As an animal lover, I got so excited when I saw this awesome idea. Dakarai Larriett was raised with dogs as a child, and had one particular dog who hated taking baths. He talked about how no one ever wanted to bathe the dog, and how awful the task was. When he moved out and got his own dog, he decided he wanted to create a natural, therapeutic, and effective in-home spa experience for pets. Many of his products are designed to calm down animals who hate being cleaned and pampered. Some of his products include a de-stress lavender and chamomile freshening and shining spray, de-stress candles for pets, and a natural breath freshener and cleaner. He also sells shampoo and conditioners, as well as sunscreen for pets. I wish I cam up with this idea because it is absolutely precious. Animals can become stressed too! Here are some of his products:

His website can be found here: http://www.gerrardlarriett.com/

Since it is so close to the holiday season, I decided to post about a business that produces some pretty awesome sugary treats: donuts. Glam Doll Donuts is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and produces hand-crafted donuts, with new flavors and a pin-up girl aesthetic. The two girls who created this business, Arwyn Birch and Teresa Fox, had been friends for 25 years and were inspired by the new type of doughnuts based on past restaurant jobs.

The doughnut shop  has classic flavors, such as maple bacon donuts, but they add other unique and “pin-up” style flavors as well, such as spiced Mexican chocolate donuts and cayenne pecan bombshell doughnut. What is unique about this business is how the owners have added different twists to the doughnuts, but have capitalized on a pin-up aesthetic. They even sell vegan doughnuts! The business sells their own coffee as well. This is an example of a business where the atmosphere is just as apart of the actual product.

In 2014, Glam Doll Donuts was listed as one of the best Donut Shops in America by Thrillist. If anyone is ever in Minnesota, this is clearly a cool place to check out.

The world today is often concerned with what we put into our bodies, hence why many foods have become organic, or at least have an organic option. But what about clothes? Kyle Smitley (age 26) did exactly this with her clothing company called Barley and Birch. She makes children’s clothing from 100% organic cotton and water based inks. In this way, no parent should worry about where there kid’s clothes are coming from because, unfortunately, many are made in sweatshops with unknown chemicals.

I work at Polo Ralph Lauren Children’s Store in New Jersey, and I love seeing Smitley start a company like this. While it may be a small movement, I think it is important to know what type of material your clothes are being made from. Smitley only does children clothes, but imagine what type of movement could be started if she starting making teenage/adult clothes as well?

Plus, look how cute these are!

Her website can be found here: http://barleyandbirch.com/.

I decided to make my blog post a bit different this time, and focus not on entrepreneurs in America, but rather ones in other countries. After doing some research, I found a lot of upcoming entrepreneurs in Africa, specifically helping their own country. One that I found interesting was Senai Wolderufael from Ethiopia. At 28, she started a company called Feed Green Ethiopia, which produces and exports popular Ethiopian spices, like shiro, mitmita, korarima, and berbere. They also serve more well-known spices, like hot chili pepper and cloves. Wolderufael created the company to help the needs of Ethiopian diaspora in America and Europe (meaning Ethiopians who moved elsewhere and can no longer buy authentic Ethiopian spices), but has recently expanded to shipping within Africa as well. Interesting enough, the company only employs women. It’s headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

http://www.fgeexports.com/

I personally love hearing about the different companies that are outside of America, and how their businesses develop based on their own culture. Instead of getting your every day spices from the grocery store, maybe it would be fun to try some of these authentic Ethiopian spices!

Hart Main is 14 year old boy who came up with probably one of the simplest, yet most interesting home items ever. A candle company that only sells “man” scents. Main got the idea from his sister, who was selling what he called “girly” candle scents for a school fundraiser. Girly scents being smells such as flowers, beaches, and coffee houses. With the help of his parents, Main opened the candle company called “ManCans,” which has scents like bacon, sawdust, freshly cut grass, and grandpa’s pipe. ManCans are sold in over 60 stores across the country, and has sold about 9,000 candles. Here’s a picture of one titled “Santa’s Beard.”

Each candle bought is a meal donated to someone in need. In fact, the candles themselves are poured into real soup cans, and the money put into making that candle aids families who cannot afford food. Overall, Main’s company has donated over 100,000 meals. For a 14 year old, I would say this is a pretty impressive and creative company.

http://man-cans.com/index.php?route=common/home

Kenneth Shinozuka is 15 years old and invented a device for older people who tend to wander or fall easily. Ken was specifically inspired by his grandfather who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. His grandpa began walking out of bed during the night, and often hurt himself during his wanderings. This is fairly common for people who suffer from Alzheimer’s. Thus, Kenneth created Safe Wander, a sensory device that dementia patients can wear on their socks that alerts their care giver or family member when they leave bed. The device, however, can also be used for more than just those who suffer from dementia. It can also be used for older individuals who are unable to maintain balance, and thus if they fall, Safe Wander can send a message to the care giver. The sensors are coin-sized and wireless, and notify the care giver whenever their patient is up and moving. I have a grandmother who sadly passed away from Alzheimer’s, so this device really struck me as innovative and also inspirational. Here’s the website if you want to check it out: http://www.safewander.com/