A LIFESTYLE workshop aimed at managing teenagers’ personal brands has made a change in each of the young adult’s lives through various interactive workshops.
The Sassy Llama workshop was born in Port Elizabeth when one mother’s Google search for a digital life skills workshop aimed at teens, yielded no results.
According to Estée Cockcroft, founder of Sassy Llama, these workshops tackle reputation management, social media and personal development.
The need for this search stemmed from her daughter being excluded from a group of friends battling with skin care and having a rather distressing WhatsApp-wobble.
As a mother of three girls, she often worried about the many challenges they face regarding low self-esteem, InstaWars and saying no to nudes. “Sassy Llama was born from these concerns and the fact that reputation management has become such an essential concept to understand and use to your advantage from the day you are given access to the digital world, be it in the form of a tablet, a cellphone or an online game,” said Cockcroft.
The workshops are interactive and a fun learning experience where the teenagers are coached in personal development, online and offline reputation management and digital life skills.
The workshops run during the school holidays, for girls in Grade 6-9. Workshops for 2019 will be available during the March and September school holidays.
The first day, the workshops focus on creating a “strong llama”, which is all about reputation management in the offline world. This includes topics such as how to improve your self-esteem, friendships, boys, bullies, values and consent. On the second day, the workshops tackle reputation management in the online world, which includes sexting, slut-shaming, cyber bullying and screen addiction which form part of this module.
“The final workshop teaches the girls how to live a healthy life from the inside by talking about healthy eating and body image to the outside in the form of dressing for your shape and how to apply light make-up,” Cockcroft said.
Paige Thomson, an ambassador for Sassy Llama, said, “Sassy Llama was amazing! I will never forget it. The workshops taught me to always speak up for what I believe in and always try be positive. Every day of the workshop taught me something new”.
Sassy Llama’s golden rule, “Don’t be afraid to speak out and seek help”, paves the way for these young adults to break the silence and be a voice for others.
