Author Archive for WileyHM18

Liza Koshy

Posted by WileyHM18 
· Friday, December 14th, 2018 
· 3 Comments

Liza Koshy’s internet fame has grown rapidly over the past few years. She started small on Vine but her following soon grew. She became loved for her relatable humor and ridiculous puns. She started a YouTube channel and is active on other social media sites, such as Instagram. Her YouTube channel currently has over 16 million subscribers.

Liza was born in Texas in 1996 to a bi-racial couple. Her mother was white and her father Indian. She is able to look at her heritage with a sense of humor and often references it in her jokes. She is able to joke lightly about any topic, and viewers love the various characters that she makes up, such as Jet and Helga.

Since her reputation has grown, Liza has been able to take advantage of acting opportunities, such as a role in the Hulu show Freakish and one in the comedy/horror film Boo! A Madea Halloween.

Liza Koshy’s net worth is currently $4 million, and she is only 22 years old.

I admire and enjoy Liza’s ambition and humor and hope to see her success grow in the future.

3 Comments
Categories : Women Entrepreneurs, YouTube

The Craft of Custom Crochets

Posted by WileyHM18 
· Friday, November 16th, 2018 
· 2 Comments

Bella Tonski had a skill for making things with her hands, whether it was crocheting a hat or baking a cake. More than that, she had taught herself how recreate a crocheted item just using a picture as reference, working without any sort of a pattern. Those who are crafters themselves will realize just how impressive this skill is. Bella is a visionary. On her website’s about page, she says,

“I’m a wife, a crafter & creator, a baker, a lover of both eating & cooking, connoisseur of written word, adorer of cats & critters, a Connecticut-dweller, & most important of all, a follower of Christ. I believe that I was created by a creative God to create creative things & crochet is my go-to method to reflect that!”

Though Bella has always been creative, she was not always interested in creating her own business. The encouragement of her husband that caused her to even consider it. Now she has a website, a Facebook page, and an Etsy shop for patterns that she has created.

I find her work to be an inspiration as I am a crafter myself. I admire her abilities and her open commitment to Christ through her life and work.

Find Bella’s Custom Crochets Etsy shop here.

2 Comments
Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Creating, Millennial Enrepreneuers

Love Coffee, Love People: Silk City Coffee

Posted by WileyHM18 
· Monday, November 5th, 2018 
· 4 Comments

Silk City Coffee is a small local coffee shop, co-founded just two years ago by Rob and Sarah May. Married just a couple of years after graduation, the high school sweethearts had dreams of opening up a coffee shop someday, more as something they could do when they retired, but God had other plans. Rob had a passion for all things coffee, and Sarah loved to bake; this was the perfect recipe for a coffee shop, but starting from the bottom in their mid-twenties seemed far-fetched. The right connections were all that they needed, as it turns out. Their friends and mentors, Glenn and Tammy Gerhard, were willing to partner with them, and, through hours of prayer, the rest is history!

Silk City Coffee is a place where the residents of Manchester, CT can go to connect, enjoy coffee and fresh-baked goods, and even listen to live music. This coffee shop hit the ground running and is thriving after two years of business. On main street, Silk City Coffee is in a great central location on the town’s main street, where small businesses have been giving the town new life in recent years.

On the back wall of the shop is a bulletin board under a sign that says, “Love Coffee, Love People.” This is truly the mission of Silk City Coffee. The bulletin board is divided into two halves, one for needs that people may have, and one to display needs that have been met. Anyone who enters the coffee shop may write on a card a need they might have, from advertising a piano for sale to asking for prayers for a job interview. Those who write down their needs are encouraged to read the other cards on the board and attempt to meet one of the needs there. Cards with needs that have been met are then transferred to the right side of the board, and from there into a scrapbook when the board gets too full. This just goes to show how invested Rob and Sarah are in helping their community.

The bakers and baristas are always experimenting with new ideas for baked goods and seasonal drinks. I know this personally because I was privileged to work there all last year as a baker. It was truly an ideal job.

4 Comments
Categories : Food, Millennial Enrepreneuers

Behind the Make-Up: Michelle Phan’s Story

Posted by WileyHM18 
· Monday, October 15th, 2018 
· 1 Comment

Michelle Phan grew up in a poor home. Her father left when she was six, and her mother soon remarried and opened a nail salon. Michelle admired her mother’s work ethic and her desire to make others feel beautiful. While her mother encouraged her to become a doctor so that she could be successful and earn money, Michelle decided to follow her passions and go into art school. Her artistic abilities extended into cosmetics, and she began creating videos of her make-up routine to post on YouTube, becoming one of the first beauty vloggers. The videos she posted quickly began gaining popularity, and her hobby turned into something much larger. Once her first video hit 1 million views, she was accepted onto YouTube’s partner program.

Michelle’s YouTube career continued growing, and she moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to pursue it more fully. She partnered with the make-up brand Lancome, featuring them in her videos. Michelle even began her own make-up startup. She called her startup Ipsy, allowing people to subscribe to receive a monthly make-up bag  She was very successful and was posting two videos a week, but the strain of the constant work was wearing down on her. She felt that she had lost an essential part of her channel by turning it into tutorial-generating machine. After her new business Em Cosmetics flopped, she turned her back on social media for a time, deciding to travel the world and figure out what she really wanted to do with her life. After a year, Michelle was ready to begin again. In 2017, Michelle left Ipsy and relaunched Em Cosmetics with a much smaller make-up line.

Michelle was able to reevaluate her life and pursue what she really loved. She became successful as her mother wanted her to, now her net worth is $50 million. Her mother was able to retire thanks to her daughter. I find this to be a beautiful story of creativity and following your passions.

1 Comment
Categories : Beauty, Business, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneurs

New Idea, Vintage Clothing

Posted by WileyHM18 
· Monday, October 1st, 2018 
· 3 Comments

Now in their mid-thirties and married, Susan Gregg and Eric Koger began in 2002 with some used clothes and an idea. Susan had always had a love for vintage clothing but eventually came to the point where her passion outgrew her closet. As college students, she and Eric were always looking for ways to make money, and so they had the idea to begin an online vintage clothing shop, naming it ModCloth.

ModCloth had very humble beginnings, with one part-time employee working out of their basement, but over the next couple of years they began expanding rapidly. By the time that Susan graduated college, she realized that ModCloth could be her full-time job. In 2007, ModCloth had one million dollars in sales and raised one million in capital. From there ModCloth continued to expand its sales, bringing in $150 million in revenue during 2014. They grew to the point where they were selling styles from designers all around the world.

One impressive way that they measured demand was through a program called “Be the Buyer.” This program allowed potential buyer to view sample products, vote on them, and give input on each product’s price, style, etc. “Be the Buyer” really helped Susan to understand her customers and what they were looking for in ModCloth.

I think that ModCloth is a wonderful example of a passion made profitable.

 

Susan and Eric with their beloved pug.

ModCloth has since been sold to WalMart. Their website and YouTube channel can be viewed here.

3 Comments
Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Business, Clothing, Fashion, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Vintage Clothing

Fighting Diabetes, One Cup at a Time

Posted by WileyHM18 
· Monday, September 17th, 2018 
· 2 Comments

Diabetes is a disease which affects the lives of many across the world. In Cameroon, Vanessa Zommi has felt its affects firsthand, losing both grandparents to it and seeing her mother suffer from it as well. Vanessa, then just a teenager, decided that she could not just sit by and do nothing to help the 15% of people in her city of Buea who suffered from the disease. After researching a variety of natural treatments, Vanessa found the moringa oleifera tree. This tree, native to her region, has leaves which can be used to ease digestion, boost energy, provide nutrients, and, most importantly, lower the body’s sugar levels. Upon this discovery, she acquired leaves from local farmers to test her idea for a moringa leaf tea which could be a simple and inexpensive treatment for those with diabetes.

By the age of seventeen, Vanessa had begun a company for the manufacturing of Emerald Moringa Tea and was selling it locally at low prices so that it could be easily affordable to those in poverty. She also worked with the local farmers, teaching them how to plant and grow the moringa tree as a way to make money.

Vanessa grew up with a love and understanding of social entrepreneurship after helping her mother sell computers to support her family. Her innovative spirit got her far, earning her a place as a finalist for Africa’s Anzisha Prize for young entrepreneurs.

More information about Vanessa Zommi and Emerald Moringa Tea can be found here and here.

2 Comments
Categories : Millennial Enrepreneuers, Social Entrepreneur, Women Entrepreneurs