YES National Finals

Olivae, along with their teacher Naomi Chapman and hundreds of other students and supporters attended the Young Enterprise Scheme National Awards 2022 at Te Papa in Wellington. Although Olivae was not up for a national award they were treated to an amazing experience and were able to join in the celebration of their counterparts from across the motu and be inspired by what was achieved. As year 12 students Olivae intend to carry on their business next year, attending the awards will put them in good stead for having another crack at the top placings in 2023.

4687 secondary school students participated in YES in 2022, setting up over 1000 companies between them. The awards night celebrated 28 of these companies.

Sole Haircare was crowned National YES Company of the Year, the students from Otago were awarded $3000, a $5000 scholarship for each company member and their school was awarded $2000.

Sole produced a unique all-natural colour matching dry shampoo in two tones which enhances sun protection to the scalp. Judges were impressed with their well-rehearsed pitch and their success in marketing their product through social media, in particular their incredible reach on TikTok.

Second place was Upcycled Plastics who have built and developed their own large-scale production line that can recycle used plastic into a wide array of products. The company has recycled 160kg of plastic to date, which is over 3500 milk bottles.

Third was Sky’s Surf School which was created to deliver innovative female specific surf lessons creating a community of females who grow to feel confident and empowered both in and out of the water.