The GHOST brand was launched back in 2016 with one goal in mind, create a sports/ athletic brand that was authentic and not a fake version of fitness. Dan Lourenco and Ryan Hughes and the founders of GHOST. Both of these men come from significantly different backgrounds but came together to form one company that is thriving. They stated the way the brand started was they were two friends that wanted to have some fun. That this brand was aimed at everybody that was a part of the gym not just one specific group. They wanted to take the experience of the gym and make it feel less “perfect.” That now days the fitness brand is all about eating chicken breast for every meal and having the best abs. They wanted to stray away from that mentality and make supplements that the average gym goer would use. Recently the GHOST brand has partnered with people like Chips Ahoy, Oreo, and war heads, making energy drinks, protein shakes and other gym supplements. They use these already existing brands so when people ask if it tastes good or how does it taste they can say it taste like (the brand they used). Personally, I can attest to this. The energy drinks they make with war head and sour patch kids taste just like the candy! The GHOST brand is great at listening to their customers as well, they take feedback and apply to their products. These men have had such an amazing entrepreneurial mindset. They both started out at different companies coming together and making something for fun, breaking into a huge market and striving! Ryan Hughes says that  

     “Thing about entrepreneurship and success in a lot of ways is you don’t start something like this or go on this journey as an entrepreneur for success. You do it out of pure passion for what you’re doing.”  

       Which I think is a great mindset to have when starting a business!  

Michael “Mikey” Wren is an entrepreneur from St. Louis, Missouri, who has mind built for business. At the age of 8 is where he started his business that would set his future; Mikey’s Munchies Vending, is a vending machine company that quickly gained traction. For Michael though this was only the start.  Wren’s passions and abilities extend beyond just business. Wren is committed to giving back to his community by helping others. One way that he is able to do this is through his financial literacy education. He uses this education to teach children and others in his community about the importance of money management and how to spend it wisely. Moreover, every year he organizes and host an annual toy drive to donate to local kids, I think that these two things demonstrate his positive attitude towards giving back to his community.  If he wasn’t doing enough already by giving back and running his own business, he is also an author! Wren has written two children’s books, “Mikey learns about Business” and “Biz is a Whiz.” These books are aimed at educating children pre-K to the third grade. The books teach about the basics of business, marketing strategies, and networking. Wren also regularly books talks to talk about his books! I think these books are a great idea as they get a younger generation inspired to be Entrepeneur’s and maybe start their own business just like Wren. In addition to running his own business, teaching courses, and writing books he still has the time to be involved in two national kid’s boards. Here he gave away 10,000 dollars’ worth of brand-new clothing to kids in his community. Overall, Wren’s business, community involvement, and penmanship are incredible feats for someone of his age! His story is a great example of how business can be used to serve and give back to those around you!

10 Successful Young Entrepreneurs (investopedia.com)

Person2Person fitness is a name known by many around northern Virginia. It was over 20 years ago that Mandy Person started her personal training business, and it’s still going strong today.  Mrs. Person has been running her business out of her basement. In there she has a fully equipped and functional gym, it has everything you would need to be successful— squat rack, bench press, cable machines, free weights, and much more— but this took time to grow. When she started many years ago, she was a mother of one, and did not have all the equipment she does now. This caused her to travel a lot for her work. She would travel over an hour to go to her client’s house and train them. This was difficult for her because she had to take her son with her as well who was very young at the time, but she always made it work! Over the next few years, she grew her business and her family. She was able to get more clients, which meant new and better equipment! She also then had to work around the schedule of her kid’s schools and their needs as well, but she pushed through and overcame those obstacles as well.  Now in one day she usually has about 3-5 clients, she trains for an hour, and on each day her clients are different. She has a huge variety of people she helps keep active and healthy! To this day she still does travel to some of her clients’ homes considering her clients might not want to commute, she cares a lot about her clients lives and wants to help them no matter what.  Overall Mrs. Person is an amazing “Person” who started her business of traveling to homes with her son to growing and expanding her gym at her house where she trains clients today, but most importantly she is an amazing mother who does so much to support her kids and her business!  

Fraser Doherty, a 14 year from Scotland who used his grandmother’s recipes to make a sweet, delicious jam. Doherty started his journey by going door to door selling his jams, but soon after he set up a stand in Edinburgh farmers market, it was there that his jams gained traction. He would bike to deliver his jams, but the problem was he had more orders than he could keep up with. To solve this, he dropped out of school and rented a factory for a few days every month, he worked extremely hard to keep up with the high demand and production.  What’s amazing about his jams is that they are made with 100% real fresh fruit, which in return sets him apart from his competitors. It’s not only me who thinks the jams are amazing but the store Waitrose as well. Not only did it gain shelf space there but also across the UK and Europe and extending to even Japan and other international markets.  In Korea he sold £1 million worth of merchandise in an hour. His business achieved such high success that he even received a medal from the Queen of England herself! Another remarkable thing that Doherty does is he sets up free tea parties for the older people in his community and also several bee keeping projects. Doherty faced challenges with high demand, but he found a solution by dropping out of school and opening a factory. Today, his brand is available in supermarkets and specialty stores; globally in 2019 he sold 5 million jars of jam. His inspiring journey from door-to-door salesman to international entrepreneur shows how his passion and deduction lead him to extraordinary success. Personally, I think that this was an amazing idea, how he started from humble beginnings is very inspiring to me, as I hope to eventually run my own business.

10 Successful Young Entrepreneurs (investopedia.com)