Changing the World, - Horace Mann School

changing the world
Courtesy Prep-for-Prep
Amanda Loyola ’10
Takes Entrepreneurial
Action
Personal loss is paralyzing to some. To others
it’s a call to action.
When HM junior Amanda Loyola ’10 experienced
the loss of her beloved dog Princess,
she allowed herself to grieve, then set about
investigating the cause. Becoming proactive, she
devised a way to help prevent illness in others’ pets.
That’s no wonder, for Amanda Loyola is one Horace
Mann School student who seems to never stop moving.
Her pet Princess died of cancer in 2006, during Loyola’s freshman
year at HM. Entering Horace Mann in seventh grade the
student learned that a transition such as transferring to a new
school requires the support of a friend. Princess was the perfect
pal to help Amanda unwind after long days of classes and loads of
homework, and to adjust to the growing list of athletics and extracurricular
activities she pursued. A loving part of Loyola’s family
for ten years when Princess was diagnosed with cancer, and died
not long after, Amanda cleared time in her teeming schedule to
find out why.
Through an Internet search Loyola discovered that red meat,
which contains chemicals from cattle feed, was a leading cause
of cancer in dogs. She kept learning more while also pursuing her
busy HM life. A distinguished tri-athlete on HM’s varsity soccer, winter
and spring track teams, Loyola also competes outside of school
on the nationally-ranked Manhattan Fusion soccer traveling team,
while balancing studies in Honors Physics and AP Economics. And
let’s not forget that she’s a Middle Division mentor, a student ambassador,
a health peer tutor, conducts health classes for Summeron-the-Hill,
serves as an anti-smoking counselor for HM’s seventh
graders, plays piano, and is learning guitar.
Thus, she had to wait for summertime to work on the idea that
came to her through her research. During the summer of 2008
Loyola was enrolled in a business program run through New York
City’s Prep-for-Prep, which had initially brought the Delta Honors
Student to Horace Mann. The program was the National
Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship
(NFTE) BizCamp, organized through Prep and
Goldman Sachs. “We had to come up with a
business idea, and create a plan to market it,”
recalled Loyola. “I knew exactly what I wanted
to do. Create and sell vegetarian dog treats.”
Working with her father, a chef, she
devised a recipe for this healthy, organic dog
food, and named it Eco-Dog Treats. “I learned
that one of the myths people believe about dogs
is that they can’t go omnivore. We worked around
that. Our slogan is ‘make your dog an eco-dog,’” she
said. She entered her project and business in the NFTE
New York Metro region competition, and took first place. The next
step was a national competition, the Oppenheimer Funds/NFTE
National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. Each NFTE regional
winner was entered, and on October 23, 2008 Amanda Loyola
presented “EcoDog Treats” to a panel of prominent entrepreneur
judges in New York. Thirty-five students from around the country
presented 30 different proposals. Amanda’s took third place, and
garnered $2,500 in seed capital to fund her business or use for her
future education.
Loyola plans to work on her business plan come summer when
her schedule loosens up a bit. With an internship in business
already arranged she will also spend time seeking the necessary
licenses to set up a limited liability corporation. “There’s a lot
involved,” she said. “I’ll be looking at the shelf life of the dog treats,
and have to study the nutritional facts.” These have to be shown
on the labels. And of course, Loyola’s product packaging will be
environmentally friendly.
What about the challenge of starting a business in today’s
economic climate? Amanda Loyola is looking ahead. “People say
this isn’t a good time to go into the business world. But if it doesn’t
work, well failure is also a part of learning about business,” said the
junior who plans to study economics in college. “I think by the time
I graduate from college things will change. It will be a time to look
for new ideas.”
Loyola appreciates the encouragement she has received from
her HM teachers, including science teacher Dr. Stephen Palfrey and
history teacher Dr. Claude Catapano. “And, Mr. (Mitchell) Francis
has been very enthusiastic,” she said of her math teacher.
A veteran mentor to younger students, Amanda Loyola says she
can offer “only the classic advice. If you have an idea, don’t ever let
other people tell you it won’t work.” $
Amanda Loyola and her parents beam at the first of her awards.
“I have only the classic advice. If you
have an idea, don’t ever let other
people tell you it won’t work.”
Horace Mann Magazine Spring 2009
25