Impact Story April 2019

Freshly Motivated: Getting out of “The Funk”

“One girl, one woman, one goal can change the world in one day,” says Ke’Aunte, founder of BeYoutiful Weirdo LLC. As the lead preschool teacher for the Massillon Family YMCA, Ke’Aunte, better known as Miss Ke-ke to her students, found the inspiration for her mentoring program in her students who would ask her for advice during class. With the construction of the program in 2014, she began to draw in a small group of girls to mentor. Currently, Ke-ke is mentoring over 100 girls across our community, in schools, at the Y, in her church, and in Canton. Her goal: to help girls ages 5-17 to believe in themselves and to reach their fullest potential. She teaches them how to gain confidence, achieve goals, and become a leader while expressing self-love and creating unity among their peers.

Ke’Aunte has also written a book, titled, “A Positive Life is a Happy Life: Daily Motivation for You and Me,” after suffering from bouts of depression and feeling worthless. Being very spiritual, she feels that God has given her the purpose of serving others in her community and He has helped her to rise to her purpose. As a recipient of the 2019 Y Stark 20 Under 40 Award and Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women Helping Women, she states, “This means so much to me because that’s what my goal in life is. To help young women and young girls and that’s how I want people to see me as. Be an impact to everyone, to know that they can do this, that they can build their confidence up and just go after their dreams.”

For further inquiries or to submit your own story, please contact the author at
estefanick@weststarky.org