We at South Charlotte City Lifestyle are all about encouraging others in our community and that certainly extends to the youngest amongst us who are already exhibiting ambition and an entrepreneurial spirit! In this article, we celebrate three young women who are doing just that.
Gabriella Morrison
Nana Morrison’s Soul Food has long been a Queen City foodie destination thanks to its well-deserved reputation as the place for fine soul food. The restaurant has been such a success the Morrison family is in the process of opening new locations and calling on the new generation to get even more involved. It was recently announced that Gabriella Morrison, at just 16 years old, has been named General Manager of Nana Morrison’s Soul Food’s new Charlotte area location.
And it isn’t just a title. Gabriella credits her family and her dad in particular with being super supportive, teaching her what it takes every step of the way from purchasing the necessary materials and equipment to build to hiring quality contractors to get the job done right. Gabriella now feels confident that as new locations come, she can handle the process on her own.
This didn’t happen overnight. Gabriella explains that she and her siblings grew up in the business. She remembers wiping down tables at the age of five and getting paid for it. As she grew, so did her responsibilities and her paycheck. Thus, she learned the business inside out.
As general manager of the new location, Gabriella will be earning $100,000 per year. It is her goal to help her parents retire early and let the new generation take over.
Visit Nana Morrison’s Soul Food today at 2908 Oak Lake Blvd., Ste.106, Charlotte, NC 28208, or visit NanaMorrisonsSoulFood.com.
Zoé Valdez
Zoé Valdez is a lesson to all that you can’t let the naysayers keep you from reaching your full potential, regardless of your age. At the age of only 14, Zoé set her mind to raising more than $20,000 needed to build an education pavilion for her school. She felt this project was worth the extraordinary effort to facilitate continuous learning for students affected by the COVID pandemic. The pavilion can accommodate 250 students from grades K-12.
Zoé witnessed first-hand how so many of her fellow students were struggling to cope with anxiety and stress and decided to take it upon herself to do something to make a positive difference. She arranged to meet with contractors and business owners throughout Charlotte to explain the situation, raising funds and soliciting resources and donations of time and labor to make the pavilion a reality. The pavilion will enhance outdoor learning, making the students physically and mentally strong.
It wasn’t always easy as Zoé shares, “I was told I was too young, it’s too hard, too expensive and too ambitious of me to accomplish this, but I didn’t listen, and I did it.”
Zoé became one of the youngest females in the Boy Scouts of America to receive the Highest Honor of Eagle Scout rank. Today, Zoe mentors other young girls and is a member of Girl Troop 167G in Steele Creek as an instructor to help the new young scouts grow in life and survival skills, share her knowledge and help them reach the Eagle Scout rank as she did.
Zoé is an upcoming Junior at Northwest Academy School of Arts where she is involved in Visual Arts and Dancing while taking focus studies in chemistry and biology for her goals in the medical field.
Zoé’s goal is to be a pediatrician and was nominated by 2007 Nobel Prize Winner Mario Capecchi, Ph.D. to represent North Carolina as a delegate at The National Academy of Future Physicians in Boston meeting Nobel Prize winners, scientists and inventors in the field of medicine this past June thanks to her work to aid the youth in our community.
Lauren Pruitt
Lauren Pruitt and her family—mom Ronni and sister Shayna moved to Charlotte in the fall of 2022. Lauren had already attended the Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts and once in Charlotte she combined her strong faith and her natural artistic ability to start her own online business selling a line of t-shirts and hoodies with inspirational messages and bible verses combined with her graphic images. With her career successes, Lauren's mom Ronni has wonderfully inspired both her 2 daughters to be the best versions of themselves. Her other daughter Shayna is on her journey to showcase her talents as an entrepreneur too.
Check them out at: Child-of-TMH-Apparel.Printify.me