Like many moms, Stephanie Szewczyk and Kristen Hutchison both want their daughters to grow up to be strong individuals – at least stronger than the two moms were as children.
“So Kristen had said, ‘when did you feel like your strongest selfie?’ and I was like, ‘wow, maybe not until I was in my early thirties,’” said Szewczyk. “And we just wanted our girls to feel stronger sooner than we were. And the world they’re growing up in is way different than ours.”
They came up with the idea for STRONG self(ie): a seasonal subscription box for teen and tween girls. Each box contains items designed to be empowering and fun for the girls that receive them.
“We always have the four corners of selfie strength represented in every single one of our subscription boxes,” said Hutchison. “They all end in ‘ie’. And it’s smart(ie), health(ie), beaut(ie), funn(ie). We feel like those are the four corners to help a girl feel like her strong selfie.”
Previous boxes have included pillows, makeup, socks and water bottles.
The overall mission of STRONG self(ie) is to empower girls to be their best selves. Starting a dialogue between moms and daughters is the first step.
“This box is a good reminder to talk about how are you feeling about yourself in smart(ie) skills or your beaut(ie) sense,” said Hutchison. “And having this be a toolkit to open up some avenues to start those conversations with your daughter.”
STRONG self(ie) offers two separate subscriptions designed for different age groups. The Bloom box is for girls aged 8-12 and the Burst box for girls 13-17.
Empowering young girls one box at a time.
For Naperville News 17, I’m Casey Krajewski.