wanted other people who went through the same things as her to find a cure like she did. Ashley created Beauty Bloomé cosmetics which consists of 100% natural oils and growth herbs maximizing hair growth to its capacity. Apart from its foundation of hair growth oils, she hopes to grow the brand into different categories of natural products such as leave-ins, deep conditioners, curl makers, hair smoothies, pre-poo’s, bonnets and scarves to protect those hair styles as you sleep with beautiful natural hair. Beauty Bloomé’s vision is to ensure that all users feel beautiful in their natural hair and do not conform to the standard of beauty society defines.