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Imagine going from "I guess I’ll be a doctor" to flipping Africa’s farming system…

and helping women become business bosses along the way.

This one’s not your average save-the-world story.
It’s scrappy.

It’s real.
​And it’s dripping with lessons you can steal.

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Got a burning question? I’m all ears.

Stuck on a startup idea? Wondering how to use AI without sounding like a robot? Trying to figure out what actually matters after high school?

Every week, I hear from teens building cool things, chasing big goals, and feeling a little overwhelmed by all the noise.

So I’m opening up a space just for you.

I’ll be answering your questions right here in the newsletter. No gatekeeping. No boring advice. Just real talk from someone who's been where you are—and wants to help you get where you're going.

Seriously. Nothing’s off limits.

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But FIRST

If you are new, welcome to OCE’s weekly newsletter curated for the ambitious youth…here are some articles you missed from previous weeks:

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Let’s talk about Michelle Kurian.
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Ex-pre-med student.
Now building co-op-powered farms in rural Zambia.
With no big donor money.
No rich parents.
Just a mission—and the stubbornness to see it through.

“I had no plan. Just a reason.”

Michelle grew up checking all the boxes:

✔ Indian-American
✔ Straight-A pressure
✔ Doctor dreams (sort of)

She was deep into grad school when burnout hit.
The path wasn’t adding up.
So she did what few would:
Took a research trip to Zambia.

She saw how hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers—most of them women—were barely scraping by.
Working endlessly.
Undervalued.
Under-resourced.
And trapped in the cycle of maize farming with razor-thin margins.

So she flipped the model.

Out went the white coat.
In came a different diagnosis.

She founded The Harvest Fund.
A nonprofit tackling the agricultural gender gap head-on.

Women were doing the farmwork.
But men were getting the tools, capital, and training.

Michelle’s model changes that:

• Profitable farming co-ops led by women
• Natural farming training + financial literacy
• Solar irrigation to fight drought
• And a path to actually sell crops for real money

She even started processing excess harvest into value-added products like tomato paste, turning waste into wealth.

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How’d she pull it off?

No fancy tech.
No “growth hacks.”
Just hustle.

Here’s the real startup stack:

• Strategy from business school
• Help from pro-bono sites like Taproot and Catchafire
• Cold emails to potential funders
• Free virtual events like Skoll World Forum (thanks, pandemic)

And when motivation tanked?

What about failure?

She thought she wasn’t smart enough.
Now?

That failure rerouted her toward purpose.

Ok but… why farming?

Because farming is everything.

Fix farming, and you hit:

• Hunger
• Gender inequality
• Climate resilience
• Local economic growth

And the kicker?
You don’t need millions to start.

Michelle started with one co-op.
Now she’s scaling up.

Launching shelf-stable food lines.
And building the supply chains women were shut out from.

Her toolbox?

Forget case studies. Try audiobooks:

• Contagious
• The Big Leap
• Atomic Habits
• Deep Work
• Think Bigger by Sheena Iyengar (lives on her nightstand)

Each book = a mindset shift.
Each shift = a new level unlocked.

What teen builders can steal:

1. Start with the problem—not the product.​
   She didn’t show up with a pitch deck. Just questions and curiosity.
2. Own your mission like your life depends on it.​
   That energy? That’s what fuels you when everything else breaks.
3. Build your own ladder.​
   No farming background? Google is your best friend.
   She became the expert.
4. Play the long game.​
   Most people didn’t even know what she was building.
   Now she’s got infrastructure, strategy, and stories worth sharing.

What keeps her grounded?

What does impact look like now?

Real. Tangible. Long-term transformation.

And when people told her,

TL;DR:

You don’t need a perfect GPA.
You don’t need a trust fund.
You don’t need anyone’s permission.

You need:

• A reason.
• Some resilience.
• And the guts to start in the dark.

Michelle’s vision didn’t get applause.
It got results.

Your turn.

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Like what you read? Share with friends!

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​

Lena

​https://www.openclassroomexperience.com/​

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