How This 12-Year-Old Founder is Solving the Teen Mental Health Crisis

When most pre-teens his age were watching YouTube or gaming after school, Marco Ruggieri, 12, from London, was doing something rather different: building a business to help teenagers feel better about themselves.

The result is ENOUGH AS YOU ARE™, a 52-card affirmation deck for pre-teens and teens that is quietly becoming one of the most talked-about youth wellbeing products in the UK.

The idea didn't come from a business plan; it came from Marco's own experience. Struggling under the pressure of his school football team — a high standard and one he felt too small for — Marco began to notice the same quiet distress in the friends around him. Social media comparison, exam anxiety, friendship fallouts, the relentless pressure to perform and be perfect; he watched it build, largely in silence.

One day, he and his mother sat down and she said: enough is enough — that sentence became part of his brand name.

Inspired by a Youth Enterprise Academy bootcamp at Mill Hill School, Marco channelled his experience into action. He developed 52 messages, written not in the preachy language of adult wellness, but the way teenagers actually talk to each other. He sourced manufacturing, designed the packaging (a magnetic box that opens like a book, matte-finish oversized cards in bold cyan, hot pink and orange) and launched the brand largely independently.

He was 12 throughout all of it — he still is.

A Youth Wellbeing Resource Backed by Data

Marco's instincts are backed by data. According to NHS England's 2023 report on Mental Health of Children and Young People, 1 in 5 children aged 8–16 in England had a probable mental health disorder; these rates have held steady and not improved since 2020.

Most wellbeing products on the market are written for adults, in adult language, for adult shelves. ENOUGH AS YOU ARE™ is something different: screen-free, teen-authored and built specifically for the age group most at risk.

The education world has taken notice. Teach Secondary, the trade magazine read by school leaders and teachers across the UK, has given ENOUGH AS YOU ARE™ an eight-month serialised residency, running one card per issue through to next spring.

From Bedroom to UK Classrooms

Marco and his mother have also taken it into schools properly and developed five fully structured 60-minute PSHE lesson plans for KS3 and KS4 (Years 7–11; Ages 11–16), built around the card deck and fully aligned with the PSHE Association Programme of Study and DfE statutory guidance on Relationships, Sex and Health Education. The lessons cover self-worth, identity, exam pressure, social media and belonging.

Teachers can use the cards in whole-class sessions, pastoral 1:1s, tutor time, SEND support and Anti-Bullying Week. A 12-year-old has essentially handed secondary schools a ready-to-teach wellbeing curriculum that teens can actually resonate with due to its source.

The deck retails at £14.99 and is available at Enough As You Are. Marco's goal is straightforward: to help teenagers across the world feel more valued and to remind them of three things: "we are enough, we are growing, we are not alone".

Not bad for someone who still has homework due on Monday.

Patrizia Galeota is a PR specialist and podcast host (PR Like a Boss!) with 20+ years' experience. Based in London, she helps brands and founders build media visibility. She is also the mother of Marco Ruggieri, age 12, founder of ENOUGH AS YOU ARE™, a youth wellbeing brand whose 52-card affirmation deck is endorsed by senior educators at Belmont, Mill Hill schools.

Find out more at Enough As You Are and Patrizia Galeota.