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Grrrl Power on Parade
Quinnipiac program exposes teens to the creative business
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Business New Haven
10/28/2002
By: Karen Singer
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HAMDEN - The girls were playing Beat the Clock.
Organized into groups of eight, the teenagers ranging in age from 12 to 17, worked furiously with glue and scissors to transform bits of metal, string, paper, plastic and foam into a product or product line and devise a business plan. They had 20 minutes to complete the exercise, called “Product in a Box,” during an October 16 conference at Quinnipiac University. The Quinnipiac University Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Institute (QUESBMI), hosted the Girls Going Places/An Income of Her Own conference along with the Southern Connecticut Agency of New Haven and the Guardian Life Insurance Co. Guardian developed the concept, which includes a scholarship program, three years ago. Nearly a dozen Girls Going Places conferences have taken place nationwide; this was the first in the Northeast. Organizers said 146 girls, most from Connecticut, participated along with nearly two dozen local female business owners and entrepreneurs, who interacted with them throughout the day. “Women are still so far behind economically, we've focused on girls to break the cycle,” said Emily G. Viner, director of field representative recruiting and agency growth and development at Guardian. “They're always going to need to take care of themselves, so it's really important for more women to learn to plan for retirement as early as possible.”
The conference focused on introducing concepts aimed at developing such skills through exercises such as “Product in a Box” and “Hot Company,” a board game that's kind of a cross between Monopoly and Life in which the girls are asked to sort out problems stemming from hypothetical business situations.
“We want to expose young women to the notion of business ownership as they look at their financial future early,” said Betsy Steiner, whose Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company, Independent Means, designed the conference format and tools for Guardian. “We want them to think about going to college and think about supporting themselves.”
The process seemed to be working at Quinnipiac, where the girls not only were thinking about those things, but also talking about them.
“I thought this was going to be boring, but it's kinda fun,” said Darlene Pouncey, a 17-year-old West Haven High School senior. “I want to go to college and major in nursing. But when you hear people talk about owning their own business, it makes you think you could do that, too.”
Amanda Padaro, a 14-year-old Hamden High School student, said she was considering being a teacher, but is rethinking that possible career choice because she “might be able to accomplish” much more.
Jean Blake-Jackson, who ordinarily trains older women how to go into business for themselves, said it was refreshing to be asked, “Do we gotta go to college to be a small-business owner?”
Jackson's reply: “You don't have to, but it would be a good idea.”
Susan F. Tierno, executive director of the National Children's Educational Reform Foundation, said the conference fostered team-building skills as well as providing some grounding in reality-based thinking.
“They still have episodic views of reality, so this helps them see the connections, and see how to build the bridge to that reality,” Tierno said.
Jackson, who is director of the Entrepreneurship Center at Hartford College for Women, agreed, adding the conference also was a good way to instill confidence in these young girls.
“They're in an environment without guys, so they don't have to worry about sounding stupid.”
They certainly didn't. Some of the inventions and business plans stemming from brainstorming on deadline during the “Product in a Box” game sounded pretty sophisticated, as representatives from most of the groups presented them - in some cases with great fanfare - to the entire conference.
Products included a needle dispenser, pocketbook camera, liquid toothpicks and a doll line that would be “introduced at the New York Toy Fair,” and produced overseas (“but not at sweatshops”) and made from child-safe materials. QUESBMI Executive Director Matthew Smith said the conference “fits exactly into what we're doing, which is training and teaching entrepreneurs, whether they be here or in the community.”
Feedback from guidance counselors and business leaders who attended was “overwhelmingly favorable,” Smith added. He seemed a little amazed - and pleased - that several girls came up to him at the end of the day to request a Quinnipiac catalogue and admissions kit.
Smith said he would like to host the conference again next year, and also to bring in or develop a program for even younger girls.
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