Welcome to Next Wave: Made By a Teen, For Teens

A message from the founder

When I first had the idea for Next Wave, I was sitting at my desk doing my homework, and it didn't really start out at the beginning with some big idea. I was inspired.

At my school, there's a group of kids who run their own sports photography business. They have their own management team and hire other teen photographers to take pictures as well as some students from our school. During my freshman year, I was the only girl in my engineering class, and I remember overhearing all the time about the business. I wanted to be in on it, even. But number one, I'm an athlete myself, number two, I didn't really have a clue how to technically work a camera or work on a team in a real business, and number three, I wasn't sure how to introduce myself or if that was something I wanted to commit to.

So I thought to myself: "What if I start something of my own?" But then came more roadblocks.

I've had my fair share of novice "businesses." From making bracelets to attempting to sell lipgloss, I either gave up too early or took it seriously too late, so I knew that creating a product was not on the table.

Then, I started thinking to myself about what is it that I like and I do? I'm a writer. I'm an athlete. I like film, and music, and nature. I'm a dedicated student. I like learning about space, and law, and crime, and politics, and medicine, history, STEM, and so much more. I'm a very versatile person. From the outside, most people only know that I play basketball and I'm a good student, and a lot of my other hobbies and interests are hidden, much like a lot of teens today. So, I didn't want to do anything sports related. As an athlete myself, there is so much more to me as a person than that, and sports photography and marketing already has its own big universe. Everyone makes mixtapes and highlight reels now, which makes it far too competitive, and there's nothing unique about it. It would also be very unoriginal of me to start my own sports marketing company.

So the next question I had to ask myself was what do I have in common with other teens?

I'm an author and a screenwriter. I have been since I was nine. But only a solid five people know that. I'm close to self-publishing my first book, I want to get into acting, and I want to direct and shoot my own films. Nobody knew that until recently.

I had a feeling that so many teens out there have cool interests, talents and hobbies, but I realized that there weren’t many spaces where teens could truly be seen for what we’re capable of creating. Either it was hard to find opportunities to showcase work because of under-advertised or inconvenient deadlines, or trying to go TikTok viral was just not working anymore. Believe me, I've been there. I knew that there was incredible talent out there—teen writers like me, and artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, and future innovators—yet so many of us lacked a platform to share our work, connect with others like us, and gain real opportunities to grow. So, instead of feeling stuck and continuously asking myself, "Will anyone ever know about my work?", I decided to build it myself. And that’s how Next Wave was born.

Next Wave is more than just a website or a social media account—it’s a movement. It’s about giving a voice to the next generation of dreamers, doers, and creators. It’s about spotlighting real talent, telling real stories, and proving that ambition doesn’t have an age limit and it certainly doesn't only start when you're on your career path. Every feature, every post, and every opportunity shared here is designed with one thing in mind: empowering teens to step into their passions and start making an impact right now, not "someday."