Sarai Mykelle Jefferies, 17 – Business Plan
Amazing Creations
Baltimore, Maryland

"My heart is in my family and the African-American working class community, speaking for them."

Sarai Jefferies developed the business plan for Amazing Creations, customized greeting cards, as a NFTE participant at Edmondson-Westside High School in Baltimore. She won second place in the NFTE Baltimore citywide business plan competition, and competed in the Smith Barney/NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. “This was the most prestigious, awe-inspiring moment for me,” Sarai says. “It awakened within me a deep reservoir of possibilities.”

Amazing Creations produces personalized greeting cards, using photos and even words provided by the client. “Our cards say exactly what you want to say, and they have your likeness as an added touch,” Sarai says. “The pictures I paint through the words I pen are memories from my past or even from the clients’ past experiences. I am confident that I can make a difference and bring out a line of greeting cards for the grassroots African-American community.”

Sarai’s experiences growing up in a single-parent home in the “hood” in Baltimore shape her writing and her determination to start a business. “On my block no deed, good or bad, went unobserved,” she says. “I was trained to be economical in all my ventures, and for this I am grateful. It has instilled in me certain principles of worth and trust. More often than not, all I needed was to be taken seriously and listened to.”

Sarai intends to implement her business plan when she graduates from high school. She plans to attend the University of Baltimore this fall.