- Hi I am here with Amy Brenneman. Give it up!
(horn beeping) (audience applause)
Everybody my next guests are sisters
who founded an organization that empowers black women
and helps them succeed.
They have given thousands of dollars in scholarships,
much of it from their own pockets.
And get this, they are both still in school.
So, that's why we're calling them rad humans.
(upbeat music)
(audience clapping)
All right everybody, please welcome the founders
of Beauty and Brains, sisters Janet and Jennifer.
What's up ladies?
- Oh my god. Hi! (audience applause)
- [Kelly] Hi. - Hi Kelly.
- Hi. Well meet Amy.
- Hi Amy, it's so nice to meet you.
- I know! Thank you for having us. Nice to meet you.
- I am so-- Y'all look beautiful.
I love the difference shades of pink.
I love what you have going.
And I mentioned, that you are both, you know,
still in school.
So where are you going? Janet you can go first.
- So, yeah. I'm Janet, I'm Jennifer's older sister.
I'm 24 and I am in my first year of medical school
at Southern Illinois University.
- And I'm Jennifer, I'm 21 and I'm currently
in my junior year at Cornell University.
(audience applause) - [Kelly] Oh my gosh.
Well done parents. Well done.
Well Janet and Jennifer you're from
the south side of Chicago but grew up in the suburbs.
What impact did that have one you?
And like, maybe your aspirations and your dreams,
and how big you could dream.
Janet you want to go first?
- Yeah of course.
So my parents were originally from the south side of Chicago
so that's where they were born and raised.
But they were just both very dedicated to education
and making sure that their own kids
were able to grow up in an environment where
we had access to resources and better school systems.
And just opportunities that they didn't have growing up.
And so, when I was very young,
and before Jennifer was even born,
they moved us into the south suburbs so
that's where we grew up majority of our lives.
And just noticing the differences between the two areas,
like, it's drastic.
Comparing the school systems between the two, like,
even just being in the city when the neighborhoods
are not as safe compared to the suburbs
and schools where we were.
Our school system was overall better.
Our teachers were more invested in our learning
and making sure we were receiving the proper education.
And even just like, our facilities were a lot nicer
and there were more opportunities and resources
provided to us.
- Exactly, so like Janet said,
we travel back and fourth a lot
to visit our friends and family still
and just, as we grew up we got to see the differences
that came with that.
So, you know, we'd come home from school
talking about the homework that we had
and the things that we learned in class and
different projects that we could have been working on,
where as our peers weren't having
that same experience, you know.
They'd say they went to class
and they didn't really do much
or their teachers, you know,
weren't asking them to, you know, take anything home
to still work on, and so, that's when we first started
really seeing the different trajectories in our lives
that just our education made.
- [Kelly] Absolutely, I think, man,
I think that's important for every kid for all walk,
whatever walk of life you come from,
whatever your background is, it's so important.
Don't you think it's so important for,
especially kids, like growing up to see
different areas outside of where you were from?
- Totally I mean, congratulations,
you guys are amazing.
And what I find really beautiful in your story
is that even when you moved out of the south side,
it wasn't like, okay now were there,
now we're just gonna, you know,
that the connections you had,
you know, allowed you to see, like, context,
and like, oh wow, this shouldn't be so.
There's also like, as I'm sure you guys know,
like, amazing studies.
There's a book called Half the Sky,
which is about women and girls around the country and,
or I'm sorry, around the world, and the difference
it makes in a, specifically in girls lives,
to get education early.
I mean, economically, it makes,
it makes a difference top to bottom.
So it's really like, investing in education
of women and girls is like, the way forward.
Amazing.
- Absolutely. That's called Half the Sky?
Is that what you said?
- Yeah. Yeah. There's a documentary too.
Yeah, it's wonderful.
- That's awesome.
- Yeah, it's sort of like, also the microloan program.
So if you give a young girl $5, you know,
and it's like, what she will invest it in.
And it's, I'm sorry, women and girls,
it's where it's at.
(everyone laughing)
- We're not bias or anything.
Well, Janet you started awards scholarships
out of your own pocket.
And you're, I mean most, I know I've helped people pay,
like, you know, friends of mine help pay for college.
College is expensive. It's already a hard thing.
You're racking up debt, all these things,
and here you are giving away money while you're in school.
That's unheard of.
- Yeah, so, when I was a senior in college
I was working three jobs and by the end of the year
I had saved up so much money and I just felt like
I was so blessed during this time and
I just felt like I just needed to do something
with this money.
And all throughout my entire college career
people always came to me and asked me like,
how did I do it and could I recommend some different
resources or different scholarships or
different opportunities that they can apply to.
And while I had all this extra money at the time
and I didn't have any bills or anything that I needed
to take care of.
I felt like I should do something good for people
just like me and so
I wanted to give back and so in 2018
that's when we awarded our first scholarship
and it was money straight out of my pocket
that I had saved up.
- Exactly, so you know, she came to me with the idea like,
this is what I have, this is what I do,
I want to give this scholarship, you know,
we should do it together.
And so this is when I'm graduating high school
and I'm like, you know what, let's do it.
And you know, once we did that,
we kinda saw the full need that was there
and we're like, you know, there's an opportunity to do more
here and we can really, you know, make a difference here.
And so that's where the whole organization started
until it became more than a scholarship.
And so at this point we've given away seven $1000
scholarships, we've hosted our signature Beauty and Brunch
networking event, and just you know, we're supported in,
you know, providing these resources because we've been
given the support through our family.
You know, our Nana, our mom and our dad,
we have a super solid support system, you know,
so we wanted to do the same.
(audience applause) - Yeah, so you wanna create
that support system for other people.
It's a beautiful thing.
You are two remarkable young women, it's really,
I keep forgetting how old you are when you speak.
I'm like, okay. It's crazy.
One of their recipients is actually my next guest.
Please welcome Rachel everybody.
(everyone applause)
- Hello.
- Hi. Hello. Well, say hi to Amy.
- Hi everybody. - Hi Rachel.
- Thank you for having me.
- Absolutely! absolutely.
So Rachel, like, how is their organization?
How has Beauty and Brains helped you specifically?
- Oh man. (chuckles)
Beauty and Brains has been such a pivotal
and transformative part of my experience.
I attend Spelman College right now
and when I transferred to Spelman College
I was on this journey of really giving back
to my community from what I experienced
and I wanted to be surrounded by like minded
black students and black individuals who really
wanted to be change agents
and Beauty and Brains came in with the super women cape
and helped me so much financially.
I was able to pay for my books and transportation
and it was just such a blessing.
It was like divine intervention, we like to say.
It was divine intervention and
beyond that right now I run the content creation team
and we put our resources, anything from study tips,
health tips, resume, LinkedIn, you name it, we got it
and we're providing those resources for black women
and black students.
And it's been so empowering.
It's been so empowering for women to just come along
and be a part of this network and community that we have.
It makes me so happy.
My favorite thing about Beauty and Brains is that
it's ongoing.
It's not just a scholarship, here take this money,
it's like they adopted me into their family,
into this community, into this movement,
this ever growing and ever lasting movement
that we have here and it's gonna change the world.
And we just hope that black students are their highest,
best version of themselves through Beauty and Brains.
- Absolutely. And you know what,
that network, like you said, that's so invaluable.
Like having people really help you out with,
not only the support, but the opportunity,
the just knowing, you know, kind of, what to do,
what's my next step.
Like, not just helping you here and letting you go
and figure it out.
That's an incredible thing.
Well I have to ask you, I mean, Janet and Jennifer,
what is so special about Rachel?
I know that you've, you know, been able to help
several people but like, what do you think sticks out to you
about Rachel?
- We love Rachel so much. - Love Rachel.
- Rachel, we love you.
We just overall just love her spirit.
She embodies everything about what Beauty and Brains is.
And you guys heard her story
about having to transfer schools
and she's just a prime example of what can happen
when someone is given those options
and those resources and when they finally find them.
And so, now that Rachel has been given that
she's just a constant source
to feed back into the community so.
It just creates that cycle of teaching and being taught
and just, feeding back into the community
what you've been given.
- Exactly, and so Rachel hit it right on the head.
Just, she's that cycle in action.
She's already helping women like her, like she said.
And she heads our marketing team
and produces that content which you can find
across our Instagram page and
she talked a lot about how it's more than scholarships
and so, like, she really gets Beauty and Brains,
and she's the embodiment of what we all stand for
and that, you know, what a unique experience it is
to be a black woman
and the restrictions that comes with that
and that's why we empower our BB girls to, you know,
bring their whole selves into everything that we do
and Rachel does just that, and so.
- Ah, thank you guys! (audience applause)
- And into her career and so we just can't wait
to see everything she becomes
and so glad that we got to have her be a part
of this journey with us.
- Well, we reached out to our friends at Ottlite.
The only desk lamp designed with proven patented
sanitizing technology that actually kills bacteria
while you work or study and even reduces eye strain
and like Janet and Jennifer they want to help
others strive for their best so they're gonna give
Beauty and Brains $10,000 because they love you.
(audience applause)
Is that all right? Will that do something?
Will that help? (laughing)
- Oh my god, yes! Thank you! - Oh wait, I'm crying.
- Oh my god. Absolutely.
- Thank you so much!
Ladies, I can't wait to have y'all back on
and just see what's next, happening in the next chapter
of Beauty and Brains.
It's amazing what you're doing.
It's just an incredible thing for,
especially young women just being empowered
by other young women.
It's really, really beautiful.