Most people tell teens: enjoy your youth, go outside, touch grass, party, have fun.

At YELL, I met friends who thought building businesses and tinkering with ideas was the cool thing to do on weekends.

That new “normal” changed everything. I started doing things I’d never have imagined—like launching a nonprofit that grew globally. By 17, I was leading a 200-person team. What?! I was getting paid to speak and traveling across Canada. It felt surreal.

But here’s the point: as a girl from a small town, YELL showed me what was possible. It gave me exposure to ambitious peers building crazy things and made me think, “Maybe I can, too.”

YELL gave me mentors, friends, and a community. That network didn’t just inspire my future dreams; it accelerated them.

Since YELL, I’ve:

• Broken into Wall Street and been featured on the NASDAQ in Times Square
• Started a VC-backed startup valued at $20M (in under a year)
• Worked with top VCs and startup investors globally
• Built brands for some of the world’s biggest content creators
• Helped scale multiple startups to 200K+ users

Now I’m building Gelèe.ai, the go-to personal-branding agency for founders. We deploy AI agents to grow founder brands on LinkedIn and X/Twitter, helping them become category leaders and attract the best hires, investors, and customers.

I owe a lot of where I am today to programs like YELL. YELL expands your sense of what’s possible and surround you with peers who take action.

If you’re a student reading this, here’s the uncomfortable truth: your environment sets your ceiling. Put yourself where “building on weekends” is normal. Find the room where you ship over talk. YELL was that room for me.

PS — I’m hiring. I’m bringing on a part-time content creator (about 1 hour/day) who loves making content. You’ll work directly with me and get mentorship. Ideal for a high school student or anyone looking for a first role. If that’s you, email: [email protected].

– Anjali Dhaliwal