Teenpreneur of the Year
This award recognizes entrepreneurs, age 19 and under, committed to the tradition of black business achievement.
Sheascents
New York, NY
Tatiana Leftenant, Founder & CEO
Tatiana Leftenant is the 12-year-old founder (she turns 13 this year) and CEO of Sheascents, which distributes shea butter based skin products. She started the New York-based company when she was 10-years-old because she had eczema all over her arms and legs; shea butter made her feel butter. Leftenant sold $17,000 worth of product in 2014, tripling her 2013 revenues. Her Sheascents skin care line is being sold this year on the Urban Home Shopping Network. This year also marks the expansion of Sheascents’ hair care line.
The two nominee runner-ups were Farmingdale State College students Terriq Davidson, 18, and Mohit Khurana, 18, who the founders and owners of Pop Casa in New York, a healthy gourmet popcorn company that specializes in multicultural flavors like Jamaican Jerk and Indian Masala. Chental Song Bembry is an 18-year-old freshman at Hampton University and a “teenpreneur,†since self-publishing her own children’s book series, Honey Bunch Kids, at age 13.