Ep 167 Restoring History and Building a Digital Future with Layla King

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Welcome to Hearts of Gold.

Today we have Laila with us.

Hi Laila.

Hi.

Can you tell us about your Girl Scout Gold Word project?

So my project was about restoring an historically black cemetery in my community.

It's called Lincoln Cemetery in St. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

So I worked with an organization called Saving Our Ancestors Legacy.

I was volunteering with them since around 2021.

So I knew that I already had a connection with the person who runs it.

Her name is Rachel.

And once it got to the point where I had to start doing my Gold Award, I wanted to partner

with her.

So she was my project manager.

And that's the project I did.

And at the time, I had a leadership position in school with skills USA.

So I used that position to promote so throughout my school.

And I presented it at our school wide assembly.

And then we had a donor drive and things like that.

What was your favorite part of the project?

My favorite part was actually the reactions to it.

I got a lot more support for it than I expected to.

And it was actually really fun to do.

But my favorite part was actually volunteering at the cemetery because I learned a lot.

And being actually involved in the project, instead of just promoting it, helped me see

a different point of view.

What were some of the things you learned?

I learned how to clean a headstone and the different type of things I go into there.

I used like D3 solution and then spray with water and then actually scrub it.

And then I got to see it like days later, how it would brighten up and how like the words

or the names on the headstones would be much easier to see and actually had a level of

headstone.

And what was your biggest challenge during your project and how did you overcome it?

My biggest challenge was actually getting people to act on the cause.

It's easy to spread awareness, but it's hard to get people to actually take action on

it.

I would try different things to get the word out.

And if I wasn't getting the responses that I wanted, then I would try something new.

So that's where I got to my school and I was like, I need to present it to everyone.

So everyone hears it and actually act on it by having the drive.

So that it's like people would hear about it and they would hear about it consistently

and then they would have a chance to actually support it.

How did you build your team?

So since I had that leadership position, we were all ready all together.

So really just in one of our meetings, I brought it up to our advisor first and she approved

of it.

So I started to work with different people on our teams to make the presentation, to organize

the drive and things like that.

And then for the actual project, I got my project manager because I volunteered with

it before and I just talked to her about it, everything that I wanted to do and what

she actually needed for the cause and that's how we ended up working together.

When you were doing the research for your project, did you have an initial thought and did

that pivot at all with the conversations you had?

It did actually because doing my research, I didn't realize that the problem that was

happening in my community actually happens more often in other places than I thought.

So it was cool to learn about and it actually made me realize that what I'm doing, yes,

is helping in my community, but it showed me the connection that it has globally.

So that did help me change my point of view on how I was thinking about approaching this

project.

How is your project impacting you now that you're done with it?

I'm still doing community service, so actually it did help me directly with what I'm doing

actually next week.

So I have heard we have something called Alternative Spring Break.

So instead of me going home, I actually would be going to Trenton, New Jersey to volunteer

in high schools and middle schools and food banks.

So during my interview with them, I got to talk about the gold awards that I connected

directly to what I'm about to do.

Where else have you talked about the gold award about your project that has maybe

given you a step up on other people?

Firstly, even applying to college, they always look at unique community service experience.

So definitely that.

And then right now I'm in council and my goal is to be a community rep next year.

So right now I'm in the advocacy and inclusion intern.

So during that interview, I also brought it up and that was something unique.

And it's actually a project that I learned that the cemetery actually has connections to

Howard.

So now I'm trying to build my way up so that I can bring that project here.

That's really interesting.

You've mentioned Howard University a couple of times, which is where you're going to school.

Can you tell us about what activities you're doing at Howard?

Besides the being an advocacy and inclusion intern and then doing the Alternative Spring

Break.

I'm actually in DECA.

So I'm going to be competing at the conference in Entrepreneurship.

And I'm in SV.

So that's the National Society of Black Engineers.

And then I'm a computer science major.

So I'm studying computer science right now and trying to get my bachelor's.

What led you to choose computer science?

So actually in middle school, it was my last year they had tours going to a technical

school.

And when I toured the school, I was like, this is somewhere I would want to go.

And then once I got into the school, they made us go through every single program.

So I went through like dental, culinary and all these different things.

And the only one that really interests me that I could see myself doing in the future

was web development design.

So once I went through that program, that all led to where I am now.

In web development, you also own your own company.

Can you tell us about that?

Yep.

I own my web design business.

It's called a Young Mindset.

And it's pretty much me helping small businesses gain an online presence.

So I work with a bunch of clients to figure out things like improving their website, designing

it, implementing things called like search engine optimization and keywires and all those

different things.

What was it like starting that business at your age?

It was really fun.

It's kind of hard just because I'm learning it myself, but because of the different opportunities

like the Gold Award and then co-op and clubs from high school, I've had opportunities

where people, where I've gotten positions like right now I work for a web design agency.

And she's actually showing me how things work.

So it's like I'm still working there, but I'm also building what I have myself.

And there's a lot of people who I'm connecting with now that I'm in these different places

and they're also leading me to understand how to run it better.

What was the hardest part of starting that business?

What happened that you went, I don't know if I can do this on my own?

I think it's when, actually it's when I had a client that was kind of trying to take

advantage of it.

And that's what really showed me that I have to, like in my business, I want to be flexible.

I want to really be helping people, but I also realize that I have to have my own standard

that I have to stick to.

And even though I want to adjust and be flexible for people, I have to stick to that so that

they don't, so that they will respect my time and respect the price and all those things.

What skills did you learn while you were going through your Gold Award that you're being

able to use either at Howard or in your business?

The biggest thing I learned from my Gold Award is, well really it was me seeing the impact

that service and leadership can have together.

I do want to do volunteer work on my own and things like that, but it also pushed me to be

more involved in having my own leadership because I saw how powerful that it can be when

they come together.

What else would you like to share with the audience?

Actually, one more thing I would like to share is that I got accepted to be an Amazon

future engineer.

So in this summer, I'll be working at Amazon, likely I wanted the headquarters, so that's

going to further my with design business and skills that I was talking about earlier.

That's so exciting.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

How do you make your smores?

I don't eat them anymore, but when I did, I would burn them.

Yeah.

I want the gold.

That's how I like mine.

Yeah.

Lots of people like to burn them.

That is not my choice.

I'm a golden girl.

Really?

That's good too, so.

Yeah.

I'll go go to Brown to burn.

Well, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thank you so much for having me.

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