Many North Atlanta students have pursued entrepreneurship. This rising trend brings fresh perspectives and dedication to the school. These students are given a chance to show their motivations and brilliance in exchange for monetary value. Many of those who are becoming successful in their endeavors exploit their talents that make their businesses unique and irreplicable.
Senior Mallory Boyd’s business Angels and Tomboys is a plant-based skincare brand for young girls and tweens, ages six to 14. Her business started in 2014 with her sister and was originally a scent-based perfume brand. As the two matured, they realized young girls don’t have brands catered to them. Boyd wanted to guide young girls to a healthy skincare regimen free of chemicals and parabens. She says that products like Drunk Elephant are not necessarily good for the skin, despite the fact that they are trending. Boyd’s mission to spread wellness by educating young girls will be fulfilled as her products are found on their website and additionally in Ulta and Target soon. Even though she is a teenager and a student at North Atlanta, by no means are teenagers the only demographic envisioned for her skin-care product. “Skincare is all over the place, you don’t know what’s in it now,” said Boyd. “We make sure people know our products are all natural.”
Another outstanding student is sophomore Daryll Bowens. He has started an LLC called Aftermath Shoots, and he works his craft as a photographer. Bowens’ interest in photography began when he was nine. Though this interest flourished into adulterated talent, impressively when Bowens was given a Canon Rebel T7 when he turned 14. Since then he has managed and taken photo shoots charging from $125 to $500 for his services. Throughout this time he has provided his photographer services to numerous events such as festivals, birthday parties, and even fashion shows where he charges even more depending on the event. Now, he typically charges around $5,000 for wedding photography. Following the success in his line of work, he began to traverse his photo services in the school last year as a freshman. He has become an accomplished photographer with his tenacious spirit. He has shared that not “letting any one person take me off the path of life” has made him determined in his endeavors.
Senior Amir Carter, who began cooking when he was 13, was quickly driven to pursue this art professionally. After cooking gourmet-style and delicious meals for school lunch and sharing with his friends, they encouraged Carter to try and sell his lunches to others. Beginning his junior year, Carter sold very few plates. However, now Carter cooks and sells around 35 plates every day. The school enjoys partaking in his versatile meals. Students love Carter’s coveted meals like his lemon-zested garlic herb butter chicken, stuffed salmon lasagna rolls, hot honey chicken, and salmon cajun pasta. All of which he showcases on his Instagram Spizzymir. Having past years of experience in fine dining at restaurants like Bastone, Carter knows he does not want to be traditional in his future endeavors as a cook. Carter is sure he is ready to pave his own way as he was “the only sixteen-year-old in these kitchens.”
As Carter has already obtained a SafeServe license and business LLC, he will pursue a restaurant license after high school. Carter is sure of his success and knows of his expert capabilities to be able to work in culinary professionally after school, he has proven that he is not a middleman and can work for himself. In the future, he wants to have more control over how much money he makes. His goal is to work in real estate, another longtime passion of his, and then own a restaurant. “A boy will become a man when he realizes no one will save him except himself,” said Carter.
These small businesses, though modest and run by high schoolers, play a crucial role in North Atlanta’s student economy. These entrepreneurs, utilizing special skills within creative arts to create unconventional, but eccentric, means of business foster innovation that fuels one’s drive.
