CEO. Philanthropist. Volleyball player. At first glance, Nishka Ayyar (12) appears to be an ambitious person who stops at nothing to get what she wants. In reality though, at her core, she’s your carefree, high-spirited, easy-to-talk-to friend.

Despite her involvement in volleyball– a fairly aggressive sport– as a defense specialist since freshman year, she says with her signature goofy smile, “I’m not a starter or anything, so my main role is to be there for the team.”

So, with her bubbly laugh and contagious smile, she’s the volleyball player that’s one of the team’s strongest supporters.

In establishing PromElle, a peer-to-peer clothing rental platform, she’s also the business partner that makes the difficult times fun to get through.

“She’s really great, we’ve found a way to separate working on our company from our friendship– both of which have been really strong– and for our company, she’s been able to make all of it, even the hard processes and the obstacles, really fun to get through,” Nishka’s business partner Riya Gupta (12) said.

Nishka’s carefree personality is inherent. Case in point, some of what has shaped Nishka’s high school experience has come her way, oddly enough, due to a list of serendipities.

“In second grade, I meant to sign up for soccer, but my mom signed me up for volleyball instead, and I loved it,” Nishka said. “In freshman year, I was placed into Principles of Business, and I did not want it, but then I really liked it.”

Fresh out of the Principles of Business and Entrepreneurship elective at Harker, Nishka and Riya started PromElle in January 2016 in efforts to empower teen girls in the clothes they wear and are in the process of expanding the workings of the application and website.

“Nishka is a very energetic person, but she is very capable at guiding that energy in a way that will allow her to accomplish things she’s passionate about,” Business & Entrepreneurship teacher and Nishka’s mentor Michael Acheatel said. “[She] doesn’t take herself too seriously but at the same time will give you or the project or whatever she’s working on her all.”

To build upon the PromElle platform, conversations with successful entrepreneurs with nonprofit side work inspired her to inaugurate her own philanthropic work within the retail industry.

“We have a nonprofit now– it’s called Project Fempower. It makes sure that girls who can’t afford the clothes on Promelle have some way of getting them.” Nishka said. “It’s just cool to see that there are people out there who are not super money-driven or power-hungry, but who just want to make a difference.”

Through initially raising over $50,000 through family and friends and winning funding from pitch competitions, her drive and determination is what pushed her to the finish line.

“[Starting a company like I did] made me have a thicker skin. There’s always people who don’t make fun of you, but kind of make fun of you because they think that you’re just doing everything to get attention or to get into college,” she said. “When that isn’t the case, you have to learn how to block out the negative comments, and just keep going.”

Yet, throughout it all, most importantly, she has consistently found time for the important people in her life. She’s known to her friends in all regards: as a ping-pong player occasionally dominating the Shah ping-pong matches, as the classmate that welcomes the chance to study together and as the friend that always takes time to ask about your day.

“She’s involved in tons of activities, but still she finds time to talk to you [and] ask you how your day has been,” Nishka’s longtime friend Anjay Saklecha (12) said. “She’s [also] dedicated to her service and won’t stop until she’s satisfied with the work she’s accomplished that day.”