Jocelyn Rieker - Leadership Interview Spotlight

Leadership Spotlight:

Athena “Ray” Zengewald

“Even if you have nothing to go forward with, you have to go

beyond what is required”
- Athena “Ray” Zengewald

Athena “Ray” Zengewald is the CFO and the marketing leader of Charming
Eyesight, a student-owned Kempsville Entrepreneurship and Business Academy business
that makes stylish glasses charms. Zengewald is currently a senior in the Kempsville
EBA and originally joined the program intending to speed up their college process. While
they did not expect to start their business, Charming Eyesight was a pleasant
development in their high school career. The following discussion provides a unique
insight into the life of a young inspiring entrepreneur. As you read this spotlight, enjoy
getting to know this leader and all of the great advice they have to offer.

What was your original vision when you joined the academy? Originally, I joined it
strictly for the associate's degree program, I didn’t think I was actually going to be able to
have my own business, I just wanted to get college credits to save money.

Did you meet your business team in the program? I’ve been best friends with Ava
Grace (business co-owner) since before sixth grade, but I did meet the rest of the
members when we formed a group together in sophomore year for the Incubator class.
Jocelyn Rieker - Leadership Interview Spotlight

What inspired the idea behind your business? What’s funny is, Ally (business partner),
at her middle school had a competition where she was really involved. (For the
competition) she was really involved, she ended up taking a pen grip and putting it on
glasses, and called it “fashion”. She kind of just carried that idea over to us, and we
decided to take it seriously.

Staring out, what were your expectations? We figured we wouldn’t get past Incubator
and probably weren’t going to get an accelerator, we wanted to, but realistically we didn't
think that was an option, because with no money, what can you do?

What were some struggles and conflicts you faced during your time at the academy?
We were a team of all girls so there was a bit of a power struggle. One or two people
would do all the work and then the rest would do nothing. It was hard to take control and
split the work evenly when there was not much to do because we were sophomores and
we didn’t know anything about business.

What would you say drives and motivates you? I look at Forbes magazines and I think,
“Wow, my business could be up there”. We [also] really like the idea of decreasing the
monopoly over glasses themselves, and we want to eventually start selling the glasses
frame for [affordable] prices.

How has covid and virtual learning affected your journey? Honestly, I think we
thrived with the virtual [situation], despite all the struggles. We were accepted into this
very exclusive program for youth businesses and we got to learn how to make ourselves
an actual LLC and we learned how to start our website. Being an online shopping
business, its [management] was quite simple.

(Modeled after Forbes Partner Spotlight)

Jocelyn Rieker - Leadership Interview Spotlight

What was the Bennett Center like? It was a program outside of the academy.
[Basically], we did a presentation, we got 2,000 dollars in credit and with that, we
claimed our LLC and we had a domain. We don't have access to the domain because of
complications regarding COVID-19. The domain only lasted for a year, so it’s expired
and there's no point in having it now, but we learned a lot [from the program]. We learned
how to get access to our own resources instead of just using the Makerspace, and now we
just buy our own products and sell them.

How would you describe your leadership style? I don't typically work well with other
people, which is why I was strictly the CFO. I don’t thrive in social settings, but with [my
team], because they were my friends we really brought out the best qualities in each
other. We would go on team-building exercises, and with that, I learned how to present
and not get so nervous to the point where I had to run to the bathroom 10 minutes before.

What would you consider the most important traits of a leader are? You need to be
able to work well with others, or at least adapt to situations, even if you originally weren't
the best. The other key thing is your innovation, your ability to see things out with no
idea starting out. You have to keep pushing no matter what, even if you have nothing to
go forward with, you have to go beyond what is required.

What advice would you give to someone looking to go into the EBA? I wouldn’t say
don’t do the BIT (Business Information Technology) strand, because I [the] associates
degree is the only reason I joined. The BIT has its own perks, but it’s so specific, yet the
ENI and Accounting strand can fit pretty much anyone’s [style]. If you don’t want to
specialize, if you want to start [more advanced] learning, and get college credits for
learning, go to the academy.

(Modeled after Forbes Partner Spotlight)

Jocelyn Rieker - Leadership Interview Spotlight

What advice would you give to your younger self? Take the essay seriously when you
apply. Don't be so focused on something that you wanted to do as early as second grade. I
used to think, “Oh, I’m going to be a lawyer,” and now, I want to come back and teach
AP English. You can't be so rudimentary and stick to one lane, you have to be able to
transition.

Mentally, what would you say was the toughest part of your business path?
When we didn't get the money from [a program]. [Also,] my team did have a bit of a
falling out, one member was only in it for the academy requirements, and the other was
too busy to dedicate any time. It’s just hard.

If you could go back to when you first started your business with your team, what
would you have changed? I would have pressured my team to stick with it more. There
was so much potential, and now that they’re out, there’s no way they can come back in.
I’ve had one [past member] ask if they can just buy it out from us, and I told them “No,
this is a team effort, you need to continue with the team”. [You need to] stick with the
team, it’s how you get profit in the end.

What are your plans for the future? Eventually, I want to get a patent, that’s on my
priority list. I [also] want to figure out how to market more. We have a business bank
account, which we set up with the help of the Bennett Center, but we are struggling with
marketing and the lack of resources we have. I don't have adobe, I can’t just make a flyer,
and our Instagram ad only lasted for a week and cost us 10 dollars. [For advertising] we
need to focus on our product, to just get our name out there and have people know what
we do. As far as marketing goes, I plan on getting an ambassador of some sort, maybe
someone local with a lot of followers on TikTok, and have them promote our business
every week or so.

(Modeled after Forbes Partner Spotlight)