Sonya Grey decided to create Thatgirl Magazine in 2005, when she was looking through magazines like Ebony, and Essence and realized there really was no magazine that catered exclusively to African American teenage girls.
“I saw a need,” said Grey, “If no one else was going to do it then I decided I would be the one to do it.”
Thatgirl Magazine is now one of the only online African American teen girl magazines that covers education, careers, lifestyle choices, health, fitness, self esteem and more.
Sonya Grey grew up in the inner city of Los Angeles and remembers an older woman who helped her get onto a drill team. The woman really helped her to get involved in the community, and it changed her life.
“At that moment, at only 11 years old, I knew that when I got older, I wanted to help other girls like me. I wanted to be the person to help them.”
The magazine gives African-American teen girls a voice and explores the lifestyle and culture of these young women. Thatgirl is dedicated to exposing readers to editorials with substance, life guidance, education, entertainment, and investing in the future development of African-American teen girls.
Thatgirl Magazine’s primary focus is to highlight African American women who are successful in business, education and entertainment in order to give young girls someone to aspire to, who looks like they do.
“My goal is to impact the lives of 10,000 youth this year. We try to reach out to so many young people throughout the school year and through our events, and it is my hope that this year we impact 10,000.”
Grey is on her way to reaching that goal with her next event: A “Thatgirl Power Conference” which will be held at the California African American Museum and invites 300 inner city girls, ages 13 to 17, to see what their future might hold.
The conference will showcase powerful, influential African American women as speakers including Councilwoman Jan Perry, best-selling author Lisa Nichols, and CEO and talent manager Belle Bromfield. The keynote speaker will be Vice President of Inclusion and Business Diversity at NBC Universal, Debra Langford.
One of the main focuses of the event will be the 50 percent dropout rate for inner city students in Los Angeles, and after speaking with this prominent panel, Grey hopes the students will be inspired to follow in the footstep of these successful women.
This is part of a series of such conferences, and Grey expects to have another event that is open to the public in the near future. Visit www.thatgirlmagazine.com to learn more about the magazine and get information on future events.
