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Author Archive for Olivia Ebert

Isabella Rose Taylor

Posted by Olivia Ebert

· Friday, December 5th, 2014

· 3 Comments

Shopping at Nordstrom’s, a fashion line designed by a 13-year-old is not something you would expect to see, yet there it is, Isabella Rose Taylor. In 2010 Isabella Rose Taylor the designer of the clothing line bearing her name became inspired to learn to sew and try fashion design. As her love for fashion has grown she has released several collections in her clothing line beginning in fall of 2013.

In addition to fashion, Isabella has a love of painting. While I personally do not care for her style of art, I can definitely appreciate her talent as some of her paintings are quite impressive, especially considering she is only 13 years old.

She has won several awards for her work in art, fashion, and poetry and has been featured in magazines and television including the Today show.

Using social media Isabella has been able to get the word out about her clothing line. She keeps Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts believing that social media is important tool for the entrepreneur.

Isabella demonstrates right brained thinking with her different creative interests. This right brained thinking will be quite helpful as her entrepreneurial spirit grows as she expands her work, continuing on in her successful fashion design career.

3 Comments

Categories : Art, Fashion, Millennial Entrepreneurs

Zach’s Web Design

Posted by Olivia Ebert

· Friday, November 14th, 2014

· 3 Comments

Normally when we browse the internet and find ourselves visiting various websites we rarely think about the people who create those websites. We usually jump from page to page, not giving the designers a second thought, but let us now stop for a moment and learn about one such website designer, Zachary Weisenthal.

At just thirteen years old Zach is the entrepreneur behind Zach’s Web Designs. Charging a relatively low fee of $399 for a basic website, Zach works personally with each of his customers creating a site that will fit their individual needs. He requires half of the cost as a down payment, but guarantees 100% satisfaction upon completion of the website. He also offers updating and maintaining services along with search engine optimization.

Reviews by some of Zach’s customers seem to have a common theme emphasizing his professional attitude. They appreciate that he listened to their unique requests and put together a website in a timely fashion.

While, like many entrepreneurs, Zach has had his share of trials with several failed attempts at other small businesses such as a lawn mowing and an ecommerce site, he has been able to forge ahead, now making money doing something he loves.

For more information about Zach’s work visit: http://zachswebdesigns.com/

3 Comments

Categories : Technology, Websites

Dashed

Posted by Olivia Ebert

· Saturday, November 1st, 2014

· 4 Comments

“…Your favorite food from your favorite restaurant right to your door faster than anyone else.” This slogan is found at the end of a commercial video for Dashed. Dashed was founded in 2009 by Phil Dumontet as a food delivery service. Dashed, however, is not your ordinary delivery service. One of the things that make this company different is that they are environmentally conscience making the majority of their deliveries by bike, scooter, or smart car. Founder Phil Dumontet gives his piece of wisdom on the running of companies stating the importance of having something that you do well and being focused on doing that one thing best, because to do everything the best is often impractical. In the case of Dashed, they claim speed as this defining quality, with an average delivery time of forty-five minutes. With locations in several major cities in the northeastern portion of the country, Dashed delivers food from several hundred local and chain restaurants. Dumontet has also expanded Dashed to include delivery of other items such as Christmas trees. With the rapid expansion of Dumontet’s company, Dashed appears to have a large following that will last for some time.

4 Comments

Categories : Food, Restaurants

Hey, Cupcake-Back to Baking

Posted by Olivia Ebert

· Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

· 4 Comments

When we think of young entrepreneurs we generally think of young adults or kids that are running successful businesses ventures before they have even graduated high school. We are impressed by them and their accomplishments, but we often times don’t see the trials that these entrepreneurs must endure to get to their successful positions.

At just 11 years old, Chloe Stirling started Hey, Cupcake, a cupcake business from her home kitchen. Everything was going along just fine until an article on Chloe and Hey, Cupcake was printed in her local newspaper. You may be questioning why that is a bad thing. It is free publicity is it not? Yes, it was publicity, but the county health department took notice and alerted Chloe that she would have to close down, as her kitchen was not a licensed kitchen, and she did not have a permit. Chloe’s cupcake selling had to come to a halt.

While publicity was what sank her business, it also helped to revive it. After she was shut down she was featured in numerous other articles and TV shows. Soon she had enough donations, to modify her kitchen to meet the requirements. Not only that but her local government passed a bill stating that as long as the food was labeled as having been made in a home kitchen, bakers/chefs could sell their goods as long as they did not exceed a thousand dollars in sales per month. Now Chloe is back in business, creating and selling cupcakes

Chloe’s story displays how a rough start can be overcome. It also demonstrates the importance of an entrepreneur being informed about the requirements and regulations for the business they wish to start, as many headaches can be avoided by being aware of possible issues and resolving them before the problem arises.

4 Comments

Categories : Food

ModCloth

Posted by Olivia Ebert

· Friday, October 3rd, 2014

· 3 Comments

Having recently joined Swing Club at college, my roommates and I have become interested in vintage clothing, because not much could make swing dancing more fun than having a vintage style skirt that flares out when you spin. While searching vintage clothing on the internet in our spare time away from our studies we came across a website called ModCloth.

As an entrepreneurship major, I found it interesting that the founders of ModCloth, Susan and Eric Koger, got their company up and running while in college. It all started with Susan’s hobby of collecting vintage clothing, a love that began in high school. With Eric’s help Susan’s passion grew into a business. In college, Susan and Eric began selling vintage clothing online to help pay for books. After graduation from college, they continued the company, adding new clothing from independent designers. With the continued growth of ModCloth, Susan and Eric now work with over 700 independent designers. Their inventory has grown significantly to include thousands of vintage inspired products from clothes to accessories to shoes and even home furnishings.

Susan and Eric’s ModCloth is a great example of the way in which a special hobby or interest can be turned into a profitable venture, creating great satisfaction for the entrepreneur and their customers. ModCloth not only creates value for their customers, but they help other entrepreneurs by working with independent designers in their own entrepreneurial adventures.

3 Comments

Categories : Fashion, Vintage, Vintage Clothing

Grand Slam Garage Sales

Posted by Olivia Ebert

· Friday, September 19th, 2014

· 5 Comments

Garage sales can be a great way to get rid of unwanted possessions that one has accumulated over the years, but they take much time and preparation and can be less than profitable. This was an issue that young entrepreneur Ben Weissenstein looked to solve. In 2004, in Houston, Texas, while just in high school, Ben began what would come to be known as Grand Slam Garage Sales.

Starting out with a brief run as Matt and Ben’s Garage Sale Relief, the company provided the service of running garage sales for other people. In 2006, the company was restarted. Over several years and a couple name changes, Grand Slam Garage Sales eventually added two store locations to sell items. This however proved to require more upkeep and was not as profitable for the company as had originally been anticipated. So again, Grand Slam Garage Sales shifted their vision to online resale.

Grand Slam Garage Sales offers several packages to customer who wish to get rid of no longer needed possessions. The company will come to your house, catalog your items you wish to sell, and then sell them via internet sites. They create a hassle free way for the customer to find relief from unwanted possessions. They allow customers to exchange their items for a little extra cash without the long toil of the traditional garage sale.

Ben Weissenstein’s Grand Slam Garage Sales is a great example of innovation and pivoting. The company displayed innovation by coming up with a new way for people to sell unwanted items than the typical garage sale allowed. Pivoting was also put on display as the company changed directions several times, going from running other people’s garage sales, to having a store, to online resale. When they came to something that didn’t work they changed direction, keeping the company evolving and up to date in an ever changing world.