After finishing 10th grade, I started looking more seriously into college majors and careers. I became increasingly frustrated that so many of the best resources I knew could help me - access to professionals, research programs, valuable internships - were primarily reserved for college students. Additionally, I’m personally interested in business and entrepreneurship. I found most highschool groups like Junior Achievement didn't have anything specific to girls, which I feel is really important because we thrive best in safe spaces where we can freely ask questions, discuss our insecurities, and encourage each other. I knew that if I was feeling this way, there had to be other girls going through the same thing - so why not help each other by sharing resources, information and access? That’s why I created Artemis Girls Business Academy.

Artemis is hitting the issue where it starts. If young women like me feel empowered and knowledgeable going into college, we’ll be more focused, achieve more, and be more confident in our jobs. That results in more leadership positions and a better standing for women overall. 

A Wharton researcher who studied gender differences in business found one of the reasons why there are more male entrepreneurs than female ones is because women, “have fewer role models and less of a good basis to start things with.”

It’s important to me that we tackle this social (and financial) issue because this IS my community. A recent Forbes report shows only 10.4% of the Fortune 500 are led by female CEOs. My hope is that this percentage will be 50% (at least!) by the time I’m old enough to be a CEO.

I believe by building the next generation of women business leaders now, we can help change the world for the better. (PS - I know Prudential believes this too because 5 out of your 10 board positions are held by women. And one of them is Asian-American, like me! Great job, Prudential!).

I am approaching the problem via three main pillars. Pillar One is the Speaker Series: a safe, intimate space where girls hear from professional women about their career journey and ask everything from how they chose a major, to what they like (and don’t like) about their profession. 

Pillar Two is Informational Interviews. These one-on-one interviews allow Artemis girls to have deeper conversations with inspiring female professionals. These take the general learnings from the speaker series and go a step further to be more personalized and detailed.

Pillar Three is Mentoring. This is the deepest of the three steps and seeks to provide personalized guidance and relationship building so the Artemis girls who have identified areas of interest have a more consistent source of support from an inspiring female mentor. (86% of girls would feel more confident if they had a mentor. 93% of girls believe having a mentor would be helpful for their career in Finance. Source: Etre Girls 2022 Survey).

In addition to my parents, I have assembled a team of advisors (my school counselor and a successful marketer) and a small team to help me with the day-to-day (e.g. helping to write blog entries, social media marketing). We hold weekly team meetings to track progress. Artemis also conducts member surveys after each event to ensure we’re getting the information we’re most interested in. 

The Zoom meeting format allows Artemis membership on a national level. And my participation in organizations like the Women Founder’s Jr. VC program and The Representation Project (created by the California Governor's wife to promote gender justice education) allows me to network with both professional women and girls to expand our impact.

The response to our speaker events has been fantastic! In the post-event surveys, members said they were excited to hear from more female professionals and inspired to think more about college majors and career choices. Several girls requested future speakers from the entertainment industry, as well as the food business. We’ve booked a senior Disney executive in charge of DEI content, as well as a female chef who owns several restaurants and is caterer to the Major League Baseball.

I believe Artemis, through the events and blog, helps girls like me get more focused (and excited!) about our futures. There’s great potential to scale with Artemis’s three-pillar model that can be easily replicated with additional chapters around the country. As we grow, I could see doing research (example: how girls are or are not being encouraged to go into business as much as boys), marketing (influencer campaigns / speakers, creating a national girls in business holiday, paid social boosts). One day I’d love to see a national Artemis Girls Business Academy summit! 

Additionally, many university professors and female business executives I've interviewed say Artemis is giving them encouragement that the next generation is in good hands, with nearly all of them offering to help in whatever way they can. And we’re just getting started!