Benjamin E. Mays High School Senior Cooks up Success

JuShawn Carter is only 17 years old, but the Cascade resident is focused on business.

A senior at Benjamin E. Mays High School, Carter runs her own baking business, CakesbyFourteen.

A member of the Youth Entrepreneurs Georgia program, Carter, along with Franchesca L. Thompson, a Youth Entrepreneurs Georgia teacher at North Atlanta High School, will be honored at the 25th Anniversary Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Gala at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.

Youth Entrepreneurs Georgia is a business program in metro Atlanta high schools that teaches students free-enterprise fundamentals through hands-on learning activities.

It has educated more than 1,100 students through a nationally-recognized entrepreneurship education curriculum from the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

The ultimate goal is to get the student entrepreneur write a plan and make a presentation of a workable business after giving them the tools they need to be successful.

"It's been fun. It's hard and educating, but overall it's been fun," Carter, who wantsa to be a pastry chef, told Cascade Patch. "My mom's always taught me how important being an entrepreneur is."

Carter initially had a natural bath salts business but learned quickly a key lesson in a start-up business.

"You have to make sure it's your passion, you don’t ever want to start something as a job," she said. "You want to start a career."

She credits the cakes idea with the Food Network cable channel. Carter said she was watching the station and realized she could marry her love of baking with a business venture.

That's where Youth Entrepreneurs Georgia came in.

"They showed me new things," Carter said, adding she was very "excited and thankful for being allowed to participate in the program" and being recognized for her business.

“I had other opportunities before YEG, but I didn’t know how to look at my company from the business side. YEG helped me by showing me the business aspect of entrepreneurship.”

A member of the Future Business Leaders of America and her school's Student Government Association, Carter plans to attend Johnson & Wales University in the fall.

She said she plans to continue the business and expand it.

Admittedly, she's juggling a lot on her plate, but she said she can prioritize.

"I just feel like you can do it all," Carter said. "If it's something you want to do you're going to make the time for it."