Managing school life, family obligations, friend commitments, and running a business all at once may sound difficult, but there’s one student entrepreneur who’s been doing it for years that definitely makes it look easy.

Meet Isheba Cornwall, 19-year-old University of the West Indies, Integrated Marketing Communication student by day and CEO of Empower Youth Tees (EYT) by night.

Born in Westmoreland and a product of the Exclesior High School, Cornwall has acted as the “head cook and bottle washer” of her business since its inception in 2018.

A true definition of the phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, the EYT owner recalls the inspiration for her business being fueled by an incident that occurred when she was a mere nine years old, leaving her blind in her left eye and nursing many insecurities as she progressed through high school.

“After going through all of that, and low self-esteem, I kinda told myself that look here, I wouldn’t necessarily want anyone to feel this way, and so that is where my love or my passion for wanting to empower and inspire people came from,” said Cornwall.

Though she admits that running a business while being in school has been difficult, the K-Drama series lover says she’s learned the art of prioritising.

“Some of the time I’m maybe gonna have to cut down some of the time that I spend on Netflix and either put it towards my school work or towards the business.”

As challenging as she says her experience running a business while still in sixth form had been, it was nothing compared to the challenges she faced making the transition from high school to her first year of university and having to do so remotely.

“It was really hard to transition from high school to university overall, but having to do it in an online setting was weird,” she began.

“(However) I have learned to adapt to the process; there were times when I didn’t have the motivation to go to classes, but I really tried.”

Efforts it seems did not go in vain as her semester one grades earned her a coveted spot on the 2020-2021 Faculty of Humanities and Education Deans Honour Roll.

Academics aside, Cornwall says there are two goals business-wise she would like to accomplish within the next five years.

The first is to possibly begin conceptualising clothing design ideas for brands outside of EYT and the second is to “see EYT shirts in stores locally and definitely internationally”.

For aspiring or budding entrepreneurs Cornwall’s advice is to do your research.

“Before you get up and decide you want to create a business, think about how it is that you are going to be able to do this, think about your audience… is the product that you’re selling something that people actually want?… what is your unique selling point?”

As the nation gives way to a new generation of entrepreneurs, it brings great pleasure to see young entrepreneurs like Cornwall, with a business dedicated to empowering youths.