Lessons from Jayla

Summer 2020 was jam packed with a lot of ideas and full of possibilities for how the program would continue in light of the pandemic. We had 4 high school interns work part-time for the Arise program, which was a fresh opportunity to engage their ideas and empower them to step up in ownership of the program and business. Each intern functioned in different roles. We chose their roles based on interests and skills they wanted to develop. Some of the options were teaching lessons to the younger girls, building communication skills, developing online content and planning events. If you’ve been following the blog so far, you’ve probably noticed that Jayla has had a lot to say on the blog. We promise to share the work of our other girls, but these blog entries were written in the summer during her internship. We wanted to make sure we shared everything each girl worked hard on throughout the summer.

Youth response:

Hello all, It’s Jayla, hope you’re having a nice day today! Lately us Arise girls have been learning a lot about marketing. I never realized the importance of it until now. To be a successful business you need to know what is your product and who exactly do you want to target. Who do you think this will attract, now that you got their attention, would the price encourage them to buy it? Or would it turn them away. These are very important things to think about. Say if your product is fragrance lotion that would more than likely attract teenagers. How much would you price it? Think about their age, would they be able to get a job at that age? Do they possibly have an allowance? If you charge anything around $20 it could be too expensive and you could lose potential buyers. Another thing to think about is how you would promote your business.

I've also created a lesson to the girls about the importance of being outspoken. When I say outspoken I mean being enthusiastic, knowing everything you could possibly know about your business. I also taught a lesson about facial expressions and body language. We all encountered a rude worker who made us feel not welcomed and uncomfortable and here at Arise we never want our customers to feel that way.