Today we’d like to introduce you to Aiyana Egins.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I created You Go Girl Enterprises in 2012 to cultivate confidence in young women within the Georgia community. After participating in a pageant system named National American Miss, I was inspired to make my platform. One of their requirements was to focus on a certain area in your community you would like to help. I knew I wanted to help grow self-esteem within others, but at first, I did not know how to achieve this area. So like many, my platform went through many stages of transformation. I started to advocate for bully prevention within Georgia schools by creating #Bullymenot, where I had numerous students/teachers within my community post a video or picture sharing the importance of being kind & canceling bullying out of schools. I even had seminars where I spoke about current statistics of bullying at the time & steps on how we could lower the rate of bullies within schools.
As time progressed, I wanted to connect with young women more in an in-person interaction. By doing this, I created a small pageant through my platform called the Miss Amazing Angels Pageant. During this event, I gave Elementary and Middle school girls an opportunity to enhance their social graces and interactive skills through interviews, formal wear & personal introduction. Before the pageant, the young women go through a small workshop where they participate in icebreakers that would help grow confidence within them. This pageant took place for five years & I was happy to have helped gain confidence in my participants each year. At the time, I called my platform “My Self Esteem is So high.”
At the end of my senior year of High School, my focus shifted to the influence of social media. I saw its negative effects on youth, especially young women. There was so much negativity centering around social media, so I wanted to create an area where I could focus on creating a positive environment through its platforms. Then came my social media page, @yougogirl_ent. I focused on cultivating confidence in young women in the pageant community through social media platforms. I celebrated not only their accomplishments during their pageant journey but after as well. I did this by creating regular highlights called You Go Girl Tuesday & Tips from a Queen, which featured leaders who spoke about their community service or businesses that they created. I even created series such as Let’s Talk About It, which allowed young women to share meaningful stories about mental health, Intersectional Feminism, and Diversity in the Pageant community. As my page began to grow, my platform did as well. So finally, in 2020, my platform was officially named You Go Girl Enterprises. And while It has gone through many transformations, its main purpose remained to cultivate confidence within others, which is now its centered mission.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I would describe my experience as a roller coaster ride. It was smooth in the beginning but rough throughout the ride, filled with twists & turns emotionally. In the earlier stages of creating my platform, I had many events & topics that I focused on each year. So I never knew how to stay on a focused path. My platform is inspired by what I feel is currently needed within the Georgia community. So I would greatly change my mission’s focus. By that point, my mission became confusing to others & even me. So I had to take a break in 2017 to define what I wanted to focus on as I went into college. During my brainstorming times, I doubted if it could really make a mark on youth today and allowed fear to overtake my mind. It was hard to get my platform to where I wanted it to be currently, but through leaning on the trust in my faith and having my loving friends and family by my side, I found strength & passion within my platform and kept pushing until I met the goals I set for myself.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Currently, I am attending graduate school at the University of Georgia, studying Music Therapy. This has been a lifelong goal of mine since I was in Highschool. I came from a family of musicians and was surrounded by the sound of music throughout my life. So it was no surprise that I also wanted to pursue a career in music. While I enjoyed performing, I still had a strong passion for helping others, so when I was introduced to Music Therapy, I knew it was the position for me! I help others find joy in their lives and perform and play music daily! It truly is a blessing & I love the journey it is taking me on.
While I am a student, I am also an employee at the University of Georgia. I work in the Office of Service-Learning as a Program Coordinator for a program called Experience UGA! Experience UGA is a program that partners with the Clarke County school district that strives to bring every student in the district to UGA’s campus for an educational field trip each year. This takes place in the form of educational field trips occurring at every grade level to various locations across UGA’s campus. I have the pleasure of leading a wonderful team, mentoring students from across campus through our Ambassador program, and coordinating fun trips for over 1200 students to participate in.
What I am known for the most is the kindness I spread toward others; one of my biggest passions in life is to bring joy to others. This is why I chose my career path & profession. I get to pour into others & help either define their passion or create a wonderful experience for them. It’s what I love to do & the legacy I would be proud to leave.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
My loyalty & kindness. Once I begin something, I remain loyal until the goal is accomplished & through the experience, I want to be remembered for the joy I intend to spread every day.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yougogirl_ent/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/You-Go-Girl-Enterprises-384495455448851
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Y-ZCoIvWc
Image Credits
Matt Boyd
