READ FOR SMARTS, GIVE FROM THE HEART (Alana's Biz)

Donation protected

Hi! I’m Alana and this is my business story. At around age 5, in 2019, I discovered Ryan’s World. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 AND everything shut down, I went from having a normal life of going to daycare, straight to being home schooled. I felt very sad and confused. It was important to my mom that we developed a routine. So, everyday we would exercise, learn and play together. Her motto is to work hard and play hard. She told me if I was going to watch TV, half of the time could be for fun, but the other half had to be used to watch learning channels. That’s how I discovered Ryan’s World. It was fun, I learned stuff and Ryan was a kid like me! Because he was a kid like me, I watched him all the time. Seriously… all the time. Morning, Noon and Night. One day, I told my mom I wanted my own channel. So, she bought me a tablet! I used it to play games, take pictures, make art and create videos.

Fast forward to age 8, I wore a mask because we were still dealing with the pandemic, but I was around people again. I was happy, but disappointed that I had to wear a mask. I wasn’t using my tablet anymore. I started borrowing both my mommy’s and daddy’s phone to take pictures and record stuff. I told mommy I really wanted my own YouTube channel. She said it will be a lot of work and a big commitment. She asked if I was ready for that. I said yes. She said, “If you do this, it can not be like Ryan’s World. It has to be built on your passions. What do you love? What are you passionate about?” She gave me weeks to think about it. When she asked again, I said 1) I love to read, 2) I love to teach, 3)I love to learn, 4) I love being creative and 5) I love to help. She told me, I needed a target audience, which are the people who would be interested in my channel.

I said my target audience would be kids and families. Then she asked, who would I like to help the most? I said, I would like to help the kids who are having trouble with learning and being creative. I also said I want to help the homeless have warm clothes and I want to help homeless animals. Now that we had a solid plan and a direction, we went to work.

My YouTube channel LEARNING WITH ALANA! was launched on September 7, 2023. Today it has 320+ subscribers and has had 89,800+ views. My most popular content is my reading playlist called NIGHT TIME KNOWLEDGE, where I read stories to kids and families. Some individual videos have gotten up to 19,000 views!

In 2024, my mom asked me if I still wanted to help homeless people and animals. I said yes. She said ok. You need a business name. A name that speaks for all that you want to do. After going through a few name changes, I came up with READ FOR SMARTS, GIVE FROM THE HEART. After my mom looked up the name, to see if it was available to use as a business, my mom and I started having business planning sessions. I shared with her my ideas and she showed me how to research. She had me draw my ideas for the logo, choose the colors and she helped me clean it up to use for marketing. When my logo was finished, the first product we created was a t-shirt! I was so happy. Wearing a t-shirt with my company logo on it made it official!

My mom then submitted my business name to get LLC status. Soon after, my mom received some more than awesome news. The LLC for my business was approved! On JANUARY 15, 2024, READ FOR SMARTS, GIVE FROM THE HEART LLC was established. That date is now my company’s official birthday! Do you know who also celebrates a birthday on this day? Dr Martin Luther King Jr. I just thought that was a very cool thing to know.

So, that’s my business story and I am very proud of it. I am proud of it because I didn’t know how far I could go with this idea. Now, the idea has come true! What’s next? Building my business through fundraising. My parents have become my first investors. My parents let me use their phones to create content. They buy me supplies, props and clothes for my videos. My mom lets me use her computer to create ideas and upload videos. They helped me buy books, buy winter clothes for the homeless and supplies for animal shelters. Friends of my mom have also donated to help me help the homeless.

My plan is to choose one Philadelphia homeless shelter for people, and one homeless shelter for animals each year, to give to. My goal is to raise $5,000 for my startup business READ FOR SMARTS, GIVE FROM THE HEART LLC. This will help me buy my own computer, more books, more winter stuff for homeless people and more supplies for animals in shelters. My mission for READ FOR SMARTS, GIVE FROM THE HEART LLC is to help kids like me by promoting and inspiring literacy, through reading opportunities and through the reading and writing content on my youtube channel Learning with Alana! The other part of that mission is to help the homeless, because I believe everyone and every animal deserves help. Can you help support READ FOR SMARTS, GIVE FROM THE HEART LLC so that I can do my part to make the world better? If so, please go to my GOFUNDME page at READ FOR SMARTS, GIVE FROM THE HEART (Alana’s Biz). Thank you for listening. Bye!