January 13, 2025 • 29 mins
In this special replay episode, we spotlight Nerdy Girl Success, a nonprofit inspiring young woman to dream big and lead boldly. Founder Christina Meade shares her journey from science teacher to champion of change, creating programs that empower girls to explore careers, build leadership skills, and break barriers. High school senior Whitney Ijeh also joined the conversation, sharing how the organization has transformed her confidence and career aspirations.
From mentorship to hands-on career programs, Nerdy Girl Success is shaping the future, one empowered young woman at a time.
For more details or to get involved, visit https://www.nerdygirlsuccess.com.
Key Topics Covered:
• The inspiration behind Nerdy Girl Success
• Programs helping girls explore careers and leadership
• How mentorship and field trips make a difference
• Personal stories from program participants
• Upcoming events and ways to get involved
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
A lot of the feedback that we get from the girls who've gone through the
(00:03):
different programs is the fact that some of them want to enter
into career fields that are male dominated and so
they feel a little intimidated by that. And so that's why we
bring in women to come and talk to the girls, and it's not just about,
you know, this is what I do at my job, and this is how this
is the training that I needed to do. It's a lot of these are some
(00:24):
of the obstacles that you are going to face, and here are the strategies
that I use when I face them. So that way, you got a little bit
of a leg up. It it isn't it's so much of a big deal when
you hit that bump because you're like, oh, I know how to take care of
that. So that's a lot of what we're doing, but a big piece is
that confidence. This is a space for me. It's okay for me to be
there. And so that's a that's been recurring theme with a lot of
(00:48):
the girls within our program.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of spotlight Houston. Where we bring
you the best of the people, places, and events in greater Houston. Today,
we're revisiting a fan favorite episode featuring nerdygirlsuccess.
A non profit organization inspiring young women to become
(01:11):
tomorrow's leaders. Founder Christina Mead shares how her
vision turned into an empowering movement. And we hear from high school
senior Whitney EJ about the life changing impact of the program.
This is episode 120, a replay of episode 80, which
originally aired on Sunday, March 24, 2024.
Spotlight Houston is brought to you by Storyzone Media. And now, here's your
(01:32):
host, Blanca Quesada. Hi. And welcome, everyone. I'm
so happy you're joining me again. I found out about this organization
whose name I just loved. I love their name,
and it's called Nerdy Girl Success. But
I just I fell in love with their name, but I also
really like what they stand for. And it's about empowering
(01:56):
girls and making sure that they're going to have
a successful future. This is a nonprofit organization
that's supporting and preparing girls to become our leaders
and decision makers of tomorrow. So
I invited the organization's,
(02:17):
founder and executive director. She's a Houston
native and self described nerd girl. She is
Christina Mead. So welcome to the show. And
also, I with her today is
Whitney EJ. She's a senior, and she's been
involved with the nerdy girl success for the past
(02:38):
3 years. So welcome, guys. Great to have you here. Great to have
you here. So, Christina, let's start with you. What made
you start nerdy girls? How did you become
the the founder? I wish I had a really, like, pretty story to tell. That's
kind of a it's kind of a conglomeration of things. I was a middle school
and high school science teacher for about 16 years and left education
(03:01):
to join my husband's company that he had started. And that's what
just kind of opened up my eyes a little bit to some things that I
didn't realize were a thing, and the big thing was that I
thought that there would have been more representation of women in leadership
positions across all industries, and I really wasn't seeing that. And
the more research I was doing about that, the more frustrated I got until one
(03:22):
day my husband just said, so what are you gonna do about it? And so
that's what Jessica came about. He motivated you. Yes. He
did. Well, thanks to him. You're doing a great job.
These girls are learning about business and
other industries that they might be interested in. And
so that's great because, normally, we don't have
(03:45):
a whole lot of mentors out there to help girls
succeed and look to the future to be able to do what it
is that they love or they want. So is this a program that
happens in the schools? Yes. So we we have a a high school
club in 4 different campuses here in the Houston area,
and then we have some other programs that we do. We have our career and
(04:07):
leadership summit. That's a half day program, and that actually we do at high
schools across the country. And we also have a virtual program that
we do in our career accelerator. So but our career our high school
club is the one that happens throughout the entire year.
Start with them at the beginning of the school year and one until the end.
We do field trips with them, help get the girls signed up for job shadow
(04:28):
opportunities where we can and we do field trips. So really
it's about giving the girls the opportunity to do career
exploration and even, like, fine tune within that, it's
leadership positions within those different careers. And part of the
what I'm trying to do with that even is not just allowing the girls to
learn about careers that they're interested in, but then also introducing them to careers
(04:50):
that they either don't know exist or aren't typically introduced to girls.
They do that and the way that they learn all of these things is through
the women who are actually in the position. How were the schools selected?
They selected us. Oh, okay. Yeah. I was gonna say they they found out about
the programs. We were at Travis High School, and we actually got into Travis High
School because the teacher that was at a campus where we had the club
(05:12):
moved to that campus, and so she brought us along with her. But, you know,
they they have found out about us from other students, and so I've asked if
we would come into a club at their campus. Yeah. And so is nerdy girls
success for any girl that wants to be part of it? Yes, ma'am. It's
for any young woman who is in high school or, like, the high school age
age range. So if they're not in the schools that got
(05:35):
in touch with you, they can get in touch with you in other ways? Well,
absolutely. So like I said, we do the Career and Leadership Summit. And, again, that
might be hosted, like, in January. We hosted it at Westside High School, but it
was open to high school girls around the the Houston area
were welcome to come. And we also have our flash mentor
program, and that's actually online. And so girls anywhere of any
(05:56):
age can participate in that particular program. So, yeah, there's lots of
different ways that young women can get plugged into the organization.
So this is a nationwide program. Right?
Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. We do our, with the virtual programs,
we have young women from all all over who, participate,
And then, our career and leadership summit, they actually
(06:20):
happen across the country. Like, in May, we're gonna be in Boston, the
Boston area doing that particular event. So, yes, we're
we're everywhere. Oh, that's great. That's great.
So approximately how many girls have gone
through your organization? We are about 5 we're
just a little over 5 years old. And so in those 5 years, we
(06:42):
have served a little over 600 young women with
over 500 hours of preprogramming. Wow. What are
some of the programs that you offer these girls?
So there's the high school club, we also have the career
accelerator. That's a multi week program, all virtual. And
then we have the career and leadership summit. That's a half day
(07:04):
program, kinda like a career fair, but a little bit different. We
offer have some different offerings for that within our high school clubs, and we've got
the field trips and the job shadow experiences. So those are some of
our core ones along with our class mentoring program. So what is
Career Accelerator? The Career Accelerator, what we do with that is that's for young
women who are ages 17 to 22,
(07:27):
and we are doing things helping prepare them for
entering into the workforce with some knowledge and
skills beyond the training that you need to do the actual job.
So it's about how to prepare yourself for an interview, getting a a
stellar resume and LinkedIn profile, but then there's also things about
like negotiation skills and how do you network? Some of those
(07:49):
things that are really crucial for your career success that
aren't necessarily taught to you. You just kinda learn those through the the
bumps in the road. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of bumps. There's
always a lot of bumps. Well, Whitney is a very special young lady
that you've helped a lot. She's an incredible young lady.
Thank you. Whitney, welcome. Thank you, Wendy. It's great to have you
(08:11):
here. So, Whitney, how did you hear about nerdy
girl's success? I heard about it through my school. I go to
Westside High School here in Houston, Texas, and I heard about it. It
was a little it was pretty funny, actually. I just was going
through along the hallway, and I heard a couple of girls talk about it. And
I went up to them and asked about it, and they told they had told
(08:32):
me that any girl success club offers variety of opportunities,
and I asked them to sign me up. So I heard it through my
school, Westside High School. So what's the first thing you did in the
club? The first thing I did in the club was I was a member of
the club for about a year, and then I went up to
I went on to be the vice president for another year, and now I am
(08:54):
the, elected president. And the very first thing that I did in
the club Congratulations, by the way. Thank you so
much. I helped a lot of girls around my school get to know
better about what another girls another girl success is and what it's
about. I advertised it for a lot of girls a lot of
young girls like me in Westside High School to be able to join the
(09:16):
another girl success club. Yeah. What encouraged you or motivated
you to remain for so long within the organization?
Learning Girls Success offers a variety of
opportunities, and it's all about empowering other young
women out there. And that I feel like I can be a
voice for that. I can I want to be a part of those people that
(09:38):
empower other people other women to advocate for their self to be
able to get what they want? It's it's fairly career
wise. I want to be I want I want I stayed in the club so,
I can be able to voice out for other people and for myself.
How did you feel that you were supposed supported
or motivated or encouraged to remain
(10:01):
with nerdy girl's success? How did I feel motivated? That's a great
question. So a lot of young women are in my club.
Usually, I love love love the girls because we're so
we're from different cultures. So they keep on motivating me every
day to every time we get together to have a meeting, they
motivate me every time. Not only that, the other girl success has
(10:24):
so much so much opportunities for us. Like, here at Westside, there's a few
trip at the end of the year that every girls look forward to for
them to go to because the future also exposes them to the things out there.
Like, last year, we went to Houston Community College, and they talked about
the different opportunities that we can that we could have if we come to Houston
Community College. So knowing your success is like a door openers. It
(10:46):
gives variety of opportunities for everybody, especially young
women. Yeah. You're finding out about things that you
wouldn't know otherwise if nerdy girls didn't
exist. Yeah. This is, like, the whole thing. Yeah. Meeting
people out there and knowing what's up what opportunities might
be there for you. Yes. Yeah? So what's been the best
(11:08):
part of it? The best part of being, part of
the North Augusta Success Group is, I would say, the
monthly meetings for me because these are the times that we actually get
to have a talk per, in a
class with people that are people from other careers. We talk
about them. We ask them questions. How do they achieve that? What
(11:30):
motivated them? So that kind of, like, motivated me too and
continue to be a part of the club too. So I hear
you have a very special event coming up on 28th. Yes.
We do. It is yes, ma'am. It is our annual
Pow Her Leaders Award celebration and fundraiser. So in
that particular event, we are recognizing and
(11:53):
celebrating the accomplishments of young women like like Whitney as well as
some of the women who are in our organization. Why do you think
that this particular event fits in well with
the Women's History Month? I think it's a perfect fit just because of the
fact that, again, we are celebrating women, and one of the
things that one of the awards that I have in there, is called
(12:14):
our Emerging Leaders Award. I started that because you've heard of like the
30 under 30, all of those things, but it's like there isn't
necessarily an award that is specifically for
young women who are post high school who are really showing
those leadership skills. And so I wanted to be able to have something
that would recognize them and let everybody see what it is that
(12:37):
they're doing and have them be, like, beacon for young women who are for girls
who are younger than them. Mhmm. So, Whitney, you're getting
you're, like, a finalist for one of these awards. Right? Yes,
ma'am. How do you feel about that? I feel great. I
cannot wait to get to the event. I feel I
feel really good about it. So, yeah.
(12:59):
So, Christina, how were the finalists selected? So the way that
they are selected is there is there's a judging panel. So for some of
the awards, they the young women were actually nominated by
people in their lives who explained what it is that they were doing, why they
felt that they were great candidates for, but a lot of
those criteria have to do with the advocates for others
(13:22):
having great leadership skills. We've got, they have that and there's a
rubric that does, that helps the judges determine who has the highest
scores. And then the last one, the nerdy growth
success award, that's actually an application process where the girls
filled out an application, had letters of recommendation, they had an essay that they needed
to write, and again, it was scored by a panel of judges. Yeah.
(13:44):
And I'm sure that they had they've faced a lot of challenges
in order to learn what they're learning to be where they're at right
now, And the challenges are gonna continue in their future.
More bumps as we were talking about earlier, more bumps on the
road. But but what are some of the challenges that, they've
been facing when they're thinking about being those
(14:06):
leaders that they want to be? A lot of the feedback that we get from
the girls who've gone through the different programs is the fact that some
of them want to enter into career fields that are male
dominated, and so they feel a little intimidated by that. And so
that's why we bring in women to come and talk to the girls, and it's
not just about, you know, this is what I do at my job, and
(14:28):
this is how this is the training that I needed to do. It's a lot
of these are some of the obstacles that you are going to face,
and here are the strategies that I use when I face them. So that way,
you got a little bit of a leg up. It it isn't isn't so much
of a big deal when you hit that bump because you're like, oh, I know
how to take care of that. So that's a lot of what we're doing, but
a big piece is that confidence. This is a space for
(14:51):
me. It's okay for me to be there. And so that's a that's
been recurring theme with a lot of the girls within our program
that they talk about and how her to go success has helped them
realize that it's okay to go into those areas that they want to go
into. So a lot of these finalists that you have gone through some of
these, challenges, is that something that you will look at too when
(15:12):
you're selecting? Absolutely. Because I think when they're talking about that,
they're taught they're bringing in and demonstrating those leadership skills
because there's a lot of times where you might face a challenge
and you let that kind of knock you back and not move forward. So
it's that persistence. I think it's a big part of showing
leadership skills is the fact that I'm not gonna let something heat me down. I'm
(15:34):
gonna figure out how to overcome that. So absolutely. And when
is the event happening? The event is happening next Thursday
evening. It is from, 6:30 to 8:30 at the
Junior League that's the Junior League in Houston. And where's the Junior
League located? It is at oh my goodness. I hope I
don't lie. 1811 Briar Oak Lane.
(15:56):
Okay. Are tickets still available? Yes, ma'am. Tickets are
available until Wednesday evening. And I also hear you have a great
speaker this year. She's fantastic. I can't wait for people to hear
her. Beth Munn is our keynote speaker, and
she I'm excited for everybody to get a chance to hear her. She's
her talk is about overcoming and being part of inspiration and
(16:18):
inspiring the next generation. She has some really great
things that she does in regarding to getting young women into
interested in aerospace. So it's gonna be really great. I'm excited
for it. Yeah. And she's a journalist, so she's definitely gonna be good.
Her storage and spacing is amazing. So the
tickets you Krishna, you mentioned the tickets are still available for the
(16:40):
event. So how can people buy the tickets? They
can go to the website or they can follow the short link. It's bit.
Ly/tickets. But, again, if you just go to the website,
nerdygirlsuccess.com, and click on events, you'll see the Power Her event,
and you can get the tickets from there. Yeah. I like that title, Power Her.
That's great. That's fantastic. Yeah. Whitney, do you
(17:03):
have somebody that inspires you? Someone that inspires me would be my,
sister, my other sister. She's doing her master's degree right now.
She's trying to get a job, and I don't know. Ever since
I was giving birth to, she's just been the person that I have
looked up to all this while, and I don't think that
is ever gonna change. Yeah. And I'm sure she supports you a lot
(17:25):
too. She does. That's good. So what is it
that you want your career to be? I aspire to be a gynecologist.
Oh, that's gonna be many years of studying. Yeah.
I'm looking forward to it. But it'll be interesting and fun at the same
time. Yes. Yeah. Why gynecology?
Why gynecology? I chose gynecology being a gynecologist
(17:48):
because, I felt that I can help
women other women out there that are also dealing with their health issues
because I am 16, and I'm also going through some medical
issues with which I have been to many doctors, many gynecologists, I
would say, that I couldn't find me so the exact solution to it to
cure it. Right now, I'm still on the lookout, but I feel like
(18:11):
if I become a part of the gynecologist group in the
future, I feel like I feel that I can contribute more
to helping women to helping a lot of women out there.
Make a big impact. Yeah. Well, good luck
with your studies in the future. And and, also, good
luck, I I hope, with the at the event. So you had
(18:33):
earlier mentioned about mentoring. So one of my
questions was, how can we help you? What what can we do
to contribute to the success of these girls? Oh, my
goodness. Thank you so much for asking. Honestly, our organization
is run by volunteers, so that's something that we really
need, we have a great need for. So going to the website and
(18:55):
looking for the, clicking on volunteer, that we have a lot of
opportunities for women to sign up for the different programs, for
example, like our flash mentoring program, that we could use a lot more
women as a part of that, That particular program we have set up that's
different than other mentoring programs. We thought that it
was really important for the girls to have a say in who
(19:17):
their mentor is and the topics that they're going to talk about, and so the
flash mentoring gives the power to the young women, because a lot of times in
mentoring programs, the girls are told this is your mentor and this is what you're
going to talk about, this is when you're going to meet. This gives power all
to them. They get to look at a roster of women and pick this is
who I would like to talk to, and this is the and then tell them
this is the topic that they wanna talk about. So we just need a lot
(19:39):
of women in that particular program especially. So we have a
variety of careers for them to choose from. So do all the girls
go through the flash mentoring program? It's a virtual
program, so we do we do have our girls who are in the high school
clubs sign up for the flash mentoring, pick a flash mentor, and
then, again, like I said, it's open to girls across the country because it
(20:00):
is a virtual program. So What are the type of other volunteers that you
need? Coming and talking to the girls at the high school club, that's
1. We've got our career accelerator. So, again, that's teaching the
different aspects of, like, teaching girls about resumes, your LinkedIn profile,
like, in talking to girls about your career. Each one of our programs,
again, like, that's who does the the curriculum and centers for our programs
(20:23):
or volunteers. Do the girls get taken out to some of the businesses
to get mentoring from the companies there? So what we
do is, like, with our high school club, we take a field trip. So for
example, what we're gonna be doing next month is taking the girls to River
Oaks Hospital, and so they'll get an opportunity to see
to tour the hospital, but then also talk to
(20:45):
women in all the different career aspects of what it takes to run a
hospital. So not just doctors and nurses and physicians assistants, but
also who's in marketing, who's in legal, who's nurse administration,
HR, all of those different aspects, they'll get a chance to see that, and then
through our job shadow opportunities as well, we connect young
women with a person, with a woman who has a career that they're interested
(21:07):
in, they'll go and shadow them for half a day. So they get the opportunity
to not just talk to her about her career, but then get to actually
see her in action at her job. Are you having any
special programs for the summer? That's where we're really gonna be concentrating on getting our
girls connected with job shadow experiences. Oh, that's
great. What is the Teen Corner? The Teen Corner, that is our
(21:28):
resource center on our website. So we've got an area
where we call it the career room, and so there I think there's about, like,
40 or 50 video interviews where girls can, again, learn
about a bunch of different careers. We've got, series of
video recorded workshops on different things on how to get money for
college, doing your resume, all sorts of how to network, all of
(21:50):
those things. We've got an advice column. I we call
it as, like, the lead hers and this is a little short video
clip library of different pieces of advice from different women. Our
teen corner place also for them to be able for the girls to sign up
to be a volunteer as well. The, blog is written by
teen girls, and we also have a teen advisory board. So
(22:12):
the girls have a big say in our organization, everything from
the logo and what the website looks like to the type of breakout sessions
that we have at our career leadership summit. Whitney, are you
once you graduate from high school, are you gonna continue
trying to be part of nerdy girls? Yes. Definitely.
Yes. Are you going to be like a mentor? Yes. Yeah. That's
(22:35):
what it takes me to be a part of Minnegar because Minnegar is really a
great club. It's really a successful organization. And
if me becoming a mentoring for other women out there is what makes me
to be a part of the club, then yes. Definitely. What would your message
be? My message to the girls out there? Yes. I'm
still figuring that out. You're still figuring it out? Yes. Well, I I
(22:57):
think you're gonna come up with a great message because you've been learning
a lot and doing a lot, and you're going to continue.
So you're always gonna have some support there no matter where you
are. I'm sure. Once a nerdy girl, always a nerdy girl. Always a nerdy
girl. Always have a home here. And, oh, one more thing. You're
selling these great t shirts. I love them. Thank you.
(23:19):
Yes. You go to the website and click on top, and we have our T
shirts there. Yes. T shirts and buns. Yes. Selling a T shirt.
Right? Yes. Yes. They're great. I love them. Thank
you. So what is your website? Nerdygirlsuccess.com.
Success.com. Is there a phone number that we can call for
more information or details? Absolutely. Absolutely. It's 954
(23:41):
nerdgirl. So 954-637-3475.
Well, Christina, thank you so much for being here. And Whitney, you as
well. Thank you. Thank you for helping all the girls out
there not to be afraid to have this self confidence
to go and do what they want to do, in their future
and learn about the different careers and what it takes to
(24:04):
be successful because they are our future. Whitney, you
are our future. So, yeah, we need to make sure that
all these girls are empowered and that they're motivated
to continue their road. Exactly. So thank you again,
y'all. Thank you so much for having me. And, of course, like
always, I'd like to thank you all for joining me for this
(24:27):
edition of Spotlight Houston. If you
have a comment, please let me know. If you have
a story idea, please let me know as well. And thank
you again for joining me. Thanks for tuning in today. Please enjoy
the following music.
A lot of the feedback that we get from the girls who've gone through the
(00:03):
different programs is the fact that some of them want to enter
into career fields that are male dominated and so
they feel a little intimidated by that. And so that's why we
bring in women to come and talk to the girls, and it's not just about,
you know, this is what I do at my job, and this is how this
is the training that I needed to do. It's a lot of these are some
(00:24):
of the obstacles that you are going to face, and here are the strategies
that I use when I face them. So that way, you got a little bit
of a leg up. It it isn't it's so much of a big deal when
you hit that bump because you're like, oh, I know how to take care of
that. So that's a lot of what we're doing, but a big piece is
that confidence. This is a space for me. It's okay for me to be
there. And so that's a that's been recurring theme with a lot of
(00:48):
the girls within our program.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of spotlight Houston. Where we bring
you the best of the people, places, and events in greater Houston. Today,
we're revisiting a fan favorite episode featuring nerdygirlsuccess.
A non profit organization inspiring young women to become
(01:11):
tomorrow's leaders. Founder Christina Mead shares how her
vision turned into an empowering movement. And we hear from high school
senior Whitney EJ about the life changing impact of the program.
This is episode 120, a replay of episode 80, which
originally aired on Sunday, March 24, 2024.
Spotlight Houston is brought to you by Storyzone Media. And now, here's your
(01:32):
host, Blanca Quesada. Hi. And welcome, everyone. I'm
so happy you're joining me again. I found out about this organization
whose name I just loved. I love their name,
and it's called Nerdy Girl Success. But
I just I fell in love with their name, but I also
really like what they stand for. And it's about empowering
(01:56):
girls and making sure that they're going to have
a successful future. This is a nonprofit organization
that's supporting and preparing girls to become our leaders
and decision makers of tomorrow. So
I invited the organization's,
(02:17):
founder and executive director. She's a Houston
native and self described nerd girl. She is
Christina Mead. So welcome to the show. And
also, I with her today is
Whitney EJ. She's a senior, and she's been
involved with the nerdy girl success for the past
(02:38):
3 years. So welcome, guys. Great to have you here. Great to have
you here. So, Christina, let's start with you. What made
you start nerdy girls? How did you become
the the founder? I wish I had a really, like, pretty story to tell. That's
kind of a it's kind of a conglomeration of things. I was a middle school
and high school science teacher for about 16 years and left education
(03:01):
to join my husband's company that he had started. And that's what
just kind of opened up my eyes a little bit to some things that I
didn't realize were a thing, and the big thing was that I
thought that there would have been more representation of women in leadership
positions across all industries, and I really wasn't seeing that. And
the more research I was doing about that, the more frustrated I got until one
(03:22):
day my husband just said, so what are you gonna do about it? And so
that's what Jessica came about. He motivated you. Yes. He
did. Well, thanks to him. You're doing a great job.
These girls are learning about business and
other industries that they might be interested in. And
so that's great because, normally, we don't have
(03:45):
a whole lot of mentors out there to help girls
succeed and look to the future to be able to do what it
is that they love or they want. So is this a program that
happens in the schools? Yes. So we we have a a high school
club in 4 different campuses here in the Houston area,
and then we have some other programs that we do. We have our career and
(04:07):
leadership summit. That's a half day program, and that actually we do at high
schools across the country. And we also have a virtual program that
we do in our career accelerator. So but our career our high school
club is the one that happens throughout the entire year.
Start with them at the beginning of the school year and one until the end.
We do field trips with them, help get the girls signed up for job shadow
(04:28):
opportunities where we can and we do field trips. So really
it's about giving the girls the opportunity to do career
exploration and even, like, fine tune within that, it's
leadership positions within those different careers. And part of the
what I'm trying to do with that even is not just allowing the girls to
learn about careers that they're interested in, but then also introducing them to careers
(04:50):
that they either don't know exist or aren't typically introduced to girls.
They do that and the way that they learn all of these things is through
the women who are actually in the position. How were the schools selected?
They selected us. Oh, okay. Yeah. I was gonna say they they found out about
the programs. We were at Travis High School, and we actually got into Travis High
School because the teacher that was at a campus where we had the club
(05:12):
moved to that campus, and so she brought us along with her. But, you know,
they they have found out about us from other students, and so I've asked if
we would come into a club at their campus. Yeah. And so is nerdy girls
success for any girl that wants to be part of it? Yes, ma'am. It's
for any young woman who is in high school or, like, the high school age
age range. So if they're not in the schools that got
(05:35):
in touch with you, they can get in touch with you in other ways? Well,
absolutely. So like I said, we do the Career and Leadership Summit. And, again, that
might be hosted, like, in January. We hosted it at Westside High School, but it
was open to high school girls around the the Houston area
were welcome to come. And we also have our flash mentor
program, and that's actually online. And so girls anywhere of any
(05:56):
age can participate in that particular program. So, yeah, there's lots of
different ways that young women can get plugged into the organization.
So this is a nationwide program. Right?
Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. We do our, with the virtual programs,
we have young women from all all over who, participate,
And then, our career and leadership summit, they actually
(06:20):
happen across the country. Like, in May, we're gonna be in Boston, the
Boston area doing that particular event. So, yes, we're
we're everywhere. Oh, that's great. That's great.
So approximately how many girls have gone
through your organization? We are about 5 we're
just a little over 5 years old. And so in those 5 years, we
(06:42):
have served a little over 600 young women with
over 500 hours of preprogramming. Wow. What are
some of the programs that you offer these girls?
So there's the high school club, we also have the career
accelerator. That's a multi week program, all virtual. And
then we have the career and leadership summit. That's a half day
(07:04):
program, kinda like a career fair, but a little bit different. We
offer have some different offerings for that within our high school clubs, and we've got
the field trips and the job shadow experiences. So those are some of
our core ones along with our class mentoring program. So what is
Career Accelerator? The Career Accelerator, what we do with that is that's for young
women who are ages 17 to 22,
(07:27):
and we are doing things helping prepare them for
entering into the workforce with some knowledge and
skills beyond the training that you need to do the actual job.
So it's about how to prepare yourself for an interview, getting a a
stellar resume and LinkedIn profile, but then there's also things about
like negotiation skills and how do you network? Some of those
(07:49):
things that are really crucial for your career success that
aren't necessarily taught to you. You just kinda learn those through the the
bumps in the road. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of bumps. There's
always a lot of bumps. Well, Whitney is a very special young lady
that you've helped a lot. She's an incredible young lady.
Thank you. Whitney, welcome. Thank you, Wendy. It's great to have you
(08:11):
here. So, Whitney, how did you hear about nerdy
girl's success? I heard about it through my school. I go to
Westside High School here in Houston, Texas, and I heard about it. It
was a little it was pretty funny, actually. I just was going
through along the hallway, and I heard a couple of girls talk about it. And
I went up to them and asked about it, and they told they had told
(08:32):
me that any girl success club offers variety of opportunities,
and I asked them to sign me up. So I heard it through my
school, Westside High School. So what's the first thing you did in the
club? The first thing I did in the club was I was a member of
the club for about a year, and then I went up to
I went on to be the vice president for another year, and now I am
(08:54):
the, elected president. And the very first thing that I did in
the club Congratulations, by the way. Thank you so
much. I helped a lot of girls around my school get to know
better about what another girls another girl success is and what it's
about. I advertised it for a lot of girls a lot of
young girls like me in Westside High School to be able to join the
(09:16):
another girl success club. Yeah. What encouraged you or motivated
you to remain for so long within the organization?
Learning Girls Success offers a variety of
opportunities, and it's all about empowering other young
women out there. And that I feel like I can be a
voice for that. I can I want to be a part of those people that
(09:38):
empower other people other women to advocate for their self to be
able to get what they want? It's it's fairly career
wise. I want to be I want I want I stayed in the club so,
I can be able to voice out for other people and for myself.
How did you feel that you were supposed supported
or motivated or encouraged to remain
(10:01):
with nerdy girl's success? How did I feel motivated? That's a great
question. So a lot of young women are in my club.
Usually, I love love love the girls because we're so
we're from different cultures. So they keep on motivating me every
day to every time we get together to have a meeting, they
motivate me every time. Not only that, the other girl success has
(10:24):
so much so much opportunities for us. Like, here at Westside, there's a few
trip at the end of the year that every girls look forward to for
them to go to because the future also exposes them to the things out there.
Like, last year, we went to Houston Community College, and they talked about
the different opportunities that we can that we could have if we come to Houston
Community College. So knowing your success is like a door openers. It
(10:46):
gives variety of opportunities for everybody, especially young
women. Yeah. You're finding out about things that you
wouldn't know otherwise if nerdy girls didn't
exist. Yeah. This is, like, the whole thing. Yeah. Meeting
people out there and knowing what's up what opportunities might
be there for you. Yes. Yeah? So what's been the best
(11:08):
part of it? The best part of being, part of
the North Augusta Success Group is, I would say, the
monthly meetings for me because these are the times that we actually get
to have a talk per, in a
class with people that are people from other careers. We talk
about them. We ask them questions. How do they achieve that? What
(11:30):
motivated them? So that kind of, like, motivated me too and
continue to be a part of the club too. So I hear
you have a very special event coming up on 28th. Yes.
We do. It is yes, ma'am. It is our annual
Pow Her Leaders Award celebration and fundraiser. So in
that particular event, we are recognizing and
(11:53):
celebrating the accomplishments of young women like like Whitney as well as
some of the women who are in our organization. Why do you think
that this particular event fits in well with
the Women's History Month? I think it's a perfect fit just because of the
fact that, again, we are celebrating women, and one of the
things that one of the awards that I have in there, is called
(12:14):
our Emerging Leaders Award. I started that because you've heard of like the
30 under 30, all of those things, but it's like there isn't
necessarily an award that is specifically for
young women who are post high school who are really showing
those leadership skills. And so I wanted to be able to have something
that would recognize them and let everybody see what it is that
(12:37):
they're doing and have them be, like, beacon for young women who are for girls
who are younger than them. Mhmm. So, Whitney, you're getting
you're, like, a finalist for one of these awards. Right? Yes,
ma'am. How do you feel about that? I feel great. I
cannot wait to get to the event. I feel I
feel really good about it. So, yeah.
(12:59):
So, Christina, how were the finalists selected? So the way that
they are selected is there is there's a judging panel. So for some of
the awards, they the young women were actually nominated by
people in their lives who explained what it is that they were doing, why they
felt that they were great candidates for, but a lot of
those criteria have to do with the advocates for others
(13:22):
having great leadership skills. We've got, they have that and there's a
rubric that does, that helps the judges determine who has the highest
scores. And then the last one, the nerdy growth
success award, that's actually an application process where the girls
filled out an application, had letters of recommendation, they had an essay that they needed
to write, and again, it was scored by a panel of judges. Yeah.
(13:44):
And I'm sure that they had they've faced a lot of challenges
in order to learn what they're learning to be where they're at right
now, And the challenges are gonna continue in their future.
More bumps as we were talking about earlier, more bumps on the
road. But but what are some of the challenges that, they've
been facing when they're thinking about being those
(14:06):
leaders that they want to be? A lot of the feedback that we get from
the girls who've gone through the different programs is the fact that some
of them want to enter into career fields that are male
dominated, and so they feel a little intimidated by that. And so
that's why we bring in women to come and talk to the girls, and it's
not just about, you know, this is what I do at my job, and
(14:28):
this is how this is the training that I needed to do. It's a lot
of these are some of the obstacles that you are going to face,
and here are the strategies that I use when I face them. So that way,
you got a little bit of a leg up. It it isn't isn't so much
of a big deal when you hit that bump because you're like, oh, I know
how to take care of that. So that's a lot of what we're doing, but
a big piece is that confidence. This is a space for
(14:51):
me. It's okay for me to be there. And so that's a that's
been recurring theme with a lot of the girls within our program
that they talk about and how her to go success has helped them
realize that it's okay to go into those areas that they want to go
into. So a lot of these finalists that you have gone through some of
these, challenges, is that something that you will look at too when
(15:12):
you're selecting? Absolutely. Because I think when they're talking about that,
they're taught they're bringing in and demonstrating those leadership skills
because there's a lot of times where you might face a challenge
and you let that kind of knock you back and not move forward. So
it's that persistence. I think it's a big part of showing
leadership skills is the fact that I'm not gonna let something heat me down. I'm
(15:34):
gonna figure out how to overcome that. So absolutely. And when
is the event happening? The event is happening next Thursday
evening. It is from, 6:30 to 8:30 at the
Junior League that's the Junior League in Houston. And where's the Junior
League located? It is at oh my goodness. I hope I
don't lie. 1811 Briar Oak Lane.
(15:56):
Okay. Are tickets still available? Yes, ma'am. Tickets are
available until Wednesday evening. And I also hear you have a great
speaker this year. She's fantastic. I can't wait for people to hear
her. Beth Munn is our keynote speaker, and
she I'm excited for everybody to get a chance to hear her. She's
her talk is about overcoming and being part of inspiration and
(16:18):
inspiring the next generation. She has some really great
things that she does in regarding to getting young women into
interested in aerospace. So it's gonna be really great. I'm excited
for it. Yeah. And she's a journalist, so she's definitely gonna be good.
Her storage and spacing is amazing. So the
tickets you Krishna, you mentioned the tickets are still available for the
(16:40):
event. So how can people buy the tickets? They
can go to the website or they can follow the short link. It's bit.
Ly/tickets. But, again, if you just go to the website,
nerdygirlsuccess.com, and click on events, you'll see the Power Her event,
and you can get the tickets from there. Yeah. I like that title, Power Her.
That's great. That's fantastic. Yeah. Whitney, do you
(17:03):
have somebody that inspires you? Someone that inspires me would be my,
sister, my other sister. She's doing her master's degree right now.
She's trying to get a job, and I don't know. Ever since
I was giving birth to, she's just been the person that I have
looked up to all this while, and I don't think that
is ever gonna change. Yeah. And I'm sure she supports you a lot
(17:25):
too. She does. That's good. So what is it
that you want your career to be? I aspire to be a gynecologist.
Oh, that's gonna be many years of studying. Yeah.
I'm looking forward to it. But it'll be interesting and fun at the same
time. Yes. Yeah. Why gynecology?
Why gynecology? I chose gynecology being a gynecologist
(17:48):
because, I felt that I can help
women other women out there that are also dealing with their health issues
because I am 16, and I'm also going through some medical
issues with which I have been to many doctors, many gynecologists, I
would say, that I couldn't find me so the exact solution to it to
cure it. Right now, I'm still on the lookout, but I feel like
(18:11):
if I become a part of the gynecologist group in the
future, I feel like I feel that I can contribute more
to helping women to helping a lot of women out there.
Make a big impact. Yeah. Well, good luck
with your studies in the future. And and, also, good
luck, I I hope, with the at the event. So you had
(18:33):
earlier mentioned about mentoring. So one of my
questions was, how can we help you? What what can we do
to contribute to the success of these girls? Oh, my
goodness. Thank you so much for asking. Honestly, our organization
is run by volunteers, so that's something that we really
need, we have a great need for. So going to the website and
(18:55):
looking for the, clicking on volunteer, that we have a lot of
opportunities for women to sign up for the different programs, for
example, like our flash mentoring program, that we could use a lot more
women as a part of that, That particular program we have set up that's
different than other mentoring programs. We thought that it
was really important for the girls to have a say in who
(19:17):
their mentor is and the topics that they're going to talk about, and so the
flash mentoring gives the power to the young women, because a lot of times in
mentoring programs, the girls are told this is your mentor and this is what you're
going to talk about, this is when you're going to meet. This gives power all
to them. They get to look at a roster of women and pick this is
who I would like to talk to, and this is the and then tell them
this is the topic that they wanna talk about. So we just need a lot
(19:39):
of women in that particular program especially. So we have a
variety of careers for them to choose from. So do all the girls
go through the flash mentoring program? It's a virtual
program, so we do we do have our girls who are in the high school
clubs sign up for the flash mentoring, pick a flash mentor, and
then, again, like I said, it's open to girls across the country because it
(20:00):
is a virtual program. So What are the type of other volunteers that you
need? Coming and talking to the girls at the high school club, that's
1. We've got our career accelerator. So, again, that's teaching the
different aspects of, like, teaching girls about resumes, your LinkedIn profile,
like, in talking to girls about your career. Each one of our programs,
again, like, that's who does the the curriculum and centers for our programs
(20:23):
or volunteers. Do the girls get taken out to some of the businesses
to get mentoring from the companies there? So what we
do is, like, with our high school club, we take a field trip. So for
example, what we're gonna be doing next month is taking the girls to River
Oaks Hospital, and so they'll get an opportunity to see
to tour the hospital, but then also talk to
(20:45):
women in all the different career aspects of what it takes to run a
hospital. So not just doctors and nurses and physicians assistants, but
also who's in marketing, who's in legal, who's nurse administration,
HR, all of those different aspects, they'll get a chance to see that, and then
through our job shadow opportunities as well, we connect young
women with a person, with a woman who has a career that they're interested
(21:07):
in, they'll go and shadow them for half a day. So they get the opportunity
to not just talk to her about her career, but then get to actually
see her in action at her job. Are you having any
special programs for the summer? That's where we're really gonna be concentrating on getting our
girls connected with job shadow experiences. Oh, that's
great. What is the Teen Corner? The Teen Corner, that is our
(21:28):
resource center on our website. So we've got an area
where we call it the career room, and so there I think there's about, like,
40 or 50 video interviews where girls can, again, learn
about a bunch of different careers. We've got, series of
video recorded workshops on different things on how to get money for
college, doing your resume, all sorts of how to network, all of
(21:50):
those things. We've got an advice column. I we call
it as, like, the lead hers and this is a little short video
clip library of different pieces of advice from different women. Our
teen corner place also for them to be able for the girls to sign up
to be a volunteer as well. The, blog is written by
teen girls, and we also have a teen advisory board. So
(22:12):
the girls have a big say in our organization, everything from
the logo and what the website looks like to the type of breakout sessions
that we have at our career leadership summit. Whitney, are you
once you graduate from high school, are you gonna continue
trying to be part of nerdy girls? Yes. Definitely.
Yes. Are you going to be like a mentor? Yes. Yeah. That's
(22:35):
what it takes me to be a part of Minnegar because Minnegar is really a
great club. It's really a successful organization. And
if me becoming a mentoring for other women out there is what makes me
to be a part of the club, then yes. Definitely. What would your message
be? My message to the girls out there? Yes. I'm
still figuring that out. You're still figuring it out? Yes. Well, I I
(22:57):
think you're gonna come up with a great message because you've been learning
a lot and doing a lot, and you're going to continue.
So you're always gonna have some support there no matter where you
are. I'm sure. Once a nerdy girl, always a nerdy girl. Always a nerdy
girl. Always have a home here. And, oh, one more thing. You're
selling these great t shirts. I love them. Thank you.
(23:19):
Yes. You go to the website and click on top, and we have our T
shirts there. Yes. T shirts and buns. Yes. Selling a T shirt.
Right? Yes. Yes. They're great. I love them. Thank
you. So what is your website? Nerdygirlsuccess.com.
Success.com. Is there a phone number that we can call for
more information or details? Absolutely. Absolutely. It's 954
(23:41):
nerdgirl. So 954-637-3475.
Well, Christina, thank you so much for being here. And Whitney, you as
well. Thank you. Thank you for helping all the girls out
there not to be afraid to have this self confidence
to go and do what they want to do, in their future
and learn about the different careers and what it takes to
(24:04):
be successful because they are our future. Whitney, you
are our future. So, yeah, we need to make sure that
all these girls are empowered and that they're motivated
to continue their road. Exactly. So thank you again,
y'all. Thank you so much for having me. And, of course, like
always, I'd like to thank you all for joining me for this
(24:27):
edition of Spotlight Houston. If you
have a comment, please let me know. If you have
a story idea, please let me know as well. And thank
you again for joining me. Thanks for tuning in today. Please enjoy
the following music.
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