TEDWomen 2013
Maya Penn: Meet a young entrepreneur, cartoonist, designer, activist ...
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Maya Penn started her first company when she was 8 years old, and thinks deeply about how to be responsible both to her customers and to the planet. She shares her story -- and some animations, and some designs, and some infectious energy -- in this charming talk.
Maya Penn - Entrepreneur, animator, philanthropist ...
Maya Penn makes eco-friendly clothes and accessories, which she sells on a site she built -- and gives away a percent of the profits. Full bio
Maya Penn makes eco-friendly clothes and accessories, which she sells on a site she built -- and gives away a percent of the profits. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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Server: May I help you, sir?
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Customer: Uh, let's see.
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Server: We have pan seared registry error
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sprinkled with the finest corrupted data,
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binary brioche, RAM sandwiches,
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Conficker fitters,
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and a scripting salad with or
without polymorphic dressing,
without polymorphic dressing,
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and a grilled coding kabob.
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Customer: I'd like a RAM sandwich
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and a glass of your finest Code 39.
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Server: Would you like any desserts, sir?
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Our special is tracking cookie.
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Customer: I'd like a batch of some
zombie tracking cookies, thank you.
zombie tracking cookies, thank you.
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Server: Coming right up, sir.
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Your food will be served shortly.
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(Applause)
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Maya Penn: I've been drawing ever
since I could hold a crayon,
since I could hold a crayon,
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and I've been making animated flip books
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since I was three years old.
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At that age, I also learned
about what an animator was.
about what an animator was.
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There was a program on TV about jobs
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most kids don't know about.
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When I understood that an animator
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makes the cartoons I saw on TV,
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I immediately said, "That's what I want to be."
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I don't know if I said it mentally or out loud,
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but that was a greatly defining moment in my life.
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Animation and art has always been my first love.
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It was my love for technology that sparked the idea
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for "Malicious Dishes."
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There was a virus on my computer,
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and I was trying to get rid of it,
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and all of a sudden, I just thought,
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what if viruses have their own
little world inside the computer?
little world inside the computer?
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Maybe a restaurant where they meet up
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and do virusy things?
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And thus, "Malicious Dishes" was born.
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At four years old, my dad showed me
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how to take apart a computer
and put it back together again.
and put it back together again.
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That started my love for technology.
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I built my first website myself in HTML,
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and I'm learning JavaScript and Python.
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I'm also working on an animated series
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called "The Pollinators."
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It's about bees and other
pollinators in our environment
pollinators in our environment
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and why they're so important.
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If plants aren't pollinated by the pollinators,
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then all creatures, including ourselves,
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that depend on these plants, would starve.
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So I decided to take these cool creatures
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and make a superhero team.
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(Applause)
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(Foot stomp)
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(Music)
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(Roar)
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Pollinator: Deforestsaurus! I should have known!
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I need to call on the rest of the Pollinators!
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(Music)
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Thank you. (Applause)
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All of my animations start with ideas,
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but what are ideas?
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Ideas can spark a movement.
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Ideas are opportunities and innovation.
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Ideas truly are what make the world go round.
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If it wasn't for ideas, we wouldn't be
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where we are now with technology, medicine,
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art, culture, and how we even live our lives.
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At eight years old, I took my ideas
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and started my own business called Maya's Ideas,
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and my nonprofit, Maya's Ideas for the Planet.
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(Laughter)
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And I make eco-friendly clothing and accessories.
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I'm 13 now, and although I started my business
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in 2008,
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my artistic journey started way before then.
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I was greatly influenced by art, and I wanted to
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incorporate it in everything I did, even my business.
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I would find different fabrics around the house,
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and say, "This could be a scarf or a hat,"
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and I had all these ideas for designs.
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I noticed when I wore my creations,
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people would stop me and say,
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"Wow, that's really cute. Where can I get one?"
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And I thought, I can start my own business.
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Now I didn't have any business plans
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at only eight years old.
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I only knew I wanted to make pretty creations
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that were safe for the environment
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and I wanted to give back.
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My mom taught me how to sew,
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and on my back porch, I would sit and make
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little headbands out of ribbon,
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and I would write down the names
and the price of each item.
and the price of each item.
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I started making more items like hats,
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scarves and bags.
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Soon, my items began selling all over the world,
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and I had customers in Denmark, Italy, Australia,
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Canada and more.
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Now, I had a lot to learn about my business,
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like branding and marketing,
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staying engaged with my customers,
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and seeing what sold the most and the least.
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Soon, my business really started to take off.
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Then one day, Forbes magazine
contacted me when I was 10 years old.
contacted me when I was 10 years old.
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(Laughter)
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They wanted to feature me and my company
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in their article.
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Now a lot of people ask me,
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why is your business eco-friendly?
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I've had a passion for protecting the environment
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and its creatures since I was little.
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My parents taught me at an early age
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about giving back and being a
good steward to the environment.
good steward to the environment.
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I heard about how the dyes in some clothing
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or the process of even making the items
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was harmful to the people and the planet,
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so I started doing my own research,
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and I discovered that even
after dyeing has being completed,
after dyeing has being completed,
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there is a waste issue that gives a negative impact
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on the environment.
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For example, the grinding of materials,
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or the dumping of dried powder materials.
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These actions can pollute the air,
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making it toxic to anyone or anything that inhales it.
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So when I started my business,
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I knew two things:
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All of my items had to be eco-friendly,
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and 10 to 20 percent of the profits I made
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went to local and global charities
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and environmental organizations.
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(Applause)
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I feel I'm part of the new wave of entrepreneurs
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that not only seeks to have a successful business,
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but also a sustainable future.
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I feel that I can meet the needs of my customers
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without compromising the
ability of future generations
ability of future generations
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to live in a greener tomorrow.
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We live in a big, diverse and beautiful world,
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and that makes me even more passionate to save it.
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But it's never enough to just
to get it through your heads
to get it through your heads
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about the things that are happening in our world.
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It takes to get it through your hearts,
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because when you get it through your heart,
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that is when movements are sparked.
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That is when opportunities
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and innovation are created,
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and that is why ideas come to life.
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Thank you, and peace and blessings.
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(Applause)
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Thank you. (Applause)
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Pat Mitchell: So, you heard Maya talk about
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the amazing parents who are behind
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this incredible woman. Where are they?
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Please, Mr. and Mrs. Penn. Would you just -- Ah!
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Maya Penn - Entrepreneur, animator, philanthropist ...Maya Penn makes eco-friendly clothes and accessories, which she sells on a site she built -- and gives away a percent of the profits.
Why you should listen
To sell her line of luscious knit scarves and eco-friendly hats, teenaged entrepreneur Maya Penn built and maintains her own retail website. (She started the business when she was 8.) She’s also an animator and a geek, and an eager evangelist of teaching kids of be entrepreneurs at any age. Bursting with ideas, she recently started a side nonprofit called Maya’s Ideas 4 The Planet.
Maya Penn | Speaker | TED.com