Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School held its first annual leadership banquet honoring student leaders on May 17. Students were treated to a delicious dinner and special awards, but the most memorable moment of the evening was the message from keynote speaker Kate Arian.

Arian is the young and chic CEO and founder of Mani-Care, a company offering mobile beauty services to those who need. Arian, a native of Millburn, New Jersey and graduate of Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy, shared her powerful story in her unique, honest and humorous way.

Arian, who was born with cystic fibrosis, shared that right after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she learned that she would need a double lung transplant. She really did not expect to get sick so fast and so young. During her extended hospital stays, one of the factors she realized she needed to keep her feeling as energetic and positive as possible was the maintenance of her usual beauty routines, yet she was unable to find professional nail, hair and skin care technicians willing to travel to her hospital bedside.

This experience led to her to create, the now thriving, Mani-Care, serving over nine states and contracting with 80 beauty technicians—all screened not just for skill, but for ability to connect with the customer. Arian emphasized charity, personal integrity and moral accountability alongside giving back to the community and making the most of our God given talents, experiences and challenges. She also highlighted key lessons she learned in building a business from the ground up. Her core messages included the power of thinking outside the box, not waiting for others to start a movement, launch an idea or enact change and being prepared to handle and accept small failures as a part of growth.

Ma’ayanot student leaders and faculty were moved by this personal and inspiring story of growth, and many commented that it made them think about their own life journey and plans for the future!

By Rayzel Yaish