At just 17-years-old, Aimee Clint had the idea that she wanted to make a difference in the world.
Inspired by her brother who was diagnosed with autism when she was a child, Aimee decided that she didn't want future generations to be as uninformed and uneducated about what it's like for someone who has autism.
After being accepted to the Young Enterprise Company programme in Year 13, soon Aimee's idea to help educate and break down the stigma for children with autism became a real-life book, entitled, 'No Two Stars Are The Same'.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, the 21-year-old explained how her own experiences helped shape her ideas for the book.
"My little brother was diagnosed with autism when I was younger and my parents were never really able to find a way to explain it to me very well. There are plenty of resources out there for children with autism, and my parents have all these big scientific books which have been written by doctors and psychiatrists but there has never been anything for siblings.
"But siblings isn’t the only issue, every single child who has a connection to autism, whether they are siblings, family members but most importantly classmates need to be educated on what a child with autism goes through on a daily basis.
"So the more children we can explain to what it is like to have autism and maybe just open their eyes to that kindness and acceptance, the better it’s going to be."
After leaving school, Aimee went on to study business at SERC and hailed the 'incredible' support she received whilst there to help expand her social enterprise, named Stellas, the latin for stars.
It was then she was named Europe's Top Entrepreneur Under 20 after she pitched her idea at the event in London in 2019, and walked away with a £10,000 investment.
The Ballywalter native who now lives in Belfast, admits she almost didn't attend the event in London as it coincided with her favourite band's reunion tour.
"I actually wasn’t going to go to it because it coincided with Westlife’s comeback tour in Belfast, so I had to fly out on Tuesday and come back on Wednesday. I had them under strict orders I needed to be back in the City Airport so I could make the gig on time, and I did.
"But I pitched that day and I actually won so I was crowned the Top Entrepreneur under 20 in Europe and I also got £10,000 investment, so that was a great day! I got off the plane £10,000 richer for the business and I got to see Westlife," she laughed.
With that £10,000 investment, Aimee published book number two, entitled 'No Two Stars Are The Same- A Day in Town'.
"Book number two covers public transport, cafes, dentists and both books at the end really take a nod to figures in history who were thought to have autism and how they shaped the world as we know it.
"The last page educates children that kindness makes the world better and it doesn’t matter if you see people as different from you, you have to treat them with the same respect as you would expect to be treated.
"The second book was put together in six weeks from writing to being in my hand at the launch party which was carnage, no idea why I decided to do that but it worked well," added Aimee.
In 2019, Aimee also became the Young Ambassador for Social Enterprise Northern Ireland, a role she takes very seriously and one which she is passionate about.
"I'm actually one of the youngest people with them in Northern Ireland, so the idea is to try and help people understand the sector and realise the potential in that sector. Lots of people don't really understand it so it's my role to help them see what it can lead to."
Aimee was also awarded a Diana award in 2021, something she said she is immensely proud of as she was nominated for the award by the CEO of Young Enterprise Northern Ireland.
When the pandemic hit, like a lot of people, Aimee felt she lost a bit of her passion for her work as so many plans to expand and bring her message further afield had to be shelved.
But a trip to the USA with Young Enterprise really helped her find her purpose again.
"Before the trip, I was in a bit of a space where I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I was working full-time, studying full-time, and doing Stellas so it was just unachievable.
"I feel like the pandemic made me fall out of love with Stellas but that trip basically lit a fire in my belly again and when I came home I decided to take my placement year and focus fully on Stellas so I’m not doing anything else and am completely focusing on the books. So retail, fairs, etc and I’d absolutely love the possibility of trying to do the Continental Market and things like that, I’ve just never had the time to focus on that."
Aimee is also passionate about continuing the work Stellas does with schools, and starting those important conversations in every classroom up and down the country and further afield.
"For every book purchased we donate a book completely free of charge so we cover all of the costs involved and it goes into a school completely free of charge. All primaries, all independent, all private and all multi-lingual schools within Northern Ireland, and the idea of that is, 1 in 30 children at the moment have a diagnosis of autism so to us that is one in every classroom, so there are 29 classmates who need educated.
"I suppose this might be coming from a selfish point of view but my brother had a really bad school experience, he went to three different primary schools and that was down to, mostly teachers not being educated or understanding what to do with a child with autism because they just didn’t have the correct training, through no fault of their own.
She continued: "But peers as well, so what if all of those children had this conversation together from a very early point of view in their life and so were much more open and accepting to children that they feel is different to them.
"It doesn't just have to be autism, it could be ADHD, Diabetes, it could be Downs Syndrome, so many things that children question and parents are not always sure how to deal with it.
"So if we can start those conversations through a simple storybook which is very fictional but educational, then the impact we can have on top of that could be incredible."
You can find out more about Aimee's company Stellas and the books via their website.
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