The Girls Inc. Corporate Campers spent the week developing and refining the plans for each of their businesses. From coaching sessions with corporate execs to visits to female-owned companies, these girls experienced what it's really like to be a business leader!

Girls Inc. staff tagged along with the campers during a visit to Karen's Body Beautiful of Brooklyn, NY, where owner Karen Tappin Saunderson cooks up homemade bath and body products made from all natural ingredients.

Karen has tons of great advice to offer young entrepreneurs! As a college freshman, Karen started her first business, a care package delivery service called Karen's Delicious Deliveries. She told the girls that identifying a specific customer base (a.k.a. demographic) and understanding what her customers want is a huge part of what has brought her success.

Karen is the expert on her clients, so she's also the marketing guru behind her biz! Karen described her highly personalized marketing plan to the Corporate Campers, which she researched and devised independently. She hosts in-store events and emails personal sale invitations to customers. People walking by her shop are drawn in by the Moroccan-inspired décor and the aromas of products being made in the store for all to see. In fact, eighty-three percent of people who visit Karen's Body Beautiful buy one of her products and Karen is opening up a second location in the fall!

Collette Smith of Loco Kicks (Girls Inc. of Tarrant County, TX) said that getting to know one's customers was the biggest piece of advice her team took with them. Part of the Loco Kicks marketing plan is to promote their customized sneakers at sporting events like basketball games.

Jordan Pearson of Team Fit (Girls Inc. of Jackson County, IN) agreed with Karen's advice. "Perfect Fit even has a computer system that saves our customers' preferences!" she said. The ladies of Team Bling (Girls Inc. of Jackson County, IN) summed up how they will appeal to their customers with their company motto: "You bring it, we bling it!"

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