Jul. 2—CLARKSVILLE — Green Tree Mall's JC Penney Court was shining with the confidence of young girls running their own pop-up shops on Friday afternoon.
The mall and Beautiful as You Are (BAYA) Center presented the shops as part of the Girl Love Yourself empowerment camp.
EJ Clarke was busy giving Henna tattoos to her customers on Friday, carefully creating designs on their skin.
"I had very low self-esteem when I started BAYA. When I joined I was very upset because my mom made me join," Clarke said. "The second time I came there I had cried, and I didn't cry in front of people and it made me really, really emotional and it was because I had a safe space. I was able to express myself."
That's part of BAYA's mission and something Green Tree Mall also wants to help foster in the community.
Both Green Tree Mall Marketing Director Diane Brewer and BAYA founder Tish Frederick said it was important to instill the sense of community and confidence in young women.
Ramyah Carnell is an example of how these programs can lead to much more for the girls.
She's the owner of Junkie Jewelry, where she upcycles items to make jewelry pieces.
"I sell all homemade jewelry. I do different charms for people who want to get specific," she said, adding she makes most of her items from old. She said she sells her jewelry at pop-up shops across the region.
Payton Hughes is proud to show off the lip glosses, keychains and bracelets at her business, Sunkissed.
"I just always loved accessories. It took me like 20 minutes to put the right accessory for the right outfit," she said.
Her grandmother, L'Tanya Frazier, said being involved with BAYA has been a positive thing for Payton. Payton has worked hard concocting the right formulas for her make-up and has perfected her sales pitch.
"I love the fact that her she's a lot more attentive to herself, she has learned to appreciate herself a lot more since being in (BAYA)," she said. "Because she was a shy individual that really didn't speak out and she's had this business for the last three years and this is the most I've seen her talk."
Essence Adams has been in business for a few years and owns Essence Essentials.
She said that BAYA has helped her as a teen in business.
"I was able to talk, mainly my mom was talking and networking with people," she said. "And I started coming to BAYA and it just opened me up. And I was able to find myself and apply that, so now I can talk about what I love about crystals. It just makes me happy."