TechGirlz in CNN Money: She’s 15, Loves Tech, and Wants to Be a Farmer

CNN Money reached out to us during the week of our Entrepreneur Summer Camp to do a profile on Kayla Visser, a former camper at the TechGirlz entrepreneur camp and 15-year-old business woman. Kayla and her sisters have been with us since the start of our programs. We’re excited to see how she’s used tech not only to start her own business, KanineKookies, but plans to use it in a farming context. Below is an excerpt from the original article.


Kayla Visser poses with a cow on her farm

Kayla Visser has charted out her summer plans with two seemingly disparate pursuits: farming and technology.

Visser, 15, lives on her family farm in Wilmington, New Hampshire, where she loves caring for the animals — chickens, rabbits and a dairy cow that she bought with her own money. She also maintains an organic vegetable garden.

In some way, farming is in her blood. “Both of my grandparents grew up on farms. Then we strayed away from agriculture because my parents grew up in the suburbs,” she said. “Now we’re into it again.”

Visser also runs a small business she launched in 2009 called KanineKookies. It’s an all-natural snack brand for dogs and horses. She makes the treats herself and supplies them to three local retailers and a dozen monthly customers.

“I use all my proceeds to help kids interact therapeutically with farm animals while learning [about] responsible animal husbandry and organic farming,” she said.

She credits a summer camp from TechGirlz for helping her get the business off the ground at age 9.

TechGirlz is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that offers classes on things like coding, robotics and 3D printing, as well as a summer camp that teaches middle school girls about entrepreneurship.

 

Read the full article on CNN Money here