A Love of Giving Back: Teen Entrepreneur Aniyah Carey inspires many with her launch of The Sweet Admirers

A giving heart. A humbleness unmatched by many her age. A teenaged business owner wise beyond her years. That is Aniyah Carey. If you ever met the shy, quiet, and ambitious 14 year old, it wouldn’t take long to realize this teenager loves to be the difference in the lives of others. The Founder of Sweet Admirers, Carey’s company offers a variety of amazing sweets including stuffed apples, chocolate covered strawberries, pretzels, rice krispy treats, oreos and marshmallows. The native of Metairie and current High School student, Carey’s Sweet Admirers company is a complete reflection of herself. Kind. Giving. Loving.

Every business has a time and purpose. For Carey, it seemed as if starting the Sweet Admirers came during the unlikeliest of times. The pandemic. With a lot time on her hands due to school closures, Carey’s mother, Dominica Smith, knew that making good use of her time was the only option. Carey, who took heed to her mother’s guidance, spent time sharing ideas with a friend prior to coming up with the name of her now famous company. Carey knew entrepreneurship would be the route she would take.

“My company started in May 2020 during quarantine.” Carey stated. “I was in the house bored all day and my mom wanted me to do things because I was just on the phone all day and watching t.v. She (mom) wanted me to do something productive. So we started a business.”

Unlike many of her peers, Carey’s desire to be great at business is extremely noticeable. Between responsibilities as a student and business owner, the 9th grader is very detailed oriented how day-to-day business operations are handled. Social media pages are operated with precision. Products sold to customers are immaculate. Carey knows in order to make a good impression on her customers, presentation is everything. “Presentation matters.” Carey said. “It is always nice to do it right so you don’t have to start all over. Do it right the first time.”

An inspiration to many of her followers and friends, Carey recognizes with success comes responsibility. School first. Then business. With the help of her mother, she is able to balance the complexities of both school and business seamlessly, while still being able to maintain good grades in school. And although the young entrepreneur has had to trade some of her most favorite things to do for the sake of her business, she still makes herself available to those she loves when time permits.

“I used to go by my grandmother house a lot but now I can’t go over there as much as I used to. I also used to sit around watching t.v. and listening to music but I can’t do all of that anymore. Sometimes but not all of the time.”

With all of the love Carey has for her business, her greatest love is giving back. Tireless in her pursuit of helping others, the young entrepreneur can become restless at times when it comes to helping those in need. For Hurricane Ida, Carey was able to give out over $1,000 dollars in relief money to families who were affected by the storm. In fact, she was on the front lines donating her time and items although her family did not have everything. The foreseeable future is bright for Carey, who plans to team up with others to help feed the homeless.

“I always wanted to feed the homeless.” Carey said to blkpreneurship.com. “I have been asking my momma for years but parents always forget to do things (laugh). So on November 13th (2021), we’re going to team up with a bunch of people to help feed the homeless to give them food and other stuff.”

For all that Carey has given of her time and of herself, her mother has done an amazing job instilling the values of giving what is currently manifesting today. Her now, and future, are both bright. That is Aniyah Carey.