Just Call Her "Cupcake Meg"

“Everyone, especially young people, should know that no dream is ever too big to pursue, because nothing can ever start to succeed if it is doubted.”

So says 20-year-old Bed-Stuy native Megan Schmidt, entrepreneur, philanthropist and college student.

As a senior at Benjamin Banneker Academy in 2008, Megan signed up for Youth Venture’s “Dream it, Do it” challenge, the first step in a journey that has taken her to Central America and West Africa, and has resulted in her own line of t-shirts now sold in her favorite Soho boutique.

Through weekend workshops, the program trains high school students to create business plans and provides small seed grants to get them started. Meg’s project was a clothing line that would donate part of its profits to supporting education and healthcare for children around the world, starting with her family’s native Belize.

To raise money for the business, Megan began selling the cupcakes that have since earned her the brand name, “Cupcake Meg.” Continuing the cupcake sales from her dorm room at Hampton University, Megan has spread the excitement about her campaign while raising money for her overseas projects.

In the spring of 2010, Megan traveled to Belize, where she visited the Dorothy Menzie’s Childcare Home for orphaned children. Sales from her cupcake project have provided the children with school supplies and clothing, and plans to repaint the center and donate new furniture.

Later that summer, Megan took a trip to Togo, West Africa, with dress designer Raif Salami, a Brooklyn resident and Togolese native.

A longtime admirer of Salami’s shop in Clinton Hill, Megan finally met him after her mother struck up a conversation about Megan’s entrepreneurial activities. Impressed, he suggested that she accompany him and his family to Togo on their next trip.

Thanks to cupcake sales and other fundraisers, Megan was able to gather school supplies for children in Togo, and after spending time at the Ecole Savoir primary school, she is inspired to raise more money and build a new, more stable school house.

Megan points to the influence of her family and community in encouraging her to pursue these goals. “My mom taught me how to be a leader, and my dad always reminded me never to forget where I came from and that my roots are in Belize.”

Growing up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, she was inspired by “the many immigrants who have migrated here to make a living to care for their families." 

"People left their countries for a better life, and are working hard to make sure they survive even here," Megan said. “That’s all the inspiration I ever needed.”

As a marketing major, Megan hopes to expand the Cupcake Meg company while working on her non-profit foundation and its spinoff clothing line, aimed at empowering young people to be successful. 

“If there is ever a time when you feel a lack of inspiration, search for it and find a role model or mentor that has succeeded in your field of interests," said Megan, her advice to Bedford-Stuyvesant youth. 

"For those who have graduated out of Bed-Stuy, I want them to all know it’s never too late to come back and inspire their neighborhood," she said. "Kids in this neighborhood need to know the names and faces of Bed-Stuy’s success stories.”

For more information on Cupcake Meg's campaign or to donate, visit her website or email her at meg@cupcakemeg.com.