Derry Credit Union - Business & Entrepreneurship Award winner

To My Younger Self: Winners

The ‘To my Younger Self’ Young Enterprise Company produced a book to help support young girls with the issues they will face growing up in today's world. The book contains personal stories and advice from each of the students on experiences they have encountered as young women on issues such as misogyny, cat calling, harassment and period poverty.

The concept behind the book is based on the idea that if the girls were 14 years old again, what would they say to their younger selves.

The girls have received positive reviews from many people in business and education with the Education Authority Youth Work Alliance investing several thousand pounds to purchase copies of the book for youth centres across Northern Ireland.

The girls' primary aim is to sell the books to schools in Derry and beyond to form part of the Relationships and Sexual Education Curriculum.

This will empower young girls with knowledge of the issues that they may face growing up today. The girls have a massive social media presence with thousands of social media followers, TMYS also won a recent competition for best UK brand as voted for by Colgate UK, Palmolive UK and Sanex UK.

The judges wrote, "The objective of this brand is very purpose driven and the way they have reflected this within their logo is excellently done. It is distinct, shows emotion, warmth and usage of a silhouette is really striking as it can represent all woman. Amazing job!"

The girls also took part in the Young Enterprise Trade Fair at Foyleside Shopping Centre on the 10th February and won awards for Most Innovative Product and Best Marketing team. I have been contacted by journalists in Northern Ireland asking for access to the girls to speak with them about the success of their product and to write a piece for publication in local media outlets.

Discussions are underway to expand the book beyond the experiences of young girls. The students have attended focus groups and have considered engaging with young boys about creating a product that gives advice to young men as well as looking at supporting persons within the LGBTQ+ community. These books will form part of the company's legacy as their brand continues to grow. 

Thornhill College teacher Gareth Quigley writes, ‘To My Younger Self have had considerable success this year and the team are working extremely hard to ensure that every girl in Northern Ireland gets the opportunity to read their book. The girls have worked incredibly hard this year to produce a fantastic product that will support young girls all over Northern Ireland. This work was completed at a time when these students are working hard on their A Levels and giving up much of their time outside of school to ensure they deliver on their aims of supporting young girls, like themselves, who are experiencing these issues every day. It is for the reasons stated above that these young girls deserve to be nominated to win this award.’

Amelia Doherty: Winner

In April 2022, Foyle College pupil Amelia Doherty created her future fashion app ‘What 2 Wear’ as part of a UK schools’ competition. Amelia's app uses modern technology to assist people in choosing what to wear, while helping the environment by recycling clothing. Her creative app was aimed at reducing fast fashion and encouraging people to manage their wardrobes, alongside protecting the environment.

Amelia’s What 2 Wear app was entered into last year national competition by The Royal Academy of Engineering - Sustainable Futures Innovation Challenge, raising awareness of sustainability and how to tackle climate change.

The Academy was impressed with Amelia’s solution to the global issues and the creativity and innovation that went into this. As a reward, she and her peers were invited to join the celebration showcasing the achievements of the 20 schools selected from across the UK. This success led to a Zoom interview with three designers.

Amelia won a 3D printer for school and received some personal treats. She also obtained second place in the Kainos BelTech Edu App Design competition May 2022.

Since then, Amelia has continued to develop her idea, research her target market in more depth and evaluate existing Apps. She set up a public limited company ‘What 2 Wear International Limited’ in September 2022, and is working to further her concept with support from Derry and Strabane Council’s High Potential Innovate Voucher and the Innovate Us programme. She has also been successful in securing funding from the Innovation and Growth Programme to work on a Digital Transformation Action plan. She will work with a mentor on brand development for What 2 Wear International Limited. Amelia hopes then to seek support and investment for a full development to take to the market.

Her nominator Mrs McShane writes ‘I believe this is an incredible journey for a girl who has just turned 14. Time and again Amelia has demonstrated her confidence and ability to communicate effectively with professional adults and peers alike. She is very organised and is excellent at managing her own time. Amelia is driven to succeed within the business world as she has a clear vision of a preferred future. She has inspired her peers and encouraged them to follow their dreams.’

Peace of Mind: Runner-up

Thornhhill teacher Elaine Rooney nominated Young Enterprise group ‘Peace of Mind’ for their hard work in setting up and running a business spreading a message of positivity and self-care. The group created their own business aiming to spread awareness on mental health and emphasise the importance of talking about mental health. The group felt it was important to remove the stigma surrounding mental health, and believed that as pupils and young women, they have a unique perspective on the issues young women face first hand and understand how difficult dealing with mental health can be!

The group are aware that there are many ways to improve mental health but felt that even the smallest changes could make a big difference. With this idea of making small changes, they sought advice from mindfulness professionals and began to spread their messages of positivity through TikTok and lnstagram. One of their videos was viewed over 183,300 times and they received a video from Johnny McDaid and Courtney Cox.

The team of 13 then established their roles within the business and invested £5 each into the business to create funds to start the business off. To grow their startup capital, they took their initial investment of £65 and ran a tuck shop and raffle in school to provide the funds to buy materials to create a range of seasonal self-care packages to lift the spirit and mood of the recipients with thoughtful products and motivational messages on cards and decorations.

The group sold Christmas packages, supporting another local business 'Picture Perfect,' and developed a range of Valentines care packs to remove the stigma of having to have a Valentine on valentine's day. The group made a profit of more than £680. The group attended a trade fair to sell their Valentines care packs, giving out inspirational quote cards and free wooden pocket hug tokens.

The group also gave each Head of Year a free care pack to give to a pupil that they felt needed a little 'pick me up' or was just deserving of something nice. This way the group shared some of their success with their peers and gave a little back to those who have supported their business.

Working as a small business team was challenging at times - there were ups and downs, deadlines to meet and lots of hard work to get their products made and ready to sell - but the group pulled together and pulled out all the stops to make it happen.

Ava McDowell: Runner-Up

Ava McDowell is a Year 13 student in St Cecilia’s College who is currently completing her AS Levels and studies Professional Business Services, Technology and History. Ava possesses a great interest in and enthusiasm for Business. She has participated in class activities, business workshops, attended Women in Business talks and attended a number of Insights into Industry Days.

Ava’s activities include involvement in Sister IN Female Leadership Programme; setting up charity events within the school to raise money for female charities; and participating with other girls in promoting the donation of work clothes to help disadvantaged women become "Work Ready." She is scheduled to take part in a training day for staff at St Cecilia’s College and will enter the University of Ulster's 2023 Entrepreneurial Competition where students have to develop a five slide presentation to pitch a new business or product idea.

Outside of school, Ava set up her small Instagram business ‘Sweet Treats’ during Covid lockdown selling sweets. The target market for her business are parents, teenagers and children and she has included products with a range of prices to ensure no one is excluded, wisely taking into consideration the cost of living crisis we are currently facing. She attended local craft fairs including St Mary's Craft Fair and St Cecilia's Rickety Wheel, and she embraces and supports the 'Shop local' movement.

Her nominator Ms McIntyre writes, ‘Ava is invested in developing herself and taking all opportunities that she can to educate herself. She continually aims to enhance her entrepreneurial skills and gets involved in multiple projects, different groups and events demonstrating her Business and Entrepreneurial Skills. She strives to educate herself, to empower others and to achieve success at every juncture which is highly admirable making her an excellent champion for young women in business.’

Beth McConomy: runner-up

Young entrepreneur Beth McConomy was nominated by her friend Cait Ní Cheallaigh.

Beth established her business ‘Sparkle Princess Derry’ in May 2022. Beth dresses up as the princess of her customer’s choice and attends different events and occasions, such as children’s birthday parties. Cait writes that Beth’s bubbly personality is exactly right for such a business and that she makes birthday parties much more special.

Beth first tested her idea with her colleagues at her part-time work where the idea proved to be a hit. She then built the business by posting updates from the events on social media.

Sparkle Princess Derry has grown from strength to strength. Significantly, Beth has started to hire other princesses and her very first prince. Always willing to learn, Beth asks her customers to fill in a survey after each party to gather feedback to see if she could improve in any way.

Cait writes, ‘Beth takes on each challenge with a bucket load of enthusiasm and humour. I could not be prouder of Beth if I tried. To watch her pursue her business dreams is so inspiring to me and I admire her so much for coming up with this idea and building it over the space of eleven months.

'She is hard working, motivated, genuinely cares about doing her best and paving the way for young people in Derry who want to start their own business.’