Sabastian Martinez has always enjoyed collecting wacky and brightly colored socks. When he was only five years old, his mother suggested that he should try designing and making his own socks. This fun idea and passion quickly grew into his current and very successful company Are You Kidding. To help direct sales and run the company, Sabastian enlisted the assistance of his older brother, Brandon, and in just one year, the brothers made their first $15,000.  Sabastian is now nine years old, and he said since 2014, revenues have only continued to grow, doubling the first year and tripling the following year.

Sabastian is not only a successful CEO, but he is also a young philanthropist! Instead of pocketing all of the money for himself, Sabastian uses the profits to raise money for a variety of charity organizations that spread awareness for important causes. For example, Are You Kidding has raised thousands of dollars in the past few years for the American Cancer Society and the Live Like Bella Foundation Society. Recently, Sabastian partnered with a charitable company that raises money for art programs for children with severe illnesses by donating 25% of Are You Kidding’s proceeds to the cause. I find Sabastian’s story to be inspirational because he not only used his passion for collecting fun socks to create a successful company, but he is also making a real difference in the world today.