CC’s Closet and I care about u: Sierra Benayon-Abraham and Justine Sneiderman’s Big Idea That May Change The World In The Next Few Years
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Perseverance is the gateway to success. The more effort and time put into a task or project, the more you will gain from it. In other words, keep trying even when it may appear that there is no hope.
CC’s Closet is a social enterprise business that was founded by a teen entrepreneur named Sierra Benayon-Abraham with the goal of supporting sustainability within the fashion industry and giving back to causes within the local community. By hand crafting one of a kind bags that incorporate recycled fabrics into the design, CC’s Closet’s products are sourced and produced sustainably, working to raise awareness about fast fashion. Additionally, with each purchase a portion of the proceeds are either donated back to Shining Through, a school for children with autism, Ve’ahavta, a jewish humanitarian agency, or Nova’s Ark, a centre that works with rescued therapeutic animals and children with varied abilities.
I care about u was formed by two sisters, Bailee and Justine Sneiderman, 12 and 15 years of age. The phrase, I care about u stood out as it can help build a community of kindness and support. Their goal was to help the community and as many people as possible, and this was accomplished in two ways. First, the I care about u logo will stand out to people passing by and spark a smile in them. Second, 100% of their profits are donated to food banks to help fight food insecurity.
Together, CC’s Closet and I care about u have collaborated, forming a unique partnership with the goal of combining all their passions into one. They are selling an I care about u sweatshirt, face mask and CC’s Closet handbag that gives back to local charities, supports sustainable products and encourages social entrepreneurism in this day and age.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you please tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Both having avid interests in the world of entrepreneurship and social policy from an early age, we felt drawn towards the challenge of innovation and the field of business throughout our upbringings. From running our first lemonade stands at the age of six, donating a small bag of change to local charities within our neighbourhoods, we knew this was what we aspired to do. Additionally, we have both developed a keen interest in volunteerism and discovering the most effective way at supporting local causes. Therefore, after completing some preliminary research, and discovering the phrase social entrepreneurship, it seemed there was nothing more desirable to pursue. We had found the perfect way to combine our two most burning passions into one.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
To attract new customers and broaden our reach beyond digital sales, we both independently participated in local outdoor craft markets. These markets had a fee to participate and sell our products and other vendors were less socially conscious in their purpose. Thus, we came up with the idea of hosting our own market which would be tailored to our desired social criteria. We plan to begin action with these markets in the new year, and will have other like minded vendors to attract a larger audience.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
While there have been a multitude of leading philosophies that have guided our lives, and entrepreneurship careers, the three main principles we strive to follow are open-mindedness, believing in yourself, and above all passion. To begin with, open-mindedness has been fundamental for growth in daily life and in our individual businesses. It is the ability to look at situations with a new perspective that ultimately allows for further growth and progress. Belief in oneself is key to being successful when operating your own business, but also throughout daily life in general. Constantly striving to achieve your greatest potential, while recognizing your faults and weaknesses, ensures success and self-preservation. Lastly, and arguably the most important guiding philosophy, is passion. Whatever you choose to do in life, do it because you love it. Because you are willing to put your all into it, and because it is the thing you are most passionate about.
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?
As teen entrepreneurs, we wanted to make a difference in our community with our mutual interests in business and helping others. Over the past year, we independently built our own businesses, one called “I care about u” and the second called “CC’s Closet.” I care about u is a business that sells masks and sweatshirts with the original logo “I care about u” printed on them. 100% of the profits are donated to food banks to help fight food insecurity. CC’s Closet is a business that hand crafts one of a kind bags that support sustainability within the fashion industry and give back a portion of their proceeds to one of three charitable causes. Recently, we have been working together to form a partnership that combines both of our products and initiatives into one in order to continue to promote social entrepreneurism, sustainable products, teen innovation and giving back to our local communities.
How do you think this will change the world?
We feel this initiative will change the world as it incorporates an extensive amount of different positive aspects that all contribute to inflicting positive change. There is the more apparent element of donating a portion of the proceeds back towards people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, both incredibly important causes impacting our society today. However, there is far more than meets the eye to this initiative. Sustainability among consumers has become a widely discussed topic within the 21st century, and when developing our product lines, that was an especially important concept we kept in mind when finding sustainable sources to produce our products. Similarly, we feel it is especially influential for other young adults and teens to know they are not alone. It can often be frightening, trying to accomplish change as a young child in a world full of successful adults. However, by sharing each other’s stories, and forming partnerships to help support one another, we hope to evoke many feelings of inspiration on numerous generations to come. After all, who doesn’t love a cozy sweatshirt, high quality face mask, fashionable handbag that is made sustainably, gives back to local causes within the community and inspires?
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?
In line with the concepts discussed in Black Mirror and the Law of Unintended Consequences, we feel the only potential drawback would be growth at an unmanageable rate. What we mean by that, is that we currently take great pride in sourcing all the materials for our products sustainably and maintaining a close relationship with our customers. The fear for any business owner is that unmanageable growth is reached and the vision of the enterprise gets slightly faded in the mix. Nevertheless, we are dedicated to the missions we have embedded into the many layers of our company, and are always operating with precautions in mind.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
Teen entrepreneurs who wanted to make a significant positive impact in society — We couldn’t see anything more perfect than this. Generally when we walk to school, we pass by a few homeless people. Seeing these people, we can infer that they are struggling to feed themselves. When the pandemic hit, we instantly knew that this situation would only become worse. Any steps we could take would help aid the cause, but the idea of how we would take on this task hadn’t fully developed. We saw this as the perfect opportunity to take action. We both formed our own organizations targeted at helping different aspects of this social issue. We were doing well on our own, but knew that working together would make us and our charitable goals have a higher success rate. In this case, 1+1>2 as it allows us to cross promote to each other’s curated audiences.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
In order to lead this idea to widespread adoption the most advantageous element would merely be the support of others. We believe in the power of numbers, and the most helpful thing anyone could offer us would just be their support and assistance with spreading awareness about the initiative. We would be beyond appreciative if you would just tell one family member, friend, colleague or classmate about our story and what we are trying to accomplish. Everyone’s kind words of encouragement mean the world to us, and we cannot thank you enough for supporting our initiative!
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Never give up — Perseverance is the gateway to success. The more effort and time put into a task or project, the more you will gain from it. In other words, keep trying even when it may appear that there is no hope. When we first started, we struggled with almost everything. We didn’t even know how to fulfil orders. On days when we received many, it was challenging to keep track of what had and hadn’t been done. If we had quit then, we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are today. We have seen people wearing our products and we have been able to make our first significant donation.
- Follow your dreams — We were passionate about this cause and it led to something wonderful. Being interested and excited about what you are trying to accomplish is paramount. It is also important to keep in mind that goals are achievable, no matter the difficulty as long as you are excited by them.
- Don’t be afraid to try something new — As we are young entrepreneurs, we have never had an experience quite like this. Being curious is an amazing tool to possess because it can lead to ideas you may have never even considered. Throughout our journey, we had to follow through on many events that we had minimal knowledge about, but the fear of not succeeding never shone through. We believed that you could even further your understanding of something if you have never done it before.
- It’s okay to ask for help — You may not always know all the answers. Although we like to believe that we do, assistance is never a bad thing. Getting insight on what is not working out or could use improvement helps aid your success. When we were stuck, we reached out to family members to provide us with their unique opinion on how to solve the problem.
- Knowledge is power — The more that you know about a specific topic or cause can change your actions towards it. It is also important to remember that you learn more every day, and your information continues to grow. As you grow as a person, your ideas begin to further develop and evolve with your ever changing knowledge. Keep learning!
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
The ability to have a strong mindset is especially important when it comes to accomplishing any task. Here are three different factors we try to keep in mind when approaching every situation, and overcoming any obstacles we may face.
- Don’t be afraid to think outside the box! — Although it may be slightly intimidating at first, never let fear cloud your judgement for further discovery or innovation. It is those creative thinkers that have the ability to invoke real change!
- Try not to procrastinate (we know, it’s hard!) — Although you may get told this often, and it isn’t always easy to follow through with, we have learned that trying your best to not procrastinate can prove to be exceptionally beneficial for overall success and even your own mental health. Getting work done in a prioritized order and sticking to a plan will prove to reduce stress levels significantly and help you stay on track in order to achieve your goals!
- Everything happens for a reason — While this is sometimes hard to believe, try to keep in mind that perhaps everything happens for a reason, you just may not know it yet. Whether you weren’t pleased with the mark you just got on your most recent math test (for all the students out there!) or your supplier just informed you that your inventory is going to be a month late (for all you business owners!), allow yourself a moment of anxiety, but then take a breath and remember it will all work out in the end.
Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
By joining us, you will be supporting young female entrepreneurs, increasing your own social capital by investing in social justice opportunities, and growing a movement. As an added bonus, you will be helping to stop the spread of COVID-19 by selling high quality reusable masks, and looking great while doing it by wearing a handcrafted one of a kind bag. How could you resist? We have started and developed our own incredible dreams into a reality from scratch as teen female entrepreneurs aiming at making a difference in society. We are trying to create a movement that supports kindness, caring and compassion throughout communities through the unique “I care about u” message, while supporting recycling and the environment, helping fight food insecurity and poverty. You could have a part in this movement. You could have the chance to make a difference. You could tell the world that you care about them.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Instagram: @icare.aboutu and @ccs_closetco
Websites: https://icareaboutu.ca and https://ccsclosetco.com
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
CC’s Closet and I care about u: Sierra Benayon-Abraham and Justine Sneiderman’s Big Idea That May… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
