You See Clear

Babur Jahid

Babur Jahid is a 21 year old entrepreneur from Kabul, Afghanistan. His family was relocated a number of times to escape the violence that was constantly going on around them. His father held a variety of positions in government and their family faced brutal oppression. Babur saw his father beaten at the pharmacy buying medicine, and his sister was also attacked while walking him to school.

When the family returned to Afghanistan for good, an Afghan-American family friend offered to assist in the tuition of a school in Kabul for Babur. Babur received a scholarship that covered approximately 90% of the cost, and the rest was paid for their friend.

Jahid was drawn to America by a scholarship as an exchange student. He moved to Virginia for a short while and after that lived with relatives in Toronto, Canada.

Babur was drawn to Carleton University to learn about health issues and “the relationship between lifestyle and population health.” (Rubinstein) I his sophomore year at Carleton, he was involved in a program that “facilitates collaboration between faculty and student researchers and the broader community on ideas and projects that contribute to building sustainable communities.”(Rubinstein)

This is where Jahid learned about social entrepreneurship and credits this program to the start of You See Clear. You See Clear is Babur’s business that seeks to provide affordable eye care for the needy in Afghanistan. He states that “He realized that women need to see to be able to do manual labor, and that kids need to see to go to school.”

Babur is an amazing example of an entrepreneur who takes advantage of and makes the most out of every opportunity presented to him. From fleeing the violence in his home, to helping children see their future.

“Social Entrepreneurship with a Clear Vision: Carleton’s Babur Jahid.” Carleton Newsroom, 20 Feb. 2020, https://newsroom.carleton.ca/story/social-entrepreneurship-clear-vision/.

Cameron Johnson was only nine years old when he began his first business. It was named Cheers for Tears and this company sold greeting and other cards. He found this inspiration from creating invitations for his parent’s holiday party.

A few years later, when Cameron was 12, he bought his sister’s collection of Ty Beanie Babies. He sold them online and profited tenfold. From here, he went straight to the Ty company. He purchased them at wholesale and continued to sell them on eBay and his Cheers for Tears website.

Soon, he had saved over $50,000. He used this to work on his next project, My EZ Mail. This was a computer service that could forward e-mails while keeping the personal details of the sender anonymous. Johnson hired a programmer that completed the program and two years later, My EZ Mail produced approximately $3,000 per month.

His next venture took him into the space of online advertisements. He and two other teens teamed up to form an online advertising company called Surfingprizes.com. The company “provided scrolling advertisements across the top of users’ Web browsers. Those who downloaded the software received 20 cents per hour (a tiny fraction of the value to the advertiser) for the inconvenience of having ads splay across their computer screens.”(Forbes.com)

This was so successful that “By the age of 15, he has been receiving checks amounting to $300,000 to $400,000 a month.”(leadershipintellect) Before he graduated from high school, Johnson was already worth over a million dollars.

Cameron Johnson is now CEO of Magic City Ford Lincoln. This is a dealership in Virginia that was founded by his great-grandfather.(aboutcameronjohnson) He also writes many books about entrepreneurship and public speeches.

The First Million: Cameron Johnson (forbes.com)

Cameron Johnson: Through Cheers and Tears | Leadership Intellect (wordpress.com)

About – Cameron Johnson

Pokeworks

Peter Yang

Poke is a type of dish that can be described as a raw fish salad. It consists of diced up raw fish and other vegetables. It is typically served as an appetizer and is traditional to Hawaii.

Pokeworks is a chain of restaurants that serves this dish in a quick efficient fashion. It is a build your own sushi sundae, similar to the style of Chipotle and Subway. It begins with a bed of rice, salad, or quinoa. Then the protein is added, most commonly salmon and ahi tuna are used. The next step in the line are the vegetables. Finally, the “crunchy” toppings are sprinkled on top, including macadamia nuts and crispy wontons.

Peter Yang is the Chief Development Officer and co-founder of Pokeworks, along side brother and a couple of college friends. Peter grew up in the restaurant business and was working for his parents at the age of 15.

He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a degree in engineering. He briefly pursued a career in this field but lost interest soon after. Peter returned to his roots and passion in the restaurant industry. The idea for Pokeworks came from the need for quick, customizable, and healthy eating that can be taken to go.

Peter stated in an interview that “passion is half the equation, but grit is the other half.” Passion can come from discussing ideas with others, a personal experience, something from your past. The grit comes in when pursuing that passion. Working and persevering through the tough times and grueling details.

Peter Yang has an inspiring story that began when he was just a kid working for his parents restaurant. He left that life to pursue engineering, but returned to his calling in the food industry.

(3810) Pokeworks – Somerville, MA – YouTube

Peter Yang – Co-Founder and Chief Development Officer of Pokeworks (ideamensch.com)

Mikaila Ulmer began her business just like any other kid, a simple lemonade stand. She used a recipe from her great grandmother that used honey as a sweetener instead of straight sugar. Mikaila was fascinated by bees and how they provide for the environment. She has always donated a portion of her proceeds to organizations that fight to save the bees.

She also has created a nonprofit named the Healthy Hive Foundation. Their mission is to “save all bees through education, research, and protection, and to inspire social entrepreneurship.” She found her passion, to save the bees and combined it with her love of selling lemonade.

Me & the Bees has 5 flavors of lemonade that are sold in 40 states and more than 1500 stores.

It is inspiring how Mikaila started from a simple lemonade stand, and grew it into a national business. She has a purpose, to save the bees, and is passionate about it.

(3633) Mikaila Ulmer: Teen CEO of Me & The Bees Lemonade runs multi-million dollar business | All Good – YouTube

Teen Entrepreneur Mikaila Ulmer Turned Saving the Bees into a Multi-Million Dollar Empire – Capitalism.com

Robert Luo

CEO of Mi Terro

Mi Terro is a company that focuses on conserving the environment in a unique way. They make clothes using spoiled milk from farms and extra, unused milk from food companies. The milk waste is repurposed into a fiber used to make clothing.  Mi Terro also uses 100% compostable plant based packaging for their products.

Robert Luo’s father owned a small farm and the extra, unused milk went to waste. Robert’s father was a big inspiration in his life. A quote from his father that stuck with Robert was that “Interesting people live outside their comfort zones.”

I think that this is inspirational in every aspect of life, not only business. Don’t be afraid to try something new and exciting. It’s a great way to make connections, find a new hobby, and make friends.