Author Archive for williamsef24

Ameen Fadel: Cedar Valley

Posted by williamsef24 
· Sunday, October 13th, 2024 
· No Comments

Ameen Fadel started a pita chip business called “Cedar Valley.”  This business started as a high school project.  He received $3,000 from his school board and worked with his mom to make a Lebanese salad dressing– this is a family recipe.  It took two years to finalize the recipe.  In 2017, they went to their first farmer’s market. They sold pita chips with the dressing, but people wanted to buy the chips too.  This was the first step changing what they thought the business would be.  Ameen Fadel and his mom got a facility to make the chips and then got their products into grocery stores.  In 2020, they moved into a 5,000 square foot location to keep up with the demand.  They continued to expand to over 1,800 retail locations.  In 2023, they went onto the “Dragons’ Den” which is Canada’s version of Shark Tank and made a one million deal.

It is amazing how Ameen and his mom stuck with this idea.  It took them a whole two years to finalize the dressing, and that is not even their business today.  They did not become discouraged, but rather thrived in their iterations.  In the beginning, they focused so much on this one product that they were blinded to other opportunities until they talked with their customers.  They took so many risks, but these were also calculated and needed.  They risked by changing their main product and risked by the continual expansion.

This family was driven by wanting to share with the world their experiences and their love for their heritage. They did not initially think this could be as profitable as it was today; they were not in it for the money!  They started at a farmer’s market, but their internal motivation fueled them to continue.

Check out them at their website: https://cedarvalleyselections.ca/

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Categories : Baking, Cooking, Entrepreneurship, Food

Intertwined

Posted by williamsef24 
· Sunday, September 29th, 2024 
· 2 Comments

Intertwined is a business that helps people with the resources to learn about financial literacy.  Kerry Ao and Naina Muvva are the cofounders, and they found that 80% of Americans do not have the know about financial literacy.  Therefore, they created Intertwined to help people learn about this through a tailormade education platform using artificial intelligence.

Naina Muvva was just a junior in high school when she identified this need.  Her and Kerry Ao were both in their business club, and they would teach their peers about stocks.  They realized that they could expand this through using simulations and games by AI creation to teach more people about these concepts.  The use of AI allows for questions to be rephrased to help the user learn information.

In two years, there were over 2,800 students nationwide using Intertwined.  She further advanced her education by going to Washington University.  Ms. Muvva majored in medical anthropology, but also used the WashU entrepreneurship program.  She found much needed support and help there.  She and her cofounded were named in Forbes “30 Under 30.”

In an interview with WashU, Ms. Muvva gives advice to other young entrepreneurs.  She says that there will be setbacks, but those need to be expected.  She also says the growth will not be all at once, but rather “wobbly,” still it needs work poured into it.

Check out Intertwined here!

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Categories : AI, Education, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Uncategorized

Audrey McAlister: Sunrise Hill Boutique

Posted by williamsef24 
· Sunday, September 22nd, 2024 
· 1 Comment

SunriseHillBoutique Etsy Header

Audrey McAlister is eighteen years old and started a polymer clay jewelry business when she was sixteen.  When she was ten, she would make food for her dolls out of clay.  When she was sixteen, she found some old polymer clay and wanted to express that same joy, passion, and creativity she had when she was younger.  When she looked on Etsy, she found people were making food out of clay and into jewelry pieces.  I met Audrey over the summer at a camp.  She has so many skills and is always trying to improve her business and connect with customers.

Audrey uses Instagram to promote and advertise her Etsy store.  She offers unique deals and offers.  For example, around her birthday she offers a “Birthday Sale,” where she offered eighteen percent off the week of her eighteenth birthday.  Audrey also works to connect to her customers.  Most of her demographic are Christians, so she would post a Bible verse on Sundays.

She is not driven by the profits, but rather the joy of making something beautiful and reliving the fun she had doing this once at ten years old.  Audrey’s efforts demonstrate her ability to empathize with her customers and the ability to adapt.  Her advertising is appealing to her demographic and helps to draw in sales.  

Her creativity is inspiring.  Each of her designs are unique and handcrafted; she pays attention to even the minuteness of details, and ensures her customers are receiving the best product she can produce.  I am not artistically talented like Audrey is, but I can empathize with my customers like she does.  I learned that the work can be primarily for the joy of it.  She loves making this jewelry and continues to do it because of this love.

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Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Clay, eCommerce, Gen Z, Instagram, Jewelry