A Super NoVA is a person with a unique talent or business that makes them stand out in the crowd of Northern Virginia. Mellenie Runion is this week’s Super NoVA for her efforts to live more “green” by creating the company, Truly-Life, that makes handmade eco-friendly gifts from ingredients in her backyard.

“I wanted to figure out what I could do that would require less pull on the environment and have a smaller footprint,” said Runion. 

Runion first started making soap in her kitchen in 2008. Now just a few years later, her company has received the Green America Business Seal of Approval and her soap will be on the shelves in Alexandria’s Whole Foods Market in a few weeks.

“I turned my kitchen into a skin care lab, and when dinner time comes I clear it all off and make dinner,” Runion chuckled.

A Super NOVA is a person with a unique talent or business that makes them stand out in the Northern Virginia crowd. Priya Krishnan of McLean was selected as this week's Super NOVA for her efforts to use technology to better the lives of autistic individuals. At age 17, Priya started her own non-profit organization, called Project Touch, to assist financially needy autistic children through a creative idea. 

Priya is a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria. Every senior at Jefferson has to do a senior research project, and Priya hopes to do her project on socially assistive robotics. After cheer practice and school, Priya has a different agenda than most high school teenagers. She goes home to work on her non-profit organization, Project Touch.