A sea of over 200 eyes stare back at senior Evelyn Halbach as she stands to present her board game, EcoFrenzy, at the Young Entrepreneur Academy’s national semifinals May, 2024. She fidgets anxiously, reciting her pitch in her head, before stepping forward to share her product with the world.
Through passion projects and business pitches, young women at U-High have expanded their confidence, creativity and professionalism while building community at the Young Entrepreneurs Academy.
The Young Entrepreneur Academy, abbreviated as YEA!, is a yearlong program that offers mentorship and real-life exposure to young aspiring entrepreneurs. There are various chapters of YEA! across the United States. The Chicago chapter, Female Strong, is girls-only and is committed to empowering young women and challenging gender inequalities.
Junior Freddie Neater-DuBow is a member of Female Strong and has found the program helpful in getting started with her business.
“They really provide a lot of the resources or the steps that you wanna know about or want to take in order to launch a business,” Freddie said.
Similarly, sophomore Lara Mohindra, who joined to learn more about creating and marketing a business, has found the program enlightening.
“Marketing is just one aspect of it, but like actually making and manufacturing the product, and who else do you have to work with, and things like that, I feel like you don’t really learn on a day-to-day or in your typical class,” Lara said.
In addition to learning about creating and marketing a product already created, the members are also encouraged to create and pitch a product of their own, most of which come from personal experiences and reflections on how to improve daily life.
Freddie’s first idea was to create a personalized hair care website that provides tailored product recommendations based on users’ skin sensitivity and hair goals. Lara’s product, which will likely manifest in the form of an educational board game, is based on her experience with current events.
“I feel like I’ve lost touch with current events and what’s going on,” Lara said. “Watching TikTok and getting misinformation made me think, well, what’s a way that I can bring awareness to that?”
The program has also brought together girls from across Chicago and built a community where they can connect and learn from each other.
“You’re not only getting to hear from people from different parts of the city, but also from people who may be from a similar part but are in an entirely different age range, so they could have an entirely different perspective from yourself,” Freddie said.
Ninth graders Layleh Adhi and Tess Weitzman joined the program together in the hopes of deepening their interest in business. In the first couple weeks of the program, Tess has already noticed growth within herself. She said that her public speaking skills have improved, as well as her ability to receive feedback and criticism in a professional manner.
Layleh enjoys the early business exposure the program offers.
“I think it’s a really cool experience because it’s like going to business school but in high school,” Layleh said. “I think that it could definitely lead to a career of choice for me.”
Reflecting on her experience in YEA!, Evelyn recommends the program for anyone looking to further their interest in entrepreneurship.
“I think the program is absolutely amazing,” Evelyn said. “I met a lot of incredible mentors through the program, and it really cemented for me that business was what I want to explore in my career.”
