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Me and the Bees – Mikaila Ulmer

Posted by millerah21

· Tuesday, October 12th, 2021

· No Comments

Mikaila Ulmer isn’t just a typical young entrepreneur struck by a great idea, she was stung by one!

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When Mikaila was just 4 years old, she was stung by two bees within just one week! Finding it strange and interesting, Mikaila began to do tons of research on her own about everything related to bees. While Mikaila was in the middle of her fascinating research on bees, her parents had received an old 1940s cookbook from her grandma which contained many old traditional recipes. Around this time Mikaila was also encouraged by her family to try out for young business competitions in their area.
Thinking of possible inventions in her environment, Mikaila learned about how dangerously endangered bees have become over the years in America and was interested in making a product that could support them. So, after finding a small flax seed lemonade recipe in the old 1940s cookbook, Makaila decided to substitute the unhealthy sugar in the lemonade with all-natural honey from local beekeepers to support bee conservationists. Ever since then, Mikaila’s lemonade business, now called “Be Sweet” (Changed later to “Me and The Bees” due to copyright disputes), has skyrocketed and she was even featured on the famous tv show “Shark Tank”!

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Mikaila’s company had started small ten years ago but has grown exponentially by then. Mikaila’s products can even be found in several select retailers and restaurants and is increasing that number almost every year.

Mikaila has also written a book that released in August of 2020 called “Bee Fearless, Dream Like a Kid”, that documents her experience as a young entrepreneur and gives tips to future entrepreneurs like herself.

Mikaila’s story is very inspiring and gives a look at how most good ideas or inventions could come from something you are very passionate about.

Or an old cookbook.

Sources:

Mikaila Ulmer of Me & the Bees Lemonade | Microsoft In Culture

Meet Mikaila: CEO, entrepreneur and bee conservationist – YouTube

BeeSweet Lemonade Featured on CBS This Morning News – YouTube

Our Sweet Story – Me & the Bees Lemonade (meandthebees.com)

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

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Categories : Bees, Business, Creating, Education, Female Empowerment, Food, Great Ideas

Athletic Wear for All Shapes and Sizes

Posted by blanktc21

· Friday, October 8th, 2021

· 1 Comment

Krescant Marie is the founder of Krescant Marie Athleisure, a woman’s fitness brand dedicated to creating stylish and body-positive workout clothes for girls of all shapes and sizes. The brand focuses to “not only look good, but feel good.” After experiencing trouble finding athletic wear to fit her size, Krescant saw a common need in the workout industry. Often times workout brands only create athleisure for a “fit” body type, this makes it hard for women to get into working out. Some even are discouraged by the matter, and give up working out all together.

One of the first products by Krescant Marie is the DOUBLE STRAP SAUNA WRAP- BLACK – Krescant Marie a device that stabilizes and heats to encourage good posture and fat burn during a workout session. Also added to the collection are satin hats that can be worn while working out without messing up your hair. In lack of better words, Krescant has eliminated the all too relatable ‘hat hair’.

Next week, Krescant Marie is launching a fall collection including workout leggings, pants, and shirts all ranging from sizes XS to 2X. One significant aspect of this year’s fall launch is the variety of clothing offered; ranging from cropped t-shirts to waist-length shirts, Krescant Marie fits all body types, and makes them look good.

And if you still aren’t sold, krecantmarie.com offers a full online store, where clothes can be ordered without the hassle of in person shopping. Alexicia, a satisfied customer, reviews that the set she received is “super stretchy, comfy and pretty.” Additionally Zandra shopped for her daughter who was oversized and was “very pleased with the product” she also emphasizes the amazing customer service and speedy delivery.

Overall, Krescant Marie saw a need and jumped into action. She demonstrates empathy for those who find it hard to shop for workout clothes, and positively created a brand out of it. She is an inspiration to up and rising entrepreneurs that if something is inconvenient, we need to find a way to make it convenient.

St. Louis entrepreneur creates new fitness-based lifestyle brand | FOX 2 (fox2now.com)

1 Comment

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, athletic wear, Beauty, Business, Social Entrepreneur, woman

Shreyansh Gupta- Youngest Entrepreneur in India

Posted by blanktc21

· Friday, October 8th, 2021

· 4 Comments

Shreyansh Gupta- Digital Marketing Expert

Shreyansh Gupta became an astonishing entrepreneur by the ripe age of 14 and growing up he loved the idea of being his own boss and running his own business, but he wasn’t sure of how to make that possible. He gained a strong motive to learn, and he sought information on social media, online promotions, and web design. He started his own blog post and website based on the knowledge he gained from personal research. From there, he saw a need in digital marketing and focused his studies there.

Soon enough, the digital marketing field expanded, and it became a need in the workforce. Often times, Shreynash saw that brands would prefer digital marketing over traditional marketing. He started DevelopXmedia and expanded his business both nationally and internationally. Shreyansh Gupta became a “digital marketing expert” along with the youngest entrepreneur in India at that time. He is an inspiration to young entrepreneurs all around, that no matter your age, if you see a need in the community, pursue it. During an interview Shreyansh gives very insightful advice to up and rising entrepreneurs, “don’t wait for anything to happen as it is only you who has the potential to create and change a life.” What he means by this is that, if you have an idea, don’t wait for someone else to make the change, be the change yourself. Don’t procrastinate your projects and innovations, “I would suggest starting today” he says.

Shreyansh is a prime example of having the correct mindset. He did not start his business for the sole purpose of money, he started it because of an interest he had. This interest fueled his motivation and success in his business. He had many setbacks on the way and he says that those setbacks are what helped him to push forward and learn from his failure. “Success will definitely knock on your doorstep if you work with honesty,” he encourages to stray away from shortcuts that lead to quick and unlasting success; trust the process and do it right, then you will succeed.

Shreyansh Gupta (itsshreyansh.com)

Digital Entrepreneur Shreyansh Gupta: One of the Youngest Social Media Marketers | 711web

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Categories : Business, Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Social Entrepreneur, Technology, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Hope Outfitters

Posted by Sophia Whiteman

· Friday, October 8th, 2021

· 6 Comments

Hope Outfitters is a small business started by Ryan Welch that creates cute, comfortable clothing and accessories, and then donates all of the profits to charity. They believe that even the smallest things can add up to the biggest difference. Part of what makes Hope Outfitters an interesting business model is that not only do they donate all of their profits to charity, but they pick a different charity every year. I think this is a great idea because this way, they can spread around their profits and pick relevant causes each year. I believe this also makes it more appealing to customers, drives interest and incentivizes repeat customers because if they like the new charity they will want to support it. Most of the products on the website are made in the United States which is also a nice plus. Hope Outfitters also provides the guarantee that none of their products have been made in sweatshops or unethical ways, allowing the customer to buy with a clean conscience. I believe that this company is a great example of how with 25 dollar shirts, one company can make a huge impact all across the world.

6 Comments

Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Business, Business::Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, USA

Seizing opportunity – Willow Tufano

Posted by daviden19

· Friday, October 8th, 2021

· 4 Comments

One of the biggest parts of being an entrepreneur is looking for and taking advantage of opportunities. Willow Tufano is a great example of an entrepreneur who took advantage of an opportunity that she saw coming out of a problem. When Willow was 14 years old, a recession hit Florida, causing houses that usually sold for upwards of $100,000 were selling for less than $15,000 at auctions. With the help of a family who had experience in real estate, Willow decided to take a risk and take advantage of the opportunity of low-priced real estate, she bought a house. After doing some work on the house, Willow made the home available to rent for $700 a month. She was then to make back what she spent in just over a year and a half.

Willow capitalized on an amazing opportunity she saw coming out of a bad situation. Willow was able to gain a lot of experience in real estate and make a really good profit because of her willingness to take a risk and seize opportunities. Risk analysis is an essential skill for entrepreneurship, Willow was able to seize the opportunity at hand because of her ability to take into account the possible reward in light of the potential risk. Risk-analysis and seizing opportunities are both skills that I am working on myself, it is a terrible feeling to realize you missed out on an amazing opportunity because I was scared to step out and try doing something outside my comfort zone. Willow is an example of the possible reward for taking risks.

4 Comments

Categories : Business, Business::Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, seizing opportunity

The Buzz for Bee Downtown

Posted by blendermannkj20

· Tuesday, October 5th, 2021

· 1 Comment

Do you ever think about bees? Small little insects with a huge impact on our world today. With the bee population dwindling every year, beekeepers like Leigh-Kathryn Bonner founded Bee Downtown to save the bees while simultaneously giving companies a new way to think about sustainability.

Companies, like honeybees, are both hives. They both have workers and a queen to serve. With this in mind and the similarities between the two, Leigh-Kathryn Bonner, a fourth-generation beekeeper in her family, wanted to find a way to unite modern day companies with her passion for saving honeybees. Her idea was Bee Downtown, a business that installs beehives on corporate land while at the same time teaching companies about creating high-quality teams for businesses. It was a unique opportunity for Kathryn. Her family had already been beekeepers for a few generations and that same love for the environment and saving honeybees was already instilled into Kathryn.

Their main service is installing and maintaining beehives on corporate campuses. This gives a place for honeybees to live in the spring and summer and drives curiosity and engagement from the employees. With the bees living alongside these companies, Bonner hopes to educate the corporate world about sustainability and caring for the environment. However, Bee Downton also offers year-round programs to satisfy employee curiosity. From Beekeeping Classes, Hive Tours, and even Honey Tastings and an Annual Honey Extraction Festival, they offer a wide variety of education and entertainment for anyone wanting to save the bees. They also partner with some of the biggest companies in America like Burt’s Bees, Delta, and Chick-fil-A. The director of sustainable business at Burt’s Bees even said, “We love what Bee Downtown is doing. We appreciate the partnership and are impressed with the professionalism and customer service of all BDT team members! Every spring, we are so glad to have busy bees again. There’s an entirely different energy in the office when they’re here!”

Overall, Leigh-Kathryn Bonner is one of the true examples of an innovative entrepreneur. She combined a passion for beekeeping and a need for corporate sustainability and combined them to create a company with a wonderful idea at its core. Not only is it educational, but it’s also just plain fun! Maybe we should look into Bee Downtown and get a few beehives on campus as well!

1 Comment

Categories : Bees, Business, Business::Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Women Entrepreneurs, Young Entrepreneur

Josh Feinsilber Founder of Gimkit

Posted by schwarzop21

· Tuesday, October 5th, 2021

· 4 Comments

Josh Feinsilber was in high school when he first had the idea for Gimkit. He was brainstorming for a new high school project when he came across the quiz game Kahoot. He realized the concept had potential to be a powerful teaching tool, and with much work and the help of a few other students in his high school, he created Gimkit. Gimkit is a fun quiz learning application that lets teachers create different “kits” that they can use to help students learn and memorize information. Gimkit has proven to be a useful learning tool for many teachers, and it can raise student test scores by as much as 14 percent. Gimkit now has about three million users across 100 countries and in the year of 2019, Josh Feinsilber had a projected net worth of $400,000.

Josh graduated high school in 2019 but he still works as the founder of Gimkit as he is still passionate about helping students learn and teachers teach.

I find it very encouraging to see such entrepreneurial thinking at such a young age. I also love the idea of working to make high school more fun and interesting.

4 Comments

Categories : Business, Great Ideas, Technology, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Waffles and Dinges- Kraus

Posted by krausdavid

· Monday, October 4th, 2021

· 1 Comment

Thomas DeGeest was a worker for IBM for 12 years before he decided he was called to do something else. Thomas left his day job and started to pursue his dream job of owning his own business where he is now serving waffles to the streets of New York City. Originally, Thomas was from Belgium and moved to the states in 1997. Waffles and Dinges has now become such a huge hit in New York City, and Thomas has created over 100 jobs. The annual revenue for W&D is $5 million. The business is open 7 days a week and for at least 14 hours each day. Originally Thomas and his wife were thinking of moving to Brazil, where they thought they may be able to open up there business idea there. However, Thomas did not speak Portuguese and they ended up not moving to Brazil. Now the mission of the company is to not just make waffles, but to make it be the customers best part of their day. The waffle recipe is straight from Belgium and Thomas stated that he will never sell frozen waffles.

Originally the company was ran out of a mobile truck serving waffles. This became an issue due to the cost of maintaining the truck and the traffic is hard to maneuver through in New York City. This led Thomas to pivot and tow his business behind his car, and then led to buying actual stores for a home base. Thomas stated, “If you really want to run a food-truck business, realize your most important asset is your vehicle.” He goes further to explain how the truck is running 18 hours per day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Thomas has grown such a successful business, and he his interviewed on CBS Magazines where he gives his input to other immigrants on how they can grow a successful business, using themes from the country of origin.

1 Comment

Categories : Baking, Business, Food, Medical

Tags : Belgium, Entrepreneurship, Food-Truck, NYC, Waffles

Young Entrepreneurs: Sanil Chawla

Posted by daviden19

· Tuesday, September 28th, 2021

· 2 Comments

Sanil Chawla is the founder of Hack+, a nonprofit to help young entrepreneurs easily move through the barriers presented by all the legal hurdles when starting a business. Sanil, a young entrepreneur himself realized through personal experience that there are so many legal obstacles to maneuver that it makes it intimidating and frustrating to get started.

To solve this problem, Sanil developed software that would create an automated process for all the legal paperwork needed to begin a nonprofit venture. When Hack+ was launched, the primary purpose was to provide a fiscal sponsor to charitable organizations that are being developed by students. Large companies like Amazon and Google have come alongside Sanil to help provide resources for the company that is directed to students which include business to business assistance. Sanil has garnered over $1 million with his team of 12 and has helped almost 1,000 students with his company.

Sanil has created an amazing tool for young entrepreneurs, there are so many young entrepreneurs with wonderful ideas. However, not many students have the resources or knowledge to get through all the legal paperwork and processes needed to get started on sharing their mission with others. This is a wonderful example of innovation, Sanil saw a gap that needed to be filled. He developed a company that provided a service for students that wasn’t offered anywhere else and made it accessible.

An entrepreneurial trait seen in Sanil is that his motivation was not found in profit. He started a nonprofit venture to help students launch their own nonprofit ventures. We see that Sanil’s motivation is found in service to others and seeking to push others toward success. Sanil presents a model for entrepreneurs starting any venture, what is your motivation? Sanil created a service that truly served its purpose, opening the door for entrepreneurship in young students.

2 Comments

Categories : Business, fiscal sponsorships, Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Nonprofit, Social Entrepreneur, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Young Entrepreneurs: Hart Main

Posted by Michael Crowley

· Tuesday, September 28th, 2021

· 1 Comment

Hart Main is a great example of how inspiration for a product idea can come from a variety of sources – sometimes even jesting. Hart’s sister was selling what he called “girly” scented candles for a school fundraiser, and he gleefully took advantage of the opportunity, teasing her. However, when 13-year-old Hart’s heart got set on a $1,500 bicycle, he decided to turn this jest into a business opportunity.

ManCan Candles was born. The idea was candles that carry fragrances like “Grandpa’s Pipe” and “Sawdust.” With a little bit of investment from his parents, Hart was off and running. He decided to use soup cans for a holder and began working with his parents to develop scents for his candles. They are now available in every state.

This idea goes to show that inspiration for a business can be found almost anywhere – including in a joke. In fact, I’d wager that a lot of jesting about products like this could become viable businesses. After all, why did Hart make fun of his sister? Because all of the candles she was selling were “girly” scented. Hart unknowingly identified a problem with what was available candle-wise. Thankfully he didn’t just write it down as a bad joke but followed through with a solution to the issue that he identified – and he was successful with it: ManCan Candles makes over six-figures annually!

1 Comment

Categories : Business, Candles, Great Ideas, Millennial Enrepreneuers