Tilly’s founder makes self-help a better fit for teens.

Tillys co-founder uses her business wisdom to tech young people how to navigate life dilemmas.

Thirty-two years after co-founding Irvine-based surf-skate retail chain Tilly’s – and one $124 million IPO later – Tilly Levine is building a new legacy.

In an upstairs meeting room at the Boys & Girls Club in San Juan Capistrano, Levine takes a seat atop a table, legs swinging in a pair of polka-dot leggings, and turns her attention to a group of high school students gathered for the second phase of a pilot program for Tilly’s Life Center.

“I’ve worked with charities to help kids, but the void was in bringing them to a place they can help themselves. I thought of the way I became successful, which was to go in with a positive mind and to find my own power in everything,” Levine said.

The Dana Point resident, 58, established the center – aka TLC – shortly after Tilly’s went public in May 2012.

The nonprofit organization, which is separate from the company, offers daylong workshops and three-month courses at hospitals and after-school clubs to empower 12- to 18-year-olds. Led by two trained facilitators in every class – with a maximum group size of 15 – the workshops address topics such as bullying, drugs and eating disorders; as well as overlooked concepts like self-esteem, forgiveness and acceptance.

“When I got here I started to regain my happiness. I have friends, but we just talk about social stuff, not what’s inside of you,” said Alex Sanchez, a high school freshman who was dealing with family issues. “This is the only club I’ve always looked forward to going to. Every day is a usual day no one’s going to remember, but it’s always something different when you come here.”

Some of the other pilot programs’ young alumni have dealt with issues like cancer and attempted suicide.

While the workshops might sound like a hard sell to teens, especially at 90 minutes a week for three months, that hasn’t been the case. A study commissioned by TLC to measure the results of the “I Am Me” pilot program reported a positive effect on all the students, no matter their family background.

“Some are well off, others really struggle with family issues, but this program has seen success stories from all kids,” said Chris Waters, teen director of Capistrano Valley’s Boys & Girls Clubs. “Sometimes it’s pulling teeth to get teens to go to classes that are supposed to ‘make you better,’ but we run programs all week and this is the easiest recruitment by a long shot.”

The reason it works is Levine’s hands-on involvement in curriculum development, coupled with support from Tilly’s with fundraising, equipment and marketing. The company contributes resources to producing TLC’s marketing materials and hosting its website.

“Tilly is here all the time, and much more than I expected,” Waters said. “It’s mind-blowing knowing someone of that economic stature could take the amount of time she has and put the work in.”

More than half the students happen to be wearing clothes they bought at Tilly’s. And all of them have Levine’s cellphone number.

SECOND ACT

In many ways, Tilly’s Life Center is Levine’s second go-round at entrepreneurship.

At age 23, Levine landed in California with then-husband Hezy Shaked, who is chief strategy officer and executive board chairman at Tilly’s. “We came looking for adventure. We had no family here, no place to live,” she said.

Shaked told Smart Business Magazine the couple arrived from Israel with just $3,000, and one of their first accommodations was in a room under a staircase. They took odd jobs to make ends meet, but remained undeterred.

“Success doesn’t come on a silver platter. We worked seven days a week for seven years,” Levine said.

In 1982, the couple started World of Jeans & Tops, the youth clothing company that would eventually become Tilly’s, a 200-store chain. The duo sold clothing at swap meets on the weekends until they had enough to open their first storefront in an industrial area of Los Alamitos. They ran the business together despite their 1989 divorce.

“Tilly’s Life Center is operated like a business,” declared Levine, who works on the nonprofit full time and pays her assistant out of her own pocket. All the money raised goes back into materials and teacher salaries.

“My philosophy is you have to go step by step. When you start you have no credit, so I did not do anything until I had something to show. There are so many people selling the same thing, so you create your own message, and that’s what attracts certain people to you.”

Levine, who still is vice president of vendor relations at Tilly’s, said this echoed her strategy when she led the merchandising department. Per company values, she didn’t stock shirts with racy or violent themes, even if they were best-sellers elsewhere.

“It’s much easier to write a check, but the bottom line for succeeding with teens is you have to be tuned to the youth,” Levine said. “We are coming from the street, and on the same level with lifestyle. Kids actually want to be in the program,” she added, noting that more than 100 students lined up to attend a pilot workshop at Los Alamitos High School.

FUTURE STEPS

Now Levine is following a business plan to recruit more teachers and board members, which already include the likes of Dr. Leonard Sender, director of the adolescent and young adult cancer programs at Children’s Hospital of Orange County; and Mandy Mount, a counseling psychologist and director of the UC Irvine campus assault resources and education office.

“She wants the program everywhere, so every student will have access,” Mount said, adding that she was brought on to develop a teacher-training intern program for college students, which will help expand the program’s reach beyond the region, and eventually, state.

TLC is in talks to bring programs to The Academy, part of the Orangewood Children’s Foundation; Junipero Serra High, a continuation school in San Juan Capistrano; and the City of Hope hospital.

“I’ll tell you what Tilly is great at. When she’s very focused on something, she will do it very well, and you cannot break her,” declared Tilly’s co-founder Shaked. “I donate my own money.”

He added that the company, which boasted 2013 revenue of $467.3 million, has supported the youth community since day one, donating clothes and money to organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Casa Youth Shelter. “We want to see Tilly’s Life Center succeed, so it gets our main support now.”

Levine is ready to take it to the next level. “Now there are testimonies, facts, and I’m ready to build the board,” she said. And, she noted, it has come full circle.

Her first job? High school teacher.

Contact the writer: jwang@ocregister.com