MECHANICSVILLE — Not many business owners can boast about being featured in a cable television show on CNBC with Donny Deutsch. But 12-year-old Taylor Ramirez can. At least she could if she were inclined to boast.
On Aug. 21, Taylor and her dad were featured in a segment featuring girlZlikeme.com, a website Taylor started for girls from 6 to 16. Although Taylor had been toying with the idea for some time, she knew it was time to act when her younger sister, Allie, sent her photograph to a national girls on-line magazine and was told they only worked with the agents of girls who model professionally.
“Why isn't there a website out there for girls like us?” Taylor wondered. And with that, girlZlikeme.com was born. “We want it to be a place for girls who are not perfect. I'm not perfect. Nobody is perfect. We're not airbrushed. We wanted it to be for all girls.”
A generation ago 12-year-old girls were scribbling their private thoughts in diaries. Today the world has changed. And so have 12-year-old girls.
Photo courtesy of Tony Ramirez
Taylor Ramirez visits her website with her dad, Tony.
“Our kids today are growing up in a different era,” observes Taylor's dad, Tony, who serves as executive pastor of Cool Spring Baptist Church in Mechanicsville. “They want to be on the internet. We have a great responsibility to put on the internet something safe. We can't control what the world puts on there, but we can control what we do. Kids are going to go on the internet. It's important for us and them to know that what they are visiting is safe.”
Safety is one of Taylor's primary concerns. “We don't have chat rooms. We don't have blogs or comments that identify the girls. It's a safe place where parents can be OK with their girls being on this website. It's predator free. No predators can contact the girls.” Girls are identified only by their first names and their states.
But Taylor wants the site to be fun as well. The website features the photo of a girl of the week. “Normally a magazine will have a cover, so this is kind of like the cover. Any girl can submit her photo and some fun facts about herself — favorite food, favorite color, things like that,” Taylor spouts enthusiastically.
GirlZlikeme also has a serious side to the fun. “It is also a good way for parents to interact with their girls helping them use the computer or to sift through photos to be shared on the website. One girl sent in a picture of her fun grandmother making a funny face,” remembers Taylor.
Although she is a devout young Christian, Taylor wants the site to attract girls of all kinds. But, she also wants the site to have a distinctively Christian feel. Taylor and her family decided to have a page for girls to tell about their service to others.
One of Tony's hopes is that Baptist girls will discover a way to tell a wider audience than just their local churches what they have done. “We have a venue for girls to share,” he says. “This is like an open phone to tell the world what they have done for Christ. There was no compromise. We wanted this. It is a chance for girls to learn the language of the church. Through the website, they may learn what Vacation Bible School is or what a mission trip is all about.”
The website has become a family affair. “The Servant's Heart page is for girls who go on mission trips with their church and things like that,” says Taylor. “So many girls have helped pass out backpacks to the homeless and things like that. And we wanted a place where they could tell what they've done. It's not a ‘Christian' website, but it's run by a Christian family. So it is very safe and clean. But we wanted girls to still be recognized for missions that they've done.”
“We hope Virginia Baptist girls will come to the site and tell us what they are doing in their youth groups and on mission trips,” says Taylor
The project has become a passion for the entire family. Her sister, Allie, with a lot of help from mom Tracy responds to girls who write for advice. Tracy also handles photos and fashion for the site. Tony handles the business side of things with help from Allie, who has taken an interest in the 7,000 unique visitors (5,000 in the week following the telecast) and the 50,000 pages viewed in August.
But the driving force, who handles public relations and page design and loading, is Taylor. “We have a business meeting every morning at breakfast where we go through the numbers and talk about what to put on the site,” says a very proud dad. “We get a lot of ideas, but Taylor is the one who knows whether a 12-year-old girl will like it or not. She is the driving force. She is the one who knows what she wants.”
How does it feel to be the father of a 12-year-old who has been featured on CNBC? “It's humbling. Taylor has always attacked things. One of the things she said on the television show is that you have to work hard for what you want and be passionate about what you are doing. She has wanted to build a website for probably three years. This was Taylor's idea, but the whole family became passionate about it and we are partners in it.”
In addition to her interest in the website, Taylor, who is homeschooled, is an accomplished pianist. The name of her website notwithstanding, there probably aren't many girlZlikeher.