inDepth: A Mighty Girl

February 12, 2013 by Dina McQueen

Mighty Girl is all about honoring the diverse capabilities and interests of girls. And, it’s our greatest hope that these high-quality books and movies will inspire a new generation of girls to grow and pursue whatever dreams they choose—to truly be Mighty Girls. -A Mighty Girl co-founder Carolyn Danckaert

Carolyn Danckaert and Aaron Smith are a husband/wife team of technically savvy social entrepreneurs who are bringing the subject of empowered girls to the forefront of a girls-rule-hungry populace. This clever, conscious, and creative couple has managed to accomplish the remarkable: an in-depth and user-friendly resource to purchase female empowering media for girls.

The duo are both book-loving folks and aunt and uncle to four young girls. When holidays and birthdays would come around, they wanted to buy their nieces meaningful books, books that would not stereotype or belittle women’s place in the world. They had to search, though—and search, and search.

After thirteen years of birthdays and Christmases, come late 2012, the couple realized they could do something about this not-so-minor issue: start a website where people can go to find empowering, entertaining, well-produced media for girls.

“We comprehensively did a survey of different sites out there to see if anybody else was covering the niche. What we found were top ten lists here and there, which were helpful, but limited.”

In their search for the perfect gifts, Carolyn and Aaron, both self-proclaimed “techies,” found that the same titles kept popping up. This instilled in them a strong need to create a website for people to go where there was more diversity. So, they started digging and seeking; the end result is a detailed, intricately crafted website that offers the largest resource for people who want to ensure that girls have access to the most diverse, empowering media the world has to offer.

Development of A Mighty Girl started in January 2011, and the site was launched in April 2012. First, the site offered just books and movies, but very soon Carolyn and Aaron concluded that more resources were available. They took into consideration user feedback and input, and quickly expanded to list music.

What about revenue? Since they don’t sell anything directly (yet!), how do they keep afloat? Carolyn shared that interns have been assisting with development and have been incredibly helpful in terms of expansion. Most of the volunteer staff are in their early 30s with a majority moms of young daughters. All of them, naturally, have a passion for girl empowerment.

The site is so in-depth and clever. It has over 4,000 items, and it just might become your go-to website to find the perfect gift or educational tool for girls. Products are linked to amazon.com, with a portion of each sale going back to A Mighty Girl at no added cost to the customer. A total win-win business situation.

In the last six months, the site has added clothing, television shows, and toys. Perhaps the most important thing to know about Carolyn, Aaron, and the dedicated interns at A Mighty Girl is that they “thoroughly evaluate everything that goes up on the site, and are committed to only adding empowering, high-quality resources.” To check it out for yourself, visit A Mighty Girl or connect with their very vibrant Facebook community.