Aadya Chaudhary

Aadya, 16, is a high school junior in Florida. She’s incredibly passionate about girl’s rights and creating equal opportunities for all individuals around the globe. She has worked on the feminism movement for the past four years through writing for organizations such as She’s The First and creating presentations for social media. She’s the co-founder and Head of Marketing/Outreach at uEmpower, an international organization striving to connect young girls to inspirational women and provide guiding resources for success. uEmpower has impacted over 150+ girls from over 21 countries and 19 U.S. states – reaching over 30,000 individuals! She’s also the founder of Butterfly Mentoring where she guides youth leaders to start/run their own non-profits and businesses – especially from a marketing aspect. She’s the Co-CEO and CMO of investEd, bringing students investing education to help them succeed! Through her organizations and school clubs, such as Computer Science Honor Society, she strives to bring inclusivity and encouragement to push others to reach their fullest potential by providing the resources they need to grow. She loves the performing arts and has worked in short films and performed in stage plays and musicals at her school. You can catch her screenwriting, volunteering, reading, traveling, coding, and editing – just to name a few of her favorite activities!

What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?

As a high school junior, I’m constantly juggling the many aspects of the high school life: classes, SAT, extracurriculars, social life, and more! But my typical day goes beyond this: handling uEmpower’s international chapters, responding to emails and DMs, working with youth leaders for Butterfly Mentoring, and working with my incredible co-founding team at uEmpower. With so much going on, it’s easy to get overwhelmed – especially as a student still discovering my passions and goals.

The biggest way I stay productive are my to-do lists. As simplistic as it sounds, to-do lists get me through the day. Just the feeling of checking the box next to each task is incredibly motivating! In fact, those who know me know that I have daily, weekly, and monthly to-do lists – sometimes even more than three per day(not normal, I know). I also use time-blocking: setting off specific times to complete tasks, helping me manage my time!

How do you bring ideas to life?

Support and collaboration! So many of my endeavors today would not have been possible without an incredible support system from my family and friends as well as my team at both uEmpower and investEd.

What’s one trend that excites you?

The incredible increase of the popularity of social media content creation – and it’s so much more than just dancing. Individuals are now making social media content in investing, fashion, film, photography, education, college, mentorship, and so much more! I find it so fascinating the way people can share their passions with the world through these platforms.

What is one habit that helps you be productive?

Turning on the “Focus Feature” on my phone! With no constant buzzing from my phone, I can truly focus on the task at hand.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t give too much thought to what others think – they are not the ones living YOUR life. Life is about discovering your passions and finding yourself, don’t place your self-worth on the opinions of others.

Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.

This is more of a personal controversy but pineapple on pizza – it’s really not bad!

What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?

Market, market, market your brand and work. The more you speak about your business or organization’s work/value to the public, the more reach you will achieve. Many organizations I see are doing so many incredible things but they aren’t TALKING about it. Without truly broadcasting your events and mission – you won’t see the growth you’re wishing for, especially in today’s competitive and vast environment.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?

When I feel overwhelmed, I try to write everything down on a piece of paper and then I throw the paper away. In a way, it’s like discarding the negative emotions and thoughts I’m feeling.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?

Networking. Networking is the single most important strategy that has contributed to the growth of uEmpower and Butterfly Mentoring. This doesn’t just mean getting your name heard, it means building connections that can eventually benefit your organization through various aspects. For example, connecting with a designer could benefit your organization in the long-run if you ever need designing expertise for, let’s say, t-shirts!

What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?

Failing to delegate tasks in a leading role in a school club. I thought this would make completing tasks easier, but it led to being overwhelmed and created a non-collaborative environment. I slowly worked on organizing tasks into different sectors, fitting the different roles of our officers – I would then break down these tasks and issue deadlines and information so we could all work on different parts to cohesively complete one task. I learned that such an important part of managing a team means INVOLVING the team and engaging them. As a leader, it’s important to help those working with you grow as well!

What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?

A holographic communication system would be REVOLUTIONARY! Imagine being able to call a friend in another country and talk to their hologram!!! As difficult as this would be to develop, I believe there’s not anything like it in the market and it could be an incredibly cool way to communicate.

What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

Google Keep – essentially a digital to-do list! Every time I receive a task, I break it down into smaller sections on google keep and check the boxes as I go keeping me focused and productive!

What is the best $100 you recently spent?

The best $100 I’ve recently spend was on books! I LOVE reading and it’s how most of my free time is spent. Bookstores for life!

Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?

One of my favorite books is Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. Growing up with the dream of acting in films, I find his journey as an actor so inspiring and it has opened me to many new aspects of thinking about the outcomes of life. He talks about not “needing” something and placing your entire value on it but rather “wanting” something and dedicating effort towards it. This principle is something I’ve told myself often after reading Greenlights and I believe it’s so impactful in the way it changes the way in which one perceives rejection and “failure”

What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?

I’ve recently started watching Suits and I’m enjoying it very much – very entertaining! I haven’t watched much yet so I’m excited to see where the show goes!

Key learnings:

• Surround yourself with those who support you and lift you up. Don’t stay with those who pull you down.
• Define your own self-worth and don’t think too much about others’ perceptions.
• SPEAK about your projects, this is how you grow!
• NETWORKING IS KEY! As much as this is said, it truly is the best way to succeed in today’s world.
• As a student, others may not always see your vision or they may deem it as too difficult to achieve; however, keep persevering. If you’re passionate about it, you will find a way to reach your goal.