As a teenager, Andréa Butler always wondered why none of the girls on the cover of magazines looked like her.
At age 15, she aimed to solve this problem.
“If nothing has changed by the time I’m done with school, I’ll start one myself,” she said.
And that is exactly what she did in 2012, when she founded SESI, the only teen magazine for black girls in the country.
SESI started out with just 10 copies, but has grown into a quarterly magazine with 20,000 readers across 47 states and other countries.
While Butler wanted to have common topics like beauty, fashion and health included in the magazine, she wanted something special too.
"I also wanted to address social issues," she said.
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Butler highlights the “Black Girl Magic” column, which focuses on the success of ordinary girls and “allows them to see themselves and see what else they can do.”
The magazine also features guys, like Asante Black, co-star of Netflix’s “When They See Us.”
Overall, Butler hopes that her magazine will continue to motivate her readers, just as much as it motivates her.
