CVCA student gets real-world business experience as CEO of Shya Designs

by Erica Peterson

McKenna Miller of Twinsburg is the new CEO of a business that, under her watch, is on track to double its sales from last year.

She is also a high school student.

Miller and her fellow Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy juniors and seniors run Shya Designs through CVAC’s School of Business and Entrepreneurship. The program gives students hands-on, real-world business experience, said Eric Ling, director of SOBE.

The business is 100 percent student run. “The students make every single decision,” Ling said.

Miller, a senior, said that is what sets SOBE apart from other programs. “High school students get to run an actual business,” she said.

Students launched Shya Designs four years ago. The nonprofit business “imports, markets and sells handcrafted Rwandan bags made by widows of victims of the Rwandan genocide,” said senior Justin Folger, a Strongsville resident who is the company’s public relations director. “This allows these women to be self sufficient and send their children to school.”

The brightly-colored bags come in different sizes and range in function from wallets and makeup bags to totes and duffels. Each bag includes a tag with the name of the woman from Kigali, Rwanda, who made it. Stories about the women are included on the business’s website, shyadesigns.com.

Shya Designs buys the bags and sells them here. Profits are used to pay the women for more bags and keep the nonprofit operating. Through the students’ efforts, three more women have been hired for the operation.

The name Shya comes from the Rwandan word “gishya,” which means to be made new, Ling said. It aptly describes the business, Miller said, as the Rwandan women involved are part of a co-op that is rebuilding their community.

Miller and Folger were involved in Shya Designs last year as juniors. As seniors, they ran for executive positions. Miller was chosen as CEO.

“I like connecting something I really like, business, with helping people,” she said.

Folger pitched the idea of creating a public relations position, which he ultimately filled.

Miller is quick to point out the success of Shya Designs is due to the entire team, which handles marketing, sales and operations. “I could not do it myself,” she said.

Ling said Miller had ambitious goals for the business, including reaching $20,000 in sales this year. That would be twice as much as last year.

So far, Shya Designs is ahead of pace to reach that goal, Ling said. For the first quarter, it generated more than $6,700.

“I never had a doubt we could hit that goal,” Miller said. “We have a great group.”

She said her philosophy is “go big or go home.”

“If you’re going to set a goal, make it big,” she said. “The harder it is, the harder you’ll work.”

SOBE is designed to give students a safe place to take risks and make mistakes while learning how to run a business.

“If they mess up or falter, that is literally the way they learn,” Ling said.

SOBE and CVCA’s other schools of distinction – the School of Arts and Humanities, School of Engineering, School of Medical Professionals and School of Ministry – offer two-year programs for juniors and seniors to help them determine preferences for potential career tracks before they get to college.

“It can help them figure out what God has called them to do,” he said.

Shya Designs has a robust online business, but it also sells bags at pop-up shops and other events and festivals throughout the community.

For more information and to order products from Shya Designs, visit shyadesigns.com.

 

Featured image photo caption: McKenna Miller (r) lives in Twinsburg and attends Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, where she is the president of Shya Designs. She runs the handbag company with senior Justin Folger (c) of Stronsgville and CVCA teacher Eric Ling (l). Photo by E. Peterson.