Yasmeen Persaud, a senior at Francis Lewis High School, has the typical worries and stresses of a high school student. Her day is filled with homework deadlines, college applications, and making her way through crowded hallways to get to classes on time. However, once she arrives at her 5th Period Virtual Enterprise class, she sheds the student role and transforms into the CEO of BluePrint, a printing company that specializes in producing 3-D business cards and products.

BluePrint is one of the various companies created in the Virtual Enterprise program at Francis Lewis High School. The program teaches students to pitch, develop and run their own companies. Students take on roles from CEO to HR Personnel, and are given the opportunity to learn about marketing, teamwork, and leadership skills in order to make their businesses thrive.

In this video, Persaud reflects on her role as CEO and the responsibility of leading her team to business success.

Introduction by Katelyn Chau and Crystal Lam

Video produced by Eilam Meintser, photography by Thomas Cheng and Eilam Meinster, additional reporting by Manoli Figetakis