We all use socks almost every day, but at best, we just use them functionally with certain pairs of shoes. Have you ever considered socks to be a tool for raising awareness? That is what young entrepreneurs, Brandon and Sebastiaan Martinez, thought when they came up with their business “Are You Kidding?” These brothers loved socks so much, they decided to design their own. At the age of 5, Sebastian Martinez grabbed his crayons and began designing many fun patterns for socks he would like to create. Just one year later, he and his brother launched a business to sell their creative designs in 2014.

Since then, the brothers have sold over 500,000 socks and are currently still running the business at the ages of 15 and 17. They partcipate in many fundraising events to raise awareness for causes such as pediatric cancer research or diabetes research. Some of their charity socks include autism awareness, cancer awareness, and bullying awareness socks. They also focus a segment of their socks on things they believe people enjoy like space, cookies and bubbles. Each sock design takes around 2 months to design and manufacture and the brothers work together to both manage creating new designs and running the company as a whole.

As entrepreneurs, we can learn a number of things from the “Are You Kidding?” business. The Martinez brothers demonstrate how to take an ordinary, every day item and turn it into an exceptional, unique product. Furthermore, they discovered a new avenue for raising awareness for different causes that people can incorporate seamlessly into their every day lives. The “Are You Kidding?” business continues to thrive and is very active on social media testing new sock patterns and interacting with fans. They have raised over $350,000 for charitable causes and continue to make it the driving motivation behind their business.

On a trip to Banlgladesh in high school, Robert Feldman was shocked by the lack of basic necessities available to the people who lived there. He left with a strong desire to make a difference and help to solve this problem. Growing up in Florida, Feldman also noticed a lack of clothing that could handle intense activity. He then decided to create a solution to solve both of these problems. That is when he created Bearbottom.

Bearbottom is a clothing brand that aims to create versatile clothing for men so that they can take on any adventure. Feldman developed this line to be the perfect combination of eco-friendly and durable material, while remaining stylish. He started his first production in Bangladesh in an effort to provide sustainable clothing and jobs for the people there. Additionally, he implemented  a “buy one, give one” business model. Essentially, every time someone purchases an article of clothing from Bearbottom, a meal is donated to a child in India.

Since its inception in 2014, Bearbottom has grown into a very popular brand of clothing for “adventurers” and is currently worth $25 million dollars and has generated millions of revenue in donations to developling countries.

As entrepreneurs, we can learn a great deal from Feldman’s story. First, we can see the impact of a business with a mission. Feldman had a heart for the people struggling in Bangladesh and put all of his efforts into helping them. Customers of his brand resonate with him as a person and with his vision for the company which makes it more appealing than other brands.

Additionally, we can see the importance of creating of valuable product. Feldman noticed a gap in the mark for both durable and stylish clothing and decided to fill it with his own products. The company was incredibly successful due to demand for a product like this.

Young entrepreneur Adnan Aziz brought a whole new flavor to business! He developed strips of paper that you could actually taste. After watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a college student, Aziz asked himself how to bring taste to ordinary items such as paper like Wonka did in the movie. The result made history.

Aziz brought his idea to life by developing edible film samples. These small trips are able to deliver taste impressions of a product in a compact way. These samples quickly led to his company. First Flavor which revolutionized marketing and brought it into a whole new dimension. Even though his company is incredibly successful now, it didn’t start out that way. Aziz felt like he had to apologize to his test groups because the initial products tasted so bad. However, he persevered through the errors and eventually made something that changed the marketing industry.

Aziz demonstrates his initiative through what he said about the venture in an interview. “I was thinking that it was sort of riskier for me not to do this because I thought it was interesting; I thought there was something here, and I would have felt a lot worse if I had just let this go and then found out five years later that this thing is now on the market.” This quote demonstrates the Idea of Multiple discovery, that this may have been an idea that people would have eventually had, so Aziz took the initiative to make it happen right away.

Currently First Flavor is very successful and helping many companies market their product. Aziz’s story shows many young entrepreneurs how to take initiative even when there is risk and use inspiration from every day occurrences. Imagine how marketing would be different today if Aziz had not watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

I’m sure you all are aware of the slime trend that took the internet by storm in 2015 and the following few years. Instead of begging their parents for toys, many children instead would ask their parents for ingredients to make the viral sensation, such as borax, laundry detergent and glue. My sister, Sarah, was one of the many people who were very invested in this trend and made slime nearly every day for almost a year. One of the YouTubers she encountered to make this slime was a young girl named Maddie Rae.

At the age of 11, Maddie Rae, was also heavily invested in the slime trend. She would regularly beg her parents to take her to the craft store to buy ingredients for slime. However, when she got to the store, she realized that there was no glue left. After asking multiple employees and visiting multiple stores, Maddie was unable to find any glue, so she decided to make her own. She developed a formula for glue that would be designed specifically to make slime. After launching her personal brand of glue, she developed a whole line of slime making products that were highly successful.

There are many lessons that young entrepreneurs can learn from Maddie Rae.The first is to look for problems and solve them. Maddie discovered the “problem” of a glue shortage in most craft stores and decided to solve it by making her own. She also built a business around something she was passionate about and a viral trend at the time. Maddie also developed engaging content on YouTube and social media to really connect with consumers in this niche industry. This content demonstrates her welcoming and fun personality and makes her followers enjoy connecting with her brand and excited about using her products.

Even though slime isn’t quite as popular as it was back in 2015, Maddie Rae’s business is still successful and she is still a “thought leader” in the slime making “industry.” Her story demonstrates the value of problem solving in niche markets.

Also known as the Duchess of Suds, Katie Carson made a splash in the soap making business at the young age of 17. She had one simple goal: “to love people through the art of soap making.” Carson started making soap in a simple soap making class as a teenager and soon fell in love with the craft. She began purchasing her own ingredients and making multiple different soaps at home. She intially started selling these soaps on Etsy but quickly shifted to Shopify as her business grew.

Carson marketed her soaps on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube through short videos with the goal of connecting with people in the soap making community. These involved testing out different recipes and scents. Her clever and relatable videos garned the attention of thousands and she began to gather subsribers. These videos included not only soap creation but the latest trends like reacting to other soap making videos and a soap based off of a popular Starbucks drink. She quickly noticed that her soap sales began to spike every time she posted a successful video.

Katie Carson is an excellent example of how content marketing can lead to business success. While her soap is an excellent product, the main thing that differentiates it from competitors is the personality behind it. Customers are not attached to the cleaning quality of her soap, rather they like her as a person. She is relatable, clever and funny and creates entertaining content. Her subscribers are loyal to the Royal Soaps brand because of the person behind it.

Young entrepreneurs can learn a few key lessons from Katie Carson. First: Don’t be afraid to try something new. Even though there was a lot of room for failure, Carson was willing to make the leap into the soap selling business as a teenager and has grown her brand ever since. Second: Build a business around what you love. Carson’s enthusiasm for soap bleeds into her videos and makes her audience excited about it too. Finally, create relatable content. Customers want to engage with the brand. Good content allows them to feel personally connected to the company. Maybe you aren’t the next Duchess of Suds, but hopefully Katie Carson’s story can inspire you to build a business around something that you love.

With over 17.2 million subscribers, Ryan Trahan is one of America’s most successful young entrepreneurs and influencers on YouTube. With a quirky, fun personality, Ryan is best known for his “Penny Series” YouTube videos: adventures where he tries to survive starting with only one penny and trade for as much money as he can make. He also creates a very of content including reviewing 1 star hotels and airlines or weird Amazon products. Recently, he came out with his own line of candy called Joyride, expanding his brand and merch.

Ryan started his entrepreneurship journey as a highschooler, selling water bottles in his school.He then expanded by starting a YouTube channel and vlogging about running. Over the years, he quickly gaianed a following and a multitude of subscribers. His budget saavy videos launched him into a full time influencer career.

What were the secrets to his success? I would argue that his main asset is his likeable personality. He is incredibly approachable and entertaining. Another aspect of his success could be contributed to his niche content. Instead of just reviewing products like other YouTubers, Trahan also analyzes hotels, airports, amusement parks and restaurants. He is incredibly candid in these videos and leaves viewers feeling like they could be his friend. Additionally, Trahan is an excellent storyteller. Through a series of clips and shots, Ryan is able to craft a narrative that entices viewers to keep watching. There are thousands of comments on each of his videos demonstrating that viewers love to engage with his brand and with him as an individual.

A final notable quality of Trahan’s videos are his positivity. Trahan not only want to entertain his subscribers but leave them inspired – that any normal individual could complete this challenge. This positive branding as well as Trahan’s likeable yet quirky personality has led him to be an incredibly successful thought leader in the YouTube space.