Walter: [00:00:00] The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by Off The Walter media productions.
[00:00:13] Sheryl: [00:00:13] Welcome to hearts of gold today. We have Naomi with us. Hi Naomi.
[00:00:18] Naomi: [00:00:18] Hi everyone. I’m so excited to be here.
[00:00:20] Sheryl: [00:00:20] Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award project?
[00:00:24] Naomi: [00:00:24] Absolutely. So my gold award is called GS entrepreneurship. You can do it too, because it focuses on entrepreneurship and what it means to be an entrepreneur.
[00:00:34] And I really believe that anyone can become an entrepreneur, which is why the tagline is you can do it too. And it really is. It starts with becoming a girl scout. And that’s kind of funny to see it say, and just kind of an interesting thing to think about, but as most successful woman in business would say selling girl scout cookies was their first business.
[00:00:53] And really I am no different. So I’ve started two businesses. That’s really where I began my passion for entrepreneurship and really bridging that entrepreneurial gap. And so when the time came around for me to ask. Okay, what am I going to do for my gold award? Everyone always told me do something that you’re passionate about.
[00:01:10] And for me it was like, just like a light bulb, ding. Got it. Entrepreneurs. Now, how do I do that? Right? Because you can have your idea, be passionate about something, but it takes a lot of effort and motivation to figure out exactly where that fits in. And for me, I knew I was wanting to do entrepreneurial education courses.
[00:01:28] So originally I only partnered with actually one organization, but then Corona happened. And from there, actually I was able to partner with five organizations because via zoom, it’s easy to connect and engage with audience members. And so I partnered with Babson college who is a college that specializes in entrepreneurship and solely entrepreneurship.
[00:01:51] And I actually met with. All organizations from around the world who actually are part of Babson college. And so every single country, every single continent was actually represented in a forum that I gave, which was really amazing for me. and just to continue my mission and I partnered with the boys and girls club of Los Angeles and PVC seniors.
[00:02:11] So I really had. A huge wide range of what it means to be an entrepreneur, because there really is no age that’s too young or too old. And that’s where I really wanted to take my organization and really just to take my goal to work. So I, and I had people all the way from sixth graders, all the way to people who are like 90 plus, because it’s really never too late to become an entrepreneur.
[00:02:33] And so something that’s different about Michael Ward is that it’s not just about the education. It’s not just about learning about your entrepreneurial mindset and developing those skills. It’s also about putting them into practice and actually launching businesses. So all of the participants, all of the participants actually ended up writing a business plan, giving a product pitch and kind of like a shark tank.
[00:02:55] Style competition. And they ended up getting money, to win, to actually launch their own businesses. And to this day, a lot of them still have those businesses and are becoming young entrepreneurs. And so that to me was kind of the culminating point of my gold award where I said, yes, you know what? It’s one thing to have an idea, but it’s another thing to have money behind you.
[00:03:15] And just to say, run for it.
[00:03:16] Sheryl: [00:03:16] So having money to give to the winners, fundraising is often something that gold or girl Scouts or girls working towards their gold award, struggle with, well, how did you go about with the money side of that?
[00:03:29] Naomi: [00:03:29] Yeah. And that’s something we really had to figure out because you can have these big dreams and you want to use all this money.
[00:03:35] And for us it’s like, well, what are the logistics of that? You know, you can’t fundraise. Can you sell cookies? Do all this. And so for me, yeah. It was actually a blessing in disguise that COVID-19 happened because my troop, we were planning on using all of our cookie money to go to the, Minnesota boundary waters.
[00:03:51]but due to coronavirus, it was canceled, but we actually ended up using those funds and deciding to give every potential goal to work girl scout, that money. Yeah. To make into their dreams. And so we kind of used all of that cookie money for something that we care about. Now, all the girls who want to start their gold award actually have some money to do it because it’s one thing to have your idea.
[00:04:11] But again, the other thing to have money supporting you and supporting your dreams.
[00:04:16] Sheryl: [00:04:16] And so entrepreneurship is a passion for you. Can you tell us why it’s such a passion?
[00:04:21] Naomi: [00:04:21] Yeah. So I really noticed at a young age that I wasn’t an artist, I wasn’t a sportsy person. I wasn’t really into science or anything like that.
[00:04:29] People always used to ask me like, Oh, what is your daughter, Duke? You know, like, Naomi, what are you? And I wouldn’t never understand, like, what am I, am I an artist? Am I just. Sports person? No, I was always just a student and it wasn’t really until sixth grade that I found my path cash in of entrepreneurship, because what entrepreneurs do is they look around their community and ask themselves what they can make change.
[00:04:51] Right. They can make different and how they can really use their skills to benefit others. And for me, that started with girl Scouts. It started with the bronze award. It started with the silver award. It started with just doing voluntary service or maybe getting a leadership badge because really all the skills that I learned in girl Scouts helped me to start my own businesses.
[00:05:10] Sheryl: [00:05:10] And what are those businesses?
[00:05:12] Naomi: [00:05:12] So I started spice it up when I was 11 years old through the young entrepreneurs Academy, which is similar to the program that I set up in a sense of that they get money, for like a shark tank style competition, except my program is completely free. because that was something that was important to me.
[00:05:27] And so I launched spice it up, which sells affordable and portable spice gets marketed to travelers around the world. And so I started that when I was 11 in sixth grade, and then I started my next. Business when I was 13 years old called bright futures, tutoring and academic coaching. But when you’re creating something as generic as a tutoring business, you really need to figure out what’s going to make your stand out, right.
[00:05:48] What’s going to make yours different. And for me, the first thing was it was run by a 13 year old. You don’t get a lot of those. Around where I live, but the second one was is that we care much more than just a monetary value. We care so much about our clients and about our students’ success. And that’s what made us stand out.
[00:06:06] We offer midweek check-in. So if a student came on Monday, then on Wednesday, we’d check in on them. But completely of no cost, just asking, Hey, how are you doing? Can I FaceTime you? Do you need help with an extra problem? How are those skills we’re working on to provide that accountability and really that more personal touch to our business.
[00:06:24] And so from there, my business has actually expanded and I realized I couldn’t do everything by myself. I couldn’t tutor in 15 places at once. I ended up hiring out and that was something that was definitely a learning curve. But from there, my business has really continued to grow, especially during the pandemic, because we were zooming before it was cool.
[00:06:42] You know, we were already providing those midweek check-ins and online platforms that the transition to online was actually smoother than some organizations and businesses.
[00:06:50] Sheryl: [00:06:50] If someone were to want to take one of your entrepreneurship classes from your gold award, how would they go about finding it?
[00:06:57] Naomi: [00:06:57] Yeah. So you can actually check out a lot of them on the boys and girls club website, all of them are prerecorded. And you can also reach out to me on Instagram because I have all the slides and I have like sample business plans and things ready to go. So you can really figure out. What that looks like for you in terms of your entrepreneurial journey.
[00:07:15] Sheryl: [00:07:15] What about your silver award project?
[00:07:17] Naomi: [00:07:17] I earned that when I was, let’s see here in seventh or eighth grade, so I think it was a summer between seventh and eighth, and I really didn’t know what I wanted to do at first. I think a lot of girls kind of struggle with that. And if you’re there right now, struggling with your bronze, silver, or gold, my advice would be to ask your trip leader, what they think lucky for me, my true leader is my mother.
[00:07:36] And I think a lot of us can identify and relate to that. Right. Whenever you need advice, you go to your mom immediately. I’m definitely no stranger to that idea. And so for my silver award, I interviewed, veterans, school leaders, ordinary citizens, just about their life and their experiences because when we connect and engage with each other, we’re really bridging that generational gap.
[00:08:00] And when we learn and listen, Actively listen from each other. We remind each other of our shared humanity. And really in times like these, especially in 2020, it is so important to really connect and just to dive deeper than the surface. And so I spent 30 minutes to an hour talking with people of all walks of life, of all religions, of all races of all backgrounds, just asking them about their life and their actions.
[00:08:25] Experiences. And from there, my gold award has been preserved. My silver award has been preserved on the national library of Congress website, where I have about over 45, interviews that are being preserved for generations to come.
[00:08:38] Sheryl: [00:08:38] So you have your troop girl scout family, but you also have another girl scout family.
[00:08:43] Can you tell us about the G team and girl 2020?
[00:08:46] Naomi: [00:08:46] Absolutely. So right now I’m actually sporting my girl 2020 shirt. I wish I would be wearing it in the actual 2020 convention center, but this will have to do for right now. So the G team is GSE USA’s national girl intern team. And so we are 25 girls from around the world who were selected two years ago to plan the 20, 20 national convention, which happens every three years.
[00:09:10] And this one was going to be in Orlando, Florida. And so we really had a variety of internships. Some people were in charge of like experience design others. Weren’t in charge of sponsorship with my business background, I was doing a lot of the merchandising and marketing, more of the behind the scenes of retail and things like that.
[00:09:27] But then with convention being canceled, we’ve actually really shifted our focus and it’s been an honor and a lifetime to be a member of the GE team and to call myself an intern for girl Scouts of the USA and really just. Understand how things happen at the national level. So we’ve done things like we’ve led national mental health focus groups, where we have actually written a full on like 13 page research report on mental health and the importance of that.
[00:09:53] And we presented from there to the national council session, which still occurred, which is. Basically all the board of directors and all the people in the room who make it happen, as we say, right. All the people with power. And so we talked to them about how mental health is so important to be de-stigmatized for girls and how important mental health is, especially right now during coronavirus and during this pandemic.
[00:10:15] And we’ve also done things like led national live events, and we have a TV show, GCM TV. So we really utilized our skills because between the 25 of us, we are so diverse in our city. Skills and our skillset and it really made it work.
[00:10:29] Sheryl: [00:10:29] And a group of you also host a podcast. Can you tell us about your podcast?
[00:10:33] Naomi: [00:10:33] All of us do. So, when the pandemic kind of hit, we decided we want to do something else and we want to kind of just take our skills and just continue to be girl scout sisters. But from there actually launch our own organizations called. So it’s called don’t quit do it podcast because we believe it’s so important in whatever area you’re in too.
[00:10:52] Don’t quit and just. Do it. So we’ve interviewed people like who are aspiring astronauts and scientists and doctors and just things that are not typically women dominated fields, because it’s so important as a young woman to look at someone and say, I could see myself. Being that person, you know, and to listen to their experiences and their advice.
[00:11:12] So you know that yes, you can do it. You know, whatever your path may take. You, you know, that you have a worldwide girl, tribe of girls supporting you. And that’s really why we started our podcast.
[00:11:23] Sheryl: [00:11:23] What other girl scout experiences have you had?
[00:11:26] Naomi: [00:11:26] Most memorable experiences was two years ago where I was invited to speak at the girl scout volunteer university.
[00:11:33] And so that’s an event that happens in Los Angeles every two years, where it’s all of the adult leaders and people from girl Scouts of LA and just really from around who are learning different leadership. Opportunities for girls. And they actually never had girl presenters before.
[00:11:50] And so I emailed and I was like, Hey, I would love to share about my experiences as an entrepreneur and how to really integrate that into troop meetings and really for girls, even as young as daisies. And this was before I even had the idea for my gold award and thinking that this might be something I’d want to do.
[00:12:05] And so I did that with my youngest sister, Sarah, because she’s also started her own businesses and she’s a girl scout as well. And so that was definitely a memorable experience for me. And then the second I say, these are definitely like top two in my girl scout experiences. Handbook was, I was a presenter and I was a panelist, Google startup weekend.
[00:12:24] So this was an event. Sponsored by Google, that girl Scouts also partnered with, and it actually helped girls end up launching their own businesses with, like groups of like four or five to really brainstorm ideas and to understand like the market and surveys and things like that. And so this was all like two or three years ago before my goal to where before I thought, Hey, maybe I can do something similar to this.
[00:12:45] Just a little different, for my gold award. So that was really my first opportunity to experience the things that I love and put those passions into girl Scouts.
[00:12:53] Sheryl: [00:12:53] What was your biggest challenge during your gold award and how did you overcome it?
[00:12:57] Naomi: [00:12:57] Anybody is right now is the coronavirus, because we all want to believe that it’s going to be over in a month, maybe with a new vaccine it will be.
[00:13:06] But where I was at in March is when I started the process. And I was like, okay, it’s going to be open. We’re going to be fine. There’s not going to be no COVID I have my plans. I already made all my lesson plans for an in-person event. And for all these in-person opportunities. And then I really had to shift my mindset to that’s not happening, you know?
[00:13:25] And that’s hard because when you love something and we care about it, it’s so easy to say, you know what? I’ll do it in a year. I’ll do it in two years, but really I looked at COVID as an opportunity to really expand my reach and do things that I wasn’t expecting. And that I think made my gold award a lot better than it would have been in person and a lot more appealing and just a lot more of what I expected.
[00:13:47] So that to me was a blessing in disguise. Trust me on March. I didn’t think it was a blessing at all, but to think that I would be sitting here now saying that, yes, I’m a gold award girl scout and I didn’t award that I can be proud of. What’s your best memory from your project? I think when everyone ended up pitching theirs on, so a couple of programs I did were like week long programs.
[00:14:07] Others were a couple of days and others were as an entire month. And so wherever you were, whether it was like a day a month or a week, even like, just for like, even like there was one that six weeks, no matter where you were on that last day. Those were memories that I will never forget. Just having those kids just pitch their ideas or seniors telling me I’ve never thought of looking at my world in a way so differently than what I’ve always experienced.
[00:14:34] No matter where you were, that final product, just those kids, just like. Pitching their ideas and being so professional and so well put together something that I will never forget. And just the emails that I get afterwards saying thank you so much. Like I haven’t appreciated this. I’ve continued to use and develop my entrepreneurial mindset.
[00:14:52] That to me is everything.
[00:14:54] Sheryl: [00:14:54] You’ve mentioned how important it is to make sure that your passion is involved in your project. What did have you learned about with the gold award project or what do you wish you knew before you started that you’d like to share?
[00:15:05] Naomi: [00:15:05] And I don’t want to sound cheesy in a sense of like, you can do anything because I do believe that anyone can do anything, but really like beyond that is that you have to be able to reach out to people who you wouldn’t expect.
[00:15:16] You can’t just always just reach out to your mom and your mom’s friends and your close. Circle of people, you cannot be afraid to put yourself out there. For me, I emailed about 50 to a hundred gold award partners of which only two or three got back to me. A lot of them said, we really love your idea and you seem really passionate, but it doesn’t work with our program.
[00:15:36] I got a lot of no responses and that was kind of hard for me because I was like, I did have this really good idea, but why aren’t people behind it, but you really have to go beyond that and just keep going. If you have an idea, you’re passionate about ask for advice from people I ask for advice from the most random people I asked my pastor, I said, do you think this is actually a good idea?
[00:15:56] Because if you’re going to invest a hundred to 120 hours of which most gold awards ended up being around that it has to be something that’s feasible. It has to be something that’s worthwhile. And again, to your point, something that you have to be passionate about.
[00:16:08] Sheryl: [00:16:08] Is there anything else that you’d like to share with our audience?
[00:16:11] Naomi: [00:16:11] I’d say that right now with COVID it’s a great opportunity to really reflect not only on your life, on your girl scout experiences, but what you want out of girl Scouts. And so right now, GSSA is hosting so many live events. So if you’re interested in them, go sign up for them. If you haven’t gotten your gold award yet.
[00:16:31] Go for it. You know, right now, maybe you don’t want to get it tomorrow. Maybe you don’t want to get in a month, but start thinking about what changes you can make in your community, because that’s essentially what entrepreneurs do. And you probably already have so much of that entrepreneurial mindset that I was talking about.
[00:16:47] So just go for it, ask people. What differences do you want to see in your world? Because that in turn is that girl scout mission to make your world a better place. And it really starts with you. And it starts with looking at your community and figuring out how you can in turn, become an entrepreneur. So wherever you are at in your girl scout, gold award process, best of luck to you keep making your world a better place and just know you have a worldwide sisterhood who is supporting you.
[00:17:15] Sheryl: [00:17:15] How do you make your smores?
[00:17:16] Naomi: [00:17:16] I don’t actually love marshmallows fun fact. I don’t like marshmallows. I just prefer just to put some chocolate and Graham crackers and just go for it. And I also love just like no melted chocolate, just plain Hershey’s chocolate. I’m a weird girl scout like that, but that’s how I make my s’mores.
[00:17:35] Sheryl: [00:17:35] Well, thanks for joining us today.
[00:17:36] Naomi: [00:17:36] Thank you so much for having me.
[00:17:38] Sheryl: [00:17:38] Make sure to click subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are released. And don’t forget to power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:17:50] Walter: [00:17:50] The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and shared network produced by off the Walter media productions.
[00:17:57] Thank you for listening and spreading the word on what we do. If you want to share your story of how you earned your goal award, reach out and send an email to grow ndshare@outlook.com. Be sure to listen to it, the newest episodes on your favorite podcast app, as well as view the full video episodes on youtube.com/Sheryl M. Robinson. That’s youtube.com/Sheryl, the letter M, Robinson. Take care and we’ll see you next time.
