At just 7 years old, Lily Born started a journey that would one day become a successful business. Lily’s grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease when she was young. Parkinson’s disease affects many different parts of the body and motor function. As Lily’s grandfather’s disease progressed, he began struggling to accomplish everyday tasks such as holding a cup. Lily watched as her grandfather repeatedly spilled his drinks and decided she had to do something to help.

Lily began prototyping a new type of cup that wouldn’t spill. Over the next few years she experimented with moldable plastics and clay to determine her design. Lily landed on a unique, three-legged cup design that provided stability called the Kangaroo Cup. Lily and her father ended up traveling across the world to a manufacturer in China who helped with the project and perfected the design. With the help of the manufacturer, Lily could now produce both ceramic and plastic versions of her Kangaroo Cups and sell them to people around the world.

Lily Born was able to get financial help to push her business forward from platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Through reliance on family, platforms, manufacturers, and friends, Lily created a successful business that is truly changing lives. Now 16 years old, Lily Born has sold tens of thousands of Kangaroo Cups. Lily is an inspiration to many and teaches young individuals that hard work and imagination pay off.

When Mikaila was just 4 years old she was stung by a bee. Less than one year later she was stung a second time. These bee stings caused Mikaila to have a fear of bees and she wanted to research more about these creatures. What she found led her to appreciate bees. Mikaila discovered that bees are vital to our ecosystem and we need them. This discovery led Mikaila to create “Me & The Bees Lemonade”. This lemonade was inspired by Mikaila’s great grandmas old lemonade recipe from the 1940s. She adapted this recipe to include honey from bees.

Mikaila not only sells delicious honey but donates a portion of her profits to preserve honeybees. Mikaila’s business has been featured on shark tank, and now sells in places like costco. “Me & The Bees Lemonade” has been in business for about 10 years at this point and is making substantial impact in the world as they continue to send money to the bees and sell their delicious drink. Through the use of storytelling and branding, “Me & The Bees Lemonade” has found a way to set themselves apart from the competition. When you buy the drink you get a sense that you are doing something good for the world.

I find Mikaila’s story to be very inspiring and she is one of the youngest entrepreneurs I know starting her business journey at just 4 years old.

Sebastian Martinez and his older brother Brandon work together to run “Are you Kidding”. Their company sells colorful and fun socks. Sebastian and Brandon started their company in 2014 at 17 and 15 years old. The Martinez brothers don’t just sell fun socks but, they are making a lasting impact through their business. Their socks raise awareness for various charities like stand up to cancer, JDRF, Amigos for Kids, Autism Speaks, and so many more.

Their initiative, kids helping kids, is a great way to spread encouragement and funding to those in need. Their socks designs often reflect the charities that they support. These young boys are an inspiration in the ways they have worked hard to create a successful business together. “Are you Kidding” shows us that you don’t need to be a certain age to be an entrepreneur and you’re never too young to start following an entrepreneurial venture!

When he was only 12 years old, Nic Bianchi started something that would one day become a flourishing company. Nic had always loved math and science so he was very excited when he was gifted a candle making kit on his birthday. He loved the science of making the candle and perfecting it. Nic wanted to continue this hobby so he kept making candles and eventually started his own company, Bianchi Candle Co. Many people make candles so Bianchi decided to differentiate his product by focussing on high quality fragrances and luxury branding.

Bianchi expanded to also selling votives and reed diffusers where he could show off his signature fragrances through other mediums. Bianchi went on to actually start a second brand within Bianchi candle called “Yes You Candle”. This brand offered something different than the rest of the luxury Bianchi Candles. Yes you Candle is focussed on the environmental impact. These candles use all-natural soy wax, essential oil fragrances, and 100% recyclable material.

Bianchi took something he was passionate about at the young age of 12 years old and turned it into a thriving business. I think Bianchi’s story is very inspiring and teaches us about how to create success through differentiation. One thing that Bianchi Candle Co. does really well is their design and marketing. Their business is done online so it is important to have clear and beautiful branding when you can’t see something in person.

In 2012, Robert Felder went on a high school trip to Bangladesh. On this trip, Felder saw need in the area he was visiting. He realized that quality jobs and basic necessities like clothing were missing. After leaving this school trip, Felder couldn’t get rid of the desire to solve this problem for the people he saw that were in need.

Felder decided to create a clothing brand targeted toward providing quality, adventure clothing for men. In 2014, he launched his company “Bearbottom” and they have been expanding and growing ever since. Bearbottom focusses on creating high quality fabrics and materials that will last. Bearbottom wants you to be able to focus on what you’re doing and not be annoyed by what you’re wearing.

Bearbottom not only provides quality items to people, but creates lasting impact through their business model. Bangladesh is one of the largest apparel manufacturing companies in the world so Felder used this to create more sustainable jobs for people in the area. Bearbottom also gives to its community through it’s ‘buy one, give one’ model. Every item you buy from Bearbottom equals one meal donated to a child in India. Bearbottom has donated over 700,000 meals to children through this initiative.

Robert Felder is a great example of a bright, young entrepreneur because he not only created a successful business, but he created a sustainable business model that provides jobs for the people of Bangladesh and meals to children in India. There’s nothing new about a company that sells clothes, or even athletic clothes however, Felder set his company apart by appealing specifically to the men’s adventure audience and creating really high quality products that set him apart from the competition. I loved learning about Felder’s company and the way he used his idea to bring redemption to broken places.

At only 16 years old, Ben Stern had an idea to reduce plastic waste. He was only a freshman in Highschool but wanted to change the way people throw out single use plastics. In 2016, Ben pitched his idea called “Nohbo” to Shark Tank and secured a deal with Mark Cuban. Nohbo is a brand that found a way to encapsulate personal care items into a water soluble film! Nohbo works with personal care brands to provide them with single use, plastic free versions of their shampoos, conditioners, soap, lotions and more. These brands can then use their Nohbo products to display in places like hotels where the usual mode of personal care is cased in single used plastic that gets thrown out right after. Ben believes the best way to reduce plastic consumption is to get rid of it completely. His brand gets rid of plastic consumption by providing a new way to engage with personal care items! I believe Ben Stern is a great example of a successful entrepreneur because he took something he was passionate about and turned it into a successful business that benefits the earth. Ben has created an extremely successful business by entering the personal care market and doing something different than everyone else. Something that I think is cool about Ben’s business is that he didn’t keep his invention just to himself but primarily functions as a b2b company doing businesses with other companies that would benefit from his plastic free pods. Having a business to business model makes Nohbo very sustainable and allows a lot of room for future growth!