100% SWEET is one of three initiatives developed by Whanganui District Employment Training Trust (WDETT) to match the skills and training needs of employers with the potential of people in Whanganui.
Beagley said instilling confidence in young people was key.
A defining moment in her own life came during her sixth form year at Kelston Girls College when a teacher told her she was capable of doing more, she said.
"That one teacher saw potential in me. She was fantastic.
"Having someone come in and speak into my life, it helped me realise that it was time for me to start having an action plan."
Beagley said she lacked direction at that time and had no career aspirations.
"Nobody had ever spoken to me about such a thing."
After leaving school she volunteered as a junior youth leader at local churches, Beagley said.
It kept her busy and she enjoyed being a role model for young people from troubled homes.
"We were helping them to become better people regardless of their circumstances."
Completing a small business course allowed her to achieve NCEA Levels, and she went on to gain her first "real job" in a debt collection agency.
"I was really grateful that I had the boss that I did because she was really supportive - a young person's kind of person."
She followed that with several years in the financial sector, before raising four children with her husband and operating a coffee cart in Turakina.
Beagley eventually completed an online business diploma and returned to the youth sector.
At 100% SWEET she works mostly with Year 11 to Year 13 students, focusing on employability skills and tools such as writing effective CVs and cover letters, interview skills, health and safety, alcohol and drugs, and budgeting.
She said she enjoyed exposing young people to new ideas and helping them find a direction.
"We need to broaden our kids' horizons to the employment opportunities that are out there, otherwise their career scope is very narrow.
"We [100% SWEET] are all about transitions - from school to work, sometimes from work to work, or from work to education.
"That whole transition space is where I help our kids."
Exposure to career choices was what she felt kids needed most, Beagley said.
She hoped to get more businesses to offer work experience opportunities "or even just a walk-through".
"We're asking businesses if they can accommodate more workplace tours for our young people, to come in and check out what they do.
"We've got to get young people inspired, and kids need to see what's out there, to know what it is they want to do."
She had many mentors who played the "I actually care about you role" throughout her life, Beagley said.
"They really influenced my life and helped me decide that I need to be the same way, for young people.
"It makes the journey to becoming an adult more supportive."
A service like 100% SWEET was needed when she was young, Beagley said.
"I have a personal mantra which is to speak greatness into the lives of our young people.
"They all have potential. They just need to have people in their lives - like I did - to get alongside them and show them that they have value."
