Author Archive for brakema1

Mo’s Bows

Moziah Bridges is an inspiration for entrepreneurs everywhere at the mere age of 13. After starting his bow tie business in 2011 at the age of 9, Mo Bridges has already made upwards of a million dollars in sales. He has appeared on many tv shows including “Shark Tank” and “The Steve Harvey Show,” which have helped to increase his brand popularity. After his appearance on “Shark Tank,” Daymond John has taken Mo under his wing and become his mentor. This partnership has allowed Mo’s Bows to appear in six states across the country as well as improve his online store.

Perhaps the most impressive part of this story is Mo’s drive and commitment to seeing his idea come to fruition. Before having any sort of popularity or exposure, Mo was able to make over $55,000 in sales from Mo’s Bows. This involved spending long days hand-producing over 2000 bow ties with his grandmother. This kind of hard work and determination is what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur and Mo Bridges is clearly on his way to having major success in the fashion industry.

Are You Kidding

Sebastian Martinez was only 7 years old when he became a very successful entrepreneur, CEO, and philanthropist. It all started with his love for socks- specially ones with bright colors and cool designs. At five years old, Sebastian’s mother had the idea for him to design his own bright, fun socks. From his creative socks a company was born: Are You Kidding. His older brother acted as his director of sales and helped him sell $15,000 of his socks. His mother acts as the president of the company and helps with keeping the company on track to continue to grow.

Along with generating revenue from his socks, Are You Kidding also teams up with organizations to help raise money for cancer and various illnesses. These organizations include: American Cancer Society, Live Like Bella Foundation, Discovery Arts, and The Hue Studio.

I think its amazing how such a young kid had a passion for something that seems so random but his family saw an opportunity to make something of it. I love how it doesn’t stop at revenue though. They really love making an impact and difference in others lives.

Wound Up by Charlott Fortin

Charlotte Fortin is from a long line of entrepreneurs. When she graduated high school she has an idea to open a business called Wound Up. Wound Up is a women’s clothing store for women between the ages of 18 and 40 that is inspired by a few small and quirky clothing boutiques in California. Her store sells shirts, blouses, skirts, shorts, and dresses and much more. Opening her own store so young has taught her a lot. She had to learn responsibility much quicker and grow up because of this opportunity. She says that even though she is busy with the store and works a lot, she is still able to have fun and keep in touch with close friends. This balance is really hard and important to learn. It is admirable that she has learned it so young.   

Me & the Bees Lemonade

When Mikaila was only four, her family encouraged her to come up with a product for a children’s business competition. While she was coming up with an idea, she got stung by a bee and her grandma sent her a recipe for flaxseed lemonade. Though the bee sting was not desired, she became fascinated with bees and wants to learn about them and how they contribute to the ecosystem. She decided that she wanted to use the honey for her grandma’s recipe. This is where Me & the Bees Lemonade was started.

Mikaila’s business keeps growing every year, and sells out of her homemade honey lemonade at entrepreneur events. This is a really cool business because she donates a percentage of the profits to local organizations trying to save the bees. Her business lives by: buy a bottle, save a bee.  She even participates on social entrepreneurship panels and has created a facebook page. This lemonade has won many awards and is buzzing off the shelves of Whole Foods Market and is available in many stores. I love how young Mikaila is and how she used her pain from a bee sting to make a social impact.

DeadBuryDead

Brandon Grbach is an entrepreneur with a really cool story and sense of style. As a senior in college, he dropped out to pursue his t-shirt business. College was something that he thought he had to do in order to be successful. He went from trying to fit in to fitting in to his own skin. Going against the grain has been engraved into who he has become and has inspired the business he started.

Brandon started this t-shirt design printing business because he wanted to create “everyday wearable art.” It all started with an old screen-printing kit and a burned copy of Photoshop and DeadBuryDead was born. Although there are many t-shirt businesses, he saw that many didn’t fit people well. So he created a shirt that fit the human shape better. These t-shirts are made to be extremely comfortable and made with the best fabrics. Though the shirts are extremely comfortable, that’s not even the best part. They are all printed with bold quotes and unique statements.

The most inspiring part of this business is the fact that he gives all the glory to God. You can see this in the name of it, DeadBuryDead. This essentially means that when you are given an opportunity or you want to pursue something, don’t hesitate; go after it with your whole heart. He didn’t know anything about the clothing industry but he had a lot of discontentment with the way things were. Quality became his priority and with a lot of trial and error he accomplished a better way to give consumers the best product he could. The main thing he stands for is overcoming fear. He encourages people that fitting into a mold isn’t what life is about and to instead to follow their dreams.

DeadBuryDead has so much more to offer than just nice, comfortable t-shirts. It has a powerful owner with a powerful story that can inspire so many others to be entrepreneurs, dreamers, or whatever they want to be.

Amanda Bucci – Ignite your Fire

“I’m here to ignite your fire- find what’s

within you that lights you up

and keeps your flame burning.”

This is apart of Amanda Buccis’ mission statement; this is what gives her drive and purpose in her business. Amanda is social entrepreneurship in her mid-twenties. She started out with a love of being active and a degree in nursing. From there, she went the untraditional route of becoming a registered nurse and pursued her love of fitness though bikini competitions. This ultimately laid the foundations for her social impact.

Being a social entrepreneur, she didn’t necessarily create a new product or even reinvent an old. Through her success of competing, education in nursing, and overall desire to help others become a best version of themselves, she has been able to create a social media platform to inspire and educate others. She started out posting YouTube videos to reach others and has since expanded her impact though being a brand ambassador for many companies such as: Bodybuilding.com, PEScience, BePardomas, BiteMeals, and Barbell Brigade. Since started out competing and creating educational and personal YouTube videos, she has created an e-book all about nutrition and macro nutrients and started an online coaching business.

Amanda is inspirational; she is a go getter and despite doubts that others, or even herself has had, she never stopped pursuing her passion and now she helps others do the same. She is able to take complex information and portray it to others in a way that they can understand and apply it to their own lives. She took basic information from nursing and competing and shared it in a way that was true to her personality and who she is. This allows her to reach almost 200,000 followers on YouTube. YouTube is only one platform that she uses but it has allowed her to create this impactful environment with other businesses. This proves that you can take any old idea or basic knowledge and twist it and put a spin on it in order to reach more people.