A Quick Glance...
Where is it based?
Ann Arbor, MI
What are the goals set for the company?
To reach as many teenagers as we can before we graduate from college.
In the next five years, will Secure Teen have expanded outside of the internet world?
We have plans to expand Secure Teen to a paper publication and also as an interactive computer game for teenagers.
How do you successfully work as a team?
We have all become really close. A good partnership works best when everyone has a lot of love and respect for one another. As long as we keep high levels of love and respect, then the sky is the limit for the company.
Skylar Banks is the operational manager for Secureteen.net. He is a student at the University of Michigan.
What is your role with Secure Teen?
I am the creator. I don’t like to say I am a CEO/President, but I am the operational manager of secureteen.net. I make sure everybody is up to date on their tasks and responsibilities.
Who are the other members of Secure Teen?
The other members are Josie Hall, Kidist Allen, Chika Agi, Brittany Kozerski , Amanda Colbert, Guillermo Lavergne, Lonnie Taylor II, and Carlos Fernandez.
What inspired you to put together this project?
People. Teenagers. Insecure people that were usually teenagers. We all have insecurities that dig beneath our skin. I wanted secureteen.net to help teenagers deal with their insecurities and help them find their inner confidence. I also wanted to incorporate what I call the “Teenage World” into the website. Music, Entertainment, Sports, Fashion, and Daily News are major aspects of the experiences that shape a teenager’s life.
My younger sister Cameren Banks is also a major inspiration for the development of the website. I wanted to build a site that she could relate to seeing that she is in the middle of her teenage years.
After coming up with the idea, what were your next steps?
It took me a while to get the website off the ground. Initially, my main problem doing more talking than acting. Many people in my life have always told me, “Skylar, you have all these great ideas but you never pursue them.” I somehow pulled my ideas together and have given them substance with Secure Teen.
The three major steps to starting secureteen.net were: buying the domain name, getting a copyright, and recruiting driven and reliable writers that shared the same vision.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
In the next five years, I see myself as self-employed. I never want to work for another individual. I want to build secureteen.net to a global level, which I believe is possible with patience and dedication. Then, I want hopefully gain sponsorship from a corporation that serves as a resource for the same issues, such as WebMD. From there, I want to take my experience from secureteen.net and apply it within the restaurant business. I would very much like to open a restaurant that incorporates a hip-hop feel entitled “Urban Cuisines.” Further down the line, I would also like to open my own nightclub and have locations throughout the world. Realistically, these ideas will take more than five years, but nothing is impossible.
How do you achieve the balance between school and work?
It’s hard. In addition to Secure Teen, I work as a member of the dining staff for twenty hours a week. Sometimes I wish there were 28 hours in a day. Nonetheless, I manage by keeping a schedule and completing all of the tasks I hold responsibility for.
What or who keeps you motivated?
My family is my motivation and my reason. I am here on earth because of them and continue to push on because they are the fuel to my drive.
For further information check out http://www.secureteen.net/
