Meet Maya Penn, the teenage entrepreneur who turned handmade accessories into a sustainable fashion business, generated tens of thousands of dollars in sales, and donated part of her profits to charity

Maya Penn began her entrepreneurial journey at age 8 by creating ribbon headbands for family friends. Her curiosity eventually developed into Maya’s Ideas, an online business offering handcrafted accessories and clothing made with eco-friendly materials such as recycled fabrics and organic cotton. Supported by her parents, Deidre and John, Penn combined creativity, education, and problem-solving while developing her business. By age 12, her story had appeared in Forbes, Black Enterprise, Ebony, Huffington Post, Rebook and Atlanta’s Fox 5 News.