Girls Who Start

By CASSIDY GOLIN ‘24 Features Editor

The business world was run by men. In fact, the first female entrepreneur wasn’t introduced until the 1900s. Madame C.J. Walker was the daughter of slaves who built her hair care empire from nothing. She was the frontier for women-owned businesses. Today, more than 11 million firms are run by women, but women only make up about 19% of business owners. This isn’t enough. “In our world, we are used to seeing men as entrepreneurs,” said Eastern Girls Who Start co-president Abigail Serata, “it’s essential for females to know that there are people like them in these positions and hopefully it can inspire them to follow in the same path.” What is an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is someone who starts and runs their own business. There is no age, gender, race, or education requirement to being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship teaches work ethic and problemsolving skills, “good work ethic helps solve problems—not just in business, but in life,” said club advisor Alec Sherman. Business skills are crucial to have, no matter what career you pursue. What is Girls Who Start? Girls Who Start was founded in 2012 by Reshma Saujani. The organization is geared towards girls that seek a future in business and entrepreneurship. By learning from other women’s experiences, students can receive the tools they need to run a successful business, “Girls Who Start exposes students to business professionals by getting to hear their stories and give advice from their experiences,” said Sherman. From Hint Water to Dormify, the wide variety of guest speakers knows no limit. Abby Serata and Eastern graduate Lily Coyne started a chapter of Girls Who Start at Eastern in 2020. “Before it became an official club at Eastern, I participated in large Zoom meetings of Girls Who Start presidents from all different schools in the country,”said Serata. “Besides DECA, which you can only participate in if you are in a business course, there are not many clubs that are like Girls Who Start. I became really interested in what I was learning in workshops and from guest speakers and wanted to share it with my friends, so I reached out to Mr. Sherman and we got the club approved.” Eastern’s chapter of Girls Who Start has already seen a variety of guest speakers. “Last year, guest speakers were very difficult because many people were struggling with work due to the pandemic and we had to do our meetings online,” said Serata. Despite the pandemic, the club was able to meet with guest speakers via zoom. “We’ve had many successful women entrepreneurs including an owner of her own dog training business, jewelry business owner, and a midwife with a birth education business.” There are many guest speakers to look forward to, including Benita Cooper, an architect from Haddonfield. The main goal for Girls Who Start at Eastern is exposure which will help make Girls who start a stable club at eastern. Abby admitted, “When we started, the club was all virtual and it was very hard to get the word across. This year, my hope is to have frequent meetings, increasing interest, and building up our members so that the club can continue long after I leave.”

Girls Who Start returns with renewed vigor Girls Who Start officers; from left: Dawn Betner, Kejal Shah, Elyse Kratchman, Abby Serata, Carly Schulman, and Nadine Litvak. Photo supplied by Abby Serata ‘22 It is just as crucial to have women’s representation in the workforce as anywhere. Women still make 80% of their male counterparts. It’s time to dissipate the gender gap. It’s time for women to run the business world. “If you are a business-minded individual that hopes to start your own business one day, and would like to know the resources available to you, this club is for you,” said Club Advisor Alec Sherman. If you are interested in learning more about Girls Who Start, contact Abby Serata at abbyserata2022@eccrsd.us.

Investments for Dummies: Tips from an Eastern expert

By TIANA CYRELSON ‘22 Media Editor

For new investors, the stock market can be scary. It can be challenging to know which stocks to invest in, which to drop, and when to do all of it. In the last issue, Mr. Sherman, the Investments teacher, recommended five of the best stocks to invest in. In this issue, we consulted Max Brzozowski, Eastern senior and president of the Investments team. Max has well-researched opinions, but these stock suggestions are for informational purposes only. Each investor should always do his or her own research and analysis before making any decisions. That being said, here is Brzozowski’s list of five recommended stocks. First up is AT&T, a global provider of telecommunications, media, and technology services. Along with names like Verizon and Sprint, AT&T is one of the largest providers for wireless and wireline telecom, video services, and other broadcasting capabilities. “Over the past three months,” Max explains, “it has experienced a gradual decline in its Small Moving Average with a -$1.50 ~5%. In the last few days, the stock has been highly volatile due to issues independent of the company (COVID and the Omicron variant. The downward trajectory of the SMA and the recent strength of earnings presents a unique entry point to buy into the stock.” This is a slowmoving stock, but Brzozowski recommends readers take advantage of the opportunity to buy in. For new readers, an ETF, or “Exchange Trade Fund, is a combination of stocks, securities, bonds, etc., and is traded as a whole. The SPDR Dow Jones Index ETF is a diverse grouping of stocks including UnitedHealth Group (UNH), Goldman Sachs (GS), Home Depot (HD), Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM), MacDonald’s (MCD), Honeywell International (HON), VISA (V), Boeing (BA), and Amgen (AMGN). While Max predicts extremely slow growth, he still recommends an investment. “This fund has followed the Dow Jones Industrial Average in its recent activity including the panicked sell-off due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the subsequent recovery. Given the largely inflated nature of the public markets, finding the entry point into this ETF is key. It is suggested that the recent and ensuing dips be viewed as purchasing opportunities.” Moving into a different area, Deere Co. is a multifaceted company with focuses in agriculture and turf, construction and forestry, and financial services. They operate in the manufacturing, sale, lease, and distribution of agricultural and turf equipment and related service parts. The company has moderate growth and could be held onto for either shortterm trading or long-term returns. “The activity of this stock is most closely tied to the infrastructure packages that are being pushed by the Biden Administration. In these packages are two types of infrastructure: physical and social. In the event of positive news about the passing of physical infrastructure, this stock will experience positive price changes. This prediction can be made from its vital role in the construction projects that will require its equipment and services.” Moving into the realm of cryptocurrency, Proshares Bitcoin ETF is a fund seeking to find “capital appreciation primarily through managed exposure to bitcoin futures contracts.” In other words, this fund does not invest directly in Bitcoin but instead in assets that have corresponding value to Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies. “Recently, this fund has experienced choppy water with COVID scares,” Brzozowski warns. “However, this fund-and cryptocurrency, in general, is a good hedge play to the macro-market because of the negative shift in demand for the US Dollar,” he said. It is recommended that this fund be purchased in the short term and reactively to positive news about Bitcoin itself or in response to negative news about the US Dollar and major indexes.” Of all of his suggestions, Brzozowski describes this to be the most high-risk investment, but it offers the potential of a high reward as a short-term hold. The final investment on his list is Buckle Inc., a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women. They operate in 42 states throughout the US and have over four hundred forty brick and mortar locations. “The principal draw to this asset is its rising dividend yield. All well-balanced portfolios have some equity in the dividend sector. However, it is advisable to place personal equity into this company because of the special dividend ordered by the board of directors to be paid out December 29 to shareholders of December 20 or earlier. In addition to providing a 6% increase in dividend yield, changes to the yield such as this one will create demand and volatility in price that can provide short term profit as well.” The low-risk investment is promising for a long-term reward. With each of these suggestions is a recommendation towards personal research, as no investment should be made without consideration to one’s own personal profile. Smart investing can be a helpful secondary source of income, but each investment should be carefully evaluated.

“The activity of this stock is most closely tied to the infrastructure packages that are being pushed by the Biden Administration. In the event of positive news about the passing of physical infrastructure, this stock will experience positive price changes.”

The second edition of Investments for Dummies

features senior Max Brzozowski and his list of recommended stocks. Photo by Tiana Cyrelson ‘22/Canva

Featured Stocks

1. AT&T (T) 2. SPDR Dow Jones Index ETF (DIA) 3. Deere Co. (DE) 4. Proshares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) 5. Buckle Inc. (BKE)