From a young age, Mikey Wren had a passion for vending machines. His earliest recollection of the machines dates back to when he was just eight years old. He was attending a summer camp and decided he wanted a snack. He discovered a vending machine and was amazed at the fact that someone owned the machine and was making money through his snack purchases. He decided right then and there that one day he would build a vending machine empire. Although for many the goal seemed out of reach, Mikey was determined. He made a deal with his parents to split the cost of a vending machine for Christmas and raised the money for not one, but two machines. Wren immediately went to work networking, attending conventions and meetings, and soon found a home for his first two machines in an office building. With the money from those machines, he bought two more and placed them in an apartment complex. Mikey’s business gained attraction from the snack manufacturer, KarmaBox, who sent him a free machine and helped him find a location for it. His business was absolutely skyrocketing, but he wasn’t done just yet. Mikey remembered just how difficult the early days of his journey were, and wanted to give back to those who were following the same path he did. Wren now sells refurbished vending machines to startup businesses to help them get on their feet. These machines come with a starter pack that gives info and supplies to first time vending machine owners, things he wish he had when he started off. Mikey’s Munchies continues to grow and flourish, with such an early start the sky is truly the limit.

Ryan Trahan began his journey as a student at Texas A&M. At the time he was a student-athlete running cross country, and he came across the idea to begin a water bottle company. Neptune Bottles immediately found success, netting Trahan $50,000 in profit in just its first year of production. This occurred before NIL deals were made legal, however, and Trahan was punished by the NCAA for promoting his brand through his running. He dropped out of college and began a career as a YouTuber, where he found an enormous amount of success. Trahan’s most successful series as a Youtuber saw him travel across the country using just a penny, trading and selling things to cover the cost of transport all while raising $1.38 million for charity. Trahan then shifted his sights onto his most recent business venture, Joyride Sweets. Joyride Sweets seeks to produce “uncommon candy” – candy without any sort of artificial junk. Their products are plant-based, low-carb, and low-sugar, meaning they taste great but wont ruin a diet. There have been a large amount of these low-sugar “healthy” candy brands that have popped up over the years, but with their added focus on integrity of ingredients and massive social media backing, Joyride proposes a promising future. Joyride is available in many large retail stores, and even managed to sell out entirely the day they were brought to shelves in target.

Robert Felder started his dream after taking a trip to Bangladesh. During his trip he realized that although it is one of the largest clothing manufacturers in the world, many people there can’t afford clothing. He was horrified that many of the people who worked these factories were the same people that couldn’t afford to clothe their kids. Robert knew what he needed to do and set out to make a change with his own business.

His clothing company set out to build personal relationships with the manufacturing companies he was working with. Expanding to China, India, and Bangladesh, he ensured that he only worked with those who treated their employees with decency and respect, and ensured that his product would give back to clothing the community. Felder’s good ethics paid off when the COVID pandemic hit. Because of the trust he has built up with both his manufacturers and their surrounding communities, His clothing company was able to weather the storm and keep demand high through the crisis, causing him to outlast many of his largest competitors and increase profits when the world returned to normal.

At age 13 Hart Main discovered a very serious problem with the world: there was a serious lack of manly candles. He noticed that although there was a plethora of different scents and colors, very few were ones he would classify as “manly”. For Hart this was just another problem with the world until he set his sights on a $1500 bicycle, the only issue was he needed money for it.

Hart and his family solved this dilemma by starting ManCans. ManCans produces candles made in soup cans that feature scents such as campfire, sawdust, and freshly cut grass. Hart’s business brings in over six figures each year, but even in his young age he still understands the importance of giving back to the community. ManCan primarily employs those who are developmentally challenged, and gives a chunk of their proceeds back to soup kitchens in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and several other surrounding states. ManCans are distributed by Beaver Creek candles and are currently sold in every single state.

Kiki Hardee certainly didn’t wait to enact the change she wanted. At age five, she made the observation that some kids at her school would skip cafeteria lunch because they simply couldn’t pay for it. This broke Kiki’s heart, and she began to search for a solution to help her classmates out. She had discovered that there was around $600 dollars of lunch money debt at her school, a monstrous sum for any young kid, but nevertheless she hatched a plan.

Kiki began to sell hot chocolate and cookies in order to help pay for this debt. Soon her efforts increased, and she began to host other fundraising events. Kiki’s efforts far surpassed her projections, as she was able to rake in $7,000 to pay off not just her schools lunch debt, but that of the entire district. But Kiki still was not satisfied. Through her operation: Kiki’s Kindness Project, she has raised up to $22,000 towards other school’s debt programs, with a goal of one day reaching $250,000. Although this goal may seem insurmountable to most, Kiki is more than determined to get there. The odds certainly haven’t been an issue yet.

From the time he was a little boy, Mihir Garimella has been finding ways to tackle his problems with technology. From “simple” inventions such as a violin-tuning robot, to a motion sensor that turns off the lights in his room, Garimella has always had a passion for innovation. Over time, Mihir’s inventions got even more complicated and advanced. In high school he developed a system that would assess people with concussions, and in his free time he created an application that could solve hand-written math equations. The Pittsburgh native really began to push himself, however, when he decided to enter the drone market. After observing some fruit flies, Mihir noticed that they had an incredible ability to react to any sort of danger lightning fast. He wondered what it would look like to create a tiny drone that could move in a similar manner. Mihir created FlyBot, a small modular drone that could be used in various crisis settings by emergency services. His drone is primarily suited for search and rescue, but Mihir certainly wants to explore other uses. Modification is a large portion of the draw to Mihir’s drones, as they can be used as a modular platform. A nigh time search and rescue could require a thermal camera to be plugged in, whereas a rescue in daytime low-visibility could possibly utilize a siren to help evacuation efforts. There is also numerous possibilities with mission program software, so that agencies can tailor the drone for their specific uses. Mihir is just finishing up college at Stanford, so FlyBot hasn’t gone big-time yet, but it is certainly hard to deny the significance of his innovations within the field.