Author Archive for petschkeRA22

Jaequan Faulkner – Old Fashioned Hotdogs

Jaequan Faulkner, age 13, did not mean to make the news. He just wanted to make some money on the side like lots of kids his age. He was selling old fashioned hot dogs for $2 and $1 chips and sodas from his front yard. How did this blow up?

Someone sent a complaint to the Minneapolis Health Department because Faulkner’s side hustle was operating as an unlicensed vendor. Faulkner became the latest case of a stream of kids trying to make side money just to be shut down by suspicious/angry adults. Talk about someone being a Karen… expecting a kid to have a vendor’s license.

Anyways, the officials didn’t immediately swoop down on Faulkner’s endeavor and shut it down. Instead, they tried to figure out how they could help the kid. When checking the business out, they were impressed by Faulkner’s drive and decided to teach him how to get his business up to code. In fact, once Faulkner’s stand passed inspection, the inspectors paid for the $87 fee!

Faulkner’s uncle helps him run the business, which serves customers from 11AM to 3PM. Faulkner is very on top of running his business, and estimates sales of 100-150 dogs sold a day. He plans on starting his own restaurant once he gets out of school.

As Jaequan Faulkner said himself, “My auntie always told me, ‘Can’t nobody stop you but you.’ If you say ‘I can’t do that,’ well, then you just set yourself up for failure.”

Emily Yoder – Sustainable Treats

Have you ever wondered why granola bars have ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup or thiamin mononitrate? Since ingredients like this have been proven harmful when consumed by humans, then why are they still in our food?

A Kent state student, Emily Yoder, decided to challenge this questionable norm. Through research, she discovered ingredients like this were used to keep food from spoiling, make it cheaper with artificial flavor alternatives, and replicate natural aspects of food that disappear when being processed, not to mention that granola bars and such often have an unnecessarily high sugar content.

Since none of these ingredients were necessary to making food, Emily decided to make REAL food, so that people avoid the unhealthy chemicals.

Emily’s granola bars, brownies, and other treats went above ditching the unnatural chemicals: all of them are vegan and gluten free, organic, and made with local ingredients that are mostly non-GMO, packaged with eco-friendly materials. They are also free of refined sugars, trans fat, cholesterol, and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.

Emily sells her products at Ohio farmers markets, and has additional sales in other seasons. As of 2017, she planned on getting a space in Cleveland Culinary Launch & Kitchen (CLLK) and hiring her first employees. Whether or not she was successful is unclear.

Emily’s idea is inspiring because she challenged the norm and tried to make something good. As she says, “There’s no point in being an entrepreneur unless you’re trying to change something for the better.” Even if you end up failing, it was worth a shot and a great learning experience.

Zandra Cunningham – Zandra Beauty

When Zandra Cunningham nine, her father wouldn’t let her buy more lip balm because of the harmful skin-damaging chemicals found in it. So Zandra made her own. Almost a year later, in 2010, Zandra launched a brand called Azariah’s Innocence, and at age 10, sold her own lip balm and body shea butter at the local farmer’s market.

As business grew and the brand expanded, Zandra renamed her brand to Zandra Beauty. Her brand still would sell lip balm made with natural ingrediants, but now she would sell more things than lip balm and shea butter, such as make up remover and face washes. As Zandra puts it, the brand motto is “No icky stuff!”

Now at age 21, Zandra has a net worth of $500,000. Her brand has expanded to making over 40 natural skincare products, all of which are not tested on animals. Not only did Zandra win awards such as the Etsy Open Call Golden PO, BE Teenpreneur of the year nominee (2016), and Small Business Administration Youth Entrepreneur of the year (2017), but she has also been featured on talk shows and other channels such as Nickelodeon.

A few words of advice Zandra has given are “be confident” and “networking is key.” The reason why Zandra’s story is inspirational is because of how young she was when she started her business, yet she wasn’t afraid of conquering the world with her skincare products. Zandra’s attitude is part of why she is such a successful entrepreneur. You can’t be afraid to change the world.

Gus Schoenbucher – Gus’s Eats & Treats

Gus Schoenbucher was 14 when his father gave him the idea to sell ice cream out of a boat. It was aluminum, and Gus’s father did the exact same thing 40 years prior. The reason Gus’s business took off but his father’s never did was because of a complaint about Gus not having a food service license. As Gus puts it:

” ‘You know what? I’ll go ahead and get a license,’ and now it’s an official business, and it’s all registered in my name.”

Since then, Gus expanded to selling hot dogs, red hot dogs (for visitors from Maine), chips, and soda. At some point, the manager of Krispy Kreme contacted Gus, so he sells donuts out of his boat too!

Considering that Gus’s business operates out of a single boat on Merrymeeting lake in New Durham, New Hampshire, business is pretty good. Gus drives the boat around the lake and delivers food to hungry customers, as well as transactions on the water. In no time, he upgraded from a dinghy boat to pontoon.

Gus operates his business on a seasonal basis because of school. Even though his business is a summer side hustle, it’s remarkable what cool things can be done with a good idea. Gus’s business is a fine example of kids rising to a challenge without being afraid of failure. Gus could have quit when someone complained about him not having a food service license. He could have chosen to be too lazy to go out and get a permit. He could have been afraid to get the license because he was just a kid and nobody was going to let a kid register a business. But Gus did not take no for an answer. He persevered when most kids his age would have given up, and how has a successful business. Making a successful business doesn’t drop into your lap; you can’t back down because of criticism or fear.

Kenan Pala – Kids4Community

Kenan Pala is the child of two Turkish immigrants (as of 1998) and was only 11 when he got an idea for a business. On a run at the beach with his father, Kenan saw passerbys trying to help a stranded seal. When he was being driven home, Kenan saw a poverty-stricken person asking for help. No one stopped to help. Struck by the comparison, Kenan researched homelessness in his home city San Diego and found it was #4 in the nation for highest homelessness rates. Kenan wanted to do something.

His opportunity arose in 2016 when he and his friends broke the Guiness World Record for the largest cardboard mosaic to raise awareness for local homelessness. Empowered by his success, Kenan created his charity Kids4Community in 2017.

Kids4Community is a charity that seeks to aid the homeless. Volunteers do things such as make meals for shelters and create programs which educate people of all ages about homelessness and the dangers of substance abuse. Kids4Community also aided hurricane and natural disaster victims with hygiene kids, as well as sending 400 low-income elementary school kids backpacks with school supplies. The charity is also responsible for organizing the cleaning of Mission Bay and supplying a local homeless shelter with 2,000 stockings in December 2017.

Due to this, Kenan was named one of the top 10 youth volunteers in the country in 2017 by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards. Additionally, in 2018, the mayor of San Diego named January 23rd “Kenan Pala day.”

On top of his charity and accolades, Kenan is a fantastic runner who is not easily fazed by success. In 2018, he ran in the San Diego Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon, winning the boys 15-17 age division with a mile average of 5:57. Kenan runs a shocking 40-70 miles a week, often waking up at 4:30 AM to get started. Since he loves running, it’s no surprise he would use it to fundraise for his charity. Kenan hosted a 5k event to raise money to a housing program. He hopes to raise money for Kids4Community by running in the future, as well as run for Stanford University. Kenan even hopes that one day he might run in the Olympics in the 5,000 meters.

Jack Bonneau – Jack’s Stands and Marketplaces

Jack Bonneau was eight, he asked his father for a lego deathstar. Jack’s father told him to raise the money himself. It may have seemed crazy for someone to ask an eight year old to raise $400 all by himself, but Jack’s father knew what he was doing, and suggested Jack might start with a lemonade stand. At the Denver farmer’s market, Jack set up his first stand. Within 12 weeks, Jack had raised $900. With his father’s help, Jack set up a website that gave other kids the option to set up their own lemonade stands. But this was just the beginning.

It was sheerly on accident that Jack ended up on the Shark Tank. He was in New York City to see the Tonight Show, and coincidently heard that Shark Tank auditions would take place in Manhattan the next day. Excited about the prospect, Jack showed up bright and early and gave his pitch when it was his turn. He got accepted a few weeks later. His pitch highlighted marketplace building and how other kids would get entrepreneurial experience, and asked for $50,000 for 10% equity. However, the sharks felt that his business needed to grow more, and instead offered $50,000 with 2% interest. Jack accepted.

Jack’s business now offers kids a marketplace where they can sell their products online or through one of his physical locations. As for the lemonade stands, kids and their parents can work shifts to earn money while not having to deal with the hassles and challenges of setting up their own market places.

In addition to his business, Jack had donated to charities and spoke in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. for the annual board of directors meeting event.

Now in his early teens, Jack had taken what he learned about raising and managing funds, and turned it into a thriving business. What makes Jack so inspiring is how he accepted what seemed like a daunting challenge of raising $400. It takes a special mentality to get up and do that instead of just whining about how hard it would be and giving up. Jack story teaches us how facing our giants instead of turning away and refusing to give up is vital to being successful. Hopefully this inspires you to not give in when the challenge before you seems too big to overcome.

Jahkil Jackson – The Project I Am

Jahkil Jackson was only eight when he started his non profit organization– The Project I Am– but the idea stuck him when he was five. Jahkil and his aunt passed out food to the homeless, and something about that experience caused Jahkil to pester his parents about doing something. When Jahkil was eight, his parents put together an event for friends and family to come together and make toiletry bags for the homeless. They made 88 bags, and even since then, Jahkil hasn’t looked back.

Project I Am is a non profit organization which gives out toiletry bags (often containing items such as hand sanitizer, socks, deodorant, granola bars, water, and toothbrushes) to the homeless. This organization is funded by 1000+ volunteers, who have raised over $275,000 in donations. These volunteers and donations have touched the lives of over 70,000 people. Most of the time, these toiletry bags are made in packing parties, but over the pandemic, hosting packing parties wasn’t a great option. During this time, Jahkil and his immediate family initially put together the bags by themselves, and grandma would drop them off at the shelter. However, after four months of this, Jahkil got bored. He then came up with the idea of virtual packaging parties, which allowed kids from all over the country to make these toiletry bags together while staying safe. The largest number of kids attending a virtual packaging party at one time ended up being almost 250 kids from 55 cities. With Project I Am’s great success, it continues to grow in the impact it makes.

Now at age 14, Jahkil has won over a dozen awards for his work, including as Children’s Museum Power of Children Award and BET’s 15 under 15. He has also published his own book called I Am, which empowers people of all ages to stand up to bullying. In the future, Jahkil would love for Project I Am to expand from Chicago and make an impact world wide. For the time being, he plans on achieving this by having volunteers from all over the globe order toiletry kits to be sent to their area.

What makes the idea of Project I Am so great is that it serves a group of people who are often overlooked, and has a positive social impact. Project I Am is also a sustainable non profit with a great business model. Jahkil’s story of becoming an entrepreneur at age eight is inspirational because it shows you that you are never to young or inexperienced to make an impact, and if you are persistent enough, you can make a huge difference right where you are.

Vinusha MK – Four Seasons Pastry

Vinusha MK may be only twelve, but she already owns of her own baking company– Four Seasons Pastry. Vinusha’s discovery of her love of baking began when she was only nine years old. She wanted to surprise her mother for her birthday, and with the help of a friend, managed to successfully make a cake. Vinusha realized she had a knack for baking, and with her parents help, managed to sell over six hundred cupcakes from her kitchen, starting in 2019. Each cupcake is themed to represent a season– orange for summer, green (with a fondant leaf) for spring, white (with a fondant snowflake) for winter, and pink (with scattered fondant leaves) for fall. Vinusha also has sold vanilla and black forest cakes, though the cupcakes were more successful. Before the pandemic, Vinusha launched baking kits complete with ingredients, and during the time at home, she also launched blondies, chicken and vegetarian sandwiches, and homemade chocolates.

Vinusha is coached by several seasoned pastry chefs, and dreams of going to a European culinary institute. She plans on creating healthy cupcakes and a website once the pandemic ends. Some of her inspirations for the future are to make her brand number one in desserts, to open a culinary school for those who can’t afford to study abroad.

What makes Vinusha different from the rest is her passion for baking. She has no limits to her ambition, and though she is excited about her craft, Vinusha is less childish than you might expect. She refuses to give up, even if it takes twenty attempts to get making macaroons right. When mistakes are made, Vinusha gets back up and tried again. She’s willing to try new things to get the recipe just right. Vinusha is very open to feedback, and believes that you should let your passions should choose what you do with your life, and not try to force an interest on yourself.