Summer Phenix
Summer Phenix
To be a game changer means that your heart for flipping the script must be your engine, and Aubria King’s heart is exactly hers. A junior Biology major with a minor in Spanish, King blends her desire to push others forward with a synthesis of innovation, servitude and fostering sustainable change.
King’s journey into entrepreneurship started with a scroll. She stumbled across a pitch competition listied on the Thurgood Marshall College Fund website and applied on a whim, even though she admitted that pitch competitions were well outside her comfort zone.
“Before I came to Spelman, I was a little more on the quiet side,” she said. “I had my bubble and I liked to stick to it.” But when her pitch resulted in an acceptance letter she made the decision that would change her mindset towards her lifestyle: to push through and get out there.
What followed was a summer filled with intense preparation, with various sessions on topics including the power of negotiation, AI tools and PR and media training. By the fall of that year, King was paired with her teammates, Kennedy Blue Washington (C’ 2027), Ca’Miyah King (C' 2027), Sydney Vera Johnson (C’ 2028) and Madison Harris (C’2028).
Their mission was clear as day: develop a solution to promote economic mobility in Detroit, specifically within the banking sector. Although a strong mission, it was not directly up her alley since her studies have not fallen in the financial area.
Instead of cowering at the unfamiliar, she adapted, and rather than the team approaching the challenge from a distance, they went directly to the source. They traveled to Detroit to get in conversation with business owners in the area. These conservations were with a bakery owner who had survived COVID and others who had not been so fortunate.
There was also a conversation with Dana White, the owner of a prominent Detroit hair business who had been forced to close down due to overwhelming overhead costs, and this conversation became a cornerstone of their work. What they are doing was not centered on success stories, it was about learning from failures. Through getting in touch with the Detroit community, King and her team discovered what small businesses in Detroit actually needed. They needed capital access, mentorship, and financial education.
The result was a polished pitch of a FinTech platform called Prospera. Designed specifically for women-owned small businesses in Detroit, it offered AI-powered education modules tailored to each business’s needs, a mentorship matching system pairing new entrepreneurs with established local businesses, and pathways to capital funding. Capital funding in partnership with Ally Bank.
“Capital is really hard to come by for small businesses because they’re viewed as high risk,” King said.
Prospera sought to change the capital game entirely.
Their efforts paid off powerfully, with Prospera taking first place – along with a $20,000 prize. What then happened was the cherry on top: the team was invited onto the Jennifer Hudson Show.
“I felt life Beyonce, I can’t lie,” she said. “When I called my mom, she said, ‘Oh my gosh’ – all my aunts, my great aunts, they love some Jennifer Hudson.”
King described her family, friends, and the Spelman community as being extremely proud; however, this was more beyond the personal thrill. Being on a national platform meant that she could speak to something larger.
“I felt like through the show I was able to talk about the importance of giving HBCU students a platform, and really what happens when you give us a space to show our talents,” King said.
King arrived at Spelman expecting her academic identity to carry her, and what she found instead was a competitive community complemented by a string of rejections, which forced her to dig deeper.
“I had to redefine who I was,” she said. “What does Aubria like to do? What is Aubria’s passion?”
Her growth has not just been on paper; it has been an emotional journey.
Through this self-discovery, she understood that she is called to be in rooms where decisions are made. She has set her sights on the C-suite, potentially in healthcare administration, with an MBA on the horizon. King is set on getting to the top and uses her seat at the table to open doors.
That commitment to opening doors lives in her current work with the NCNW Bethune Height Changemaker Pathway Program, where she has been in community with CEOs, senior executives from companies like Amazon, McDonald’s and the Atlanta Hawks. Through this, she and her cohort are planning Girl Con – a mentorship event for middle and high school students designed to help young Black women navigate the world ahead of them.
Her advice to future Spelman students is to embrace the rejection, explore the edges of who you are, and never let a closed door define your ceiling.
“You are more than just a smart Black girl,” she said. “Discover what you like, what you don’t like, and don’t give up.”
She has never waited for permission to change the game. From studying abroad three times, building a FinTech platform for underserved entrepreneurs, appearing on national television and mentoring youth before her senior year. If this is the setup, the world is not ready for Aubria King.
To be a game changer means that your heart for flipping the script must be your engine, and Aubria King’s heart is exactly hers. A junior Biology major with a minor in Spanish, King blends her desire to push others forward with a synthesis of innovation, servitude and fostering sustainable change.
King’s journey into entrepreneurship started with a scroll. She stumbled across a pitch competition listied on the Thurgood Marshall College Fund website and applied on a whim, even though she admitted that pitch competitions were well outside her comfort zone.
“Before I came to Spelman, I was a little more on the quiet side,” she said. “I had my bubble and I liked to stick to it.” But when her pitch resulted in an acceptance letter she made the decision that would change her mindset towards her lifestyle: to push through and get out there.
What followed was a summer filled with intense preparation, with various sessions on topics including the power of negotiation, AI tools and PR and media training. By the fall of that year, King was paired with her teammates, Kennedy Blue Washington (C’ 2027), Ca’Miyah King (C' 2027), Sydney Vera Johnson (C’ 2028) and Madison Harris (C’2028).
Their mission was clear as day: develop a solution to promote economic mobility in Detroit, specifically within the banking sector. Although a strong mission, it was not directly up her alley since her studies have not fallen in the financial area.
Instead of cowering at the unfamiliar, she adapted, and rather than the team approaching the challenge from a distance, they went directly to the source. They traveled to Detroit to get in conversation with business owners in the area. These conservations were with a bakery owner who had survived COVID and others who had not been so fortunate.
There was also a conversation with Dana White, the owner of a prominent Detroit hair business who had been forced to close down due to overwhelming overhead costs, and this conversation became a cornerstone of their work. What they are doing was not centered on success stories, it was about learning from failures. Through getting in touch with the Detroit community, King and her team discovered what small businesses in Detroit actually needed. They needed capital access, mentorship, and financial education.
The result was a polished pitch of a FinTech platform called Prospera. Designed specifically for women-owned small businesses in Detroit, it offered AI-powered education modules tailored to each business’s needs, a mentorship matching system pairing new entrepreneurs with established local businesses, and pathways to capital funding. Capital funding in partnership with Ally Bank.
“Capital is really hard to come by for small businesses because they’re viewed as high risk,” King said.
Prospera sought to change the capital game entirely.
Their efforts paid off powerfully, with Prospera taking first place – along with a $20,000 prize. What then happened was the cherry on top: the team was invited onto the Jennifer Hudson Show.
“I felt life Beyonce, I can’t lie,” she said. “When I called my mom, she said, ‘Oh my gosh’ – all my aunts, my great aunts, they love some Jennifer Hudson.”
King described her family, friends, and the Spelman community as being extremely proud; however, this was more beyond the personal thrill. Being on a national platform meant that she could speak to something larger.
“I felt like through the show I was able to talk about the importance of giving HBCU students a platform, and really what happens when you give us a space to show our talents,” King said.
King arrived at Spelman expecting her academic identity to carry her, and what she found instead was a competitive community complemented by a string of rejections, which forced her to dig deeper.
“I had to redefine who I was,” she said. “What does Aubria like to do? What is Aubria’s passion?”
Her growth has not just been on paper; it has been an emotional journey.
Through this self-discovery, she understood that she is called to be in rooms where decisions are made. She has set her sights on the C-suite, potentially in healthcare administration, with an MBA on the horizon. King is set on getting to the top and uses her seat at the table to open doors.
That commitment to opening doors lives in her current work with the NCNW Bethune Height Changemaker Pathway Program, where she has been in community with CEOs, senior executives from companies like Amazon, McDonald’s and the Atlanta Hawks. Through this, she and her cohort are planning Girl Con – a mentorship event for middle and high school students designed to help young Black women navigate the world ahead of them.
Her advice to future Spelman students is to embrace the rejection, explore the edges of who you are, and never let a closed door define your ceiling.
“You are more than just a smart Black girl,” she said. “Discover what you like, what you don’t like, and don’t give up.”
She has never waited for permission to change the game. From studying abroad three times, building a FinTech platform for underserved entrepreneurs, appearing on national television and mentoring youth before her senior year. If this is the setup, the world is not ready for Aubria King.