Archive for Challenge

Dreadhead Films

Posted by bonaquistmr23 
· Saturday, October 12th, 2024 
· 1 Comment

Meet brothers Julien and Justen Turner, young entrepreneurs in the film industry who do short narrative films, just at the ages of 25 and 21, respectively. Starting close to us, they have their business in Columbus, Ohio. Their inspiration started at an early age, where their parents had VHS cameras. They had the opportunity to use their mom’s old MacBook to play around with iMovie, where they got to play with special effects. They practiced their work first in the Midwest (Illionois), instead of the big cities like Hollywood.

Some of their inspiration flows from Tyler Perry, who made Atlanta a big film city. That’s their goal for Ohio. They don’t plan to move out of Ohio as they build their film industry. Another of their inspirations was The Karate Kid, where they got to see a black kid in a blockbuster film, and with a big afro, which inspired Justen to grow out his hair, which was the reason for the name of their film business.

Though young, their success has been noticed by many. They’ve been featured on platforms like Good Morning America, The New York Times, CNN, and MTV. They’ve also partnered with some big names, like Beats by Dre, Nike, Amazon, Air Jordan, and Adobe. They also received awards such as the Forbes Under 30, Webbys for the Best Video Campaign in Advertising and Best Video campaign for their Nike x Social Status campaign, as well as the gold award for New Director of the Year at 2023’s The Shots Americas Awards.

Their goal is to show their own journey and experience through their filmmaking life, by putting in some type of commentary in their work. At such young ages, they’ve been blessed with many opportunities, but due to their age, they’ve also been limited in what they can do. As they grow their business, they hope to bring longer-film narratives to the area. While they continue to pursue this career, they also want to be an outlet for others in the industry, by supporting other Midwest filmmakers.

 

1 Comment
Categories : Animation, Art, Business::Entrepreneurs, Challenge, entertainment, Film, Movies, Sci Fi Inspiration, Television

Rajia Abdelaziz: Co-founder of InvisaWear

Posted by Hannah Ya 
· Sunday, September 29th, 2024 
· 4 Comments

Have you ever been in a scary situation like walking back to your car at night and then someone jumps out of their car and starts to approach you? Well, this happened to cofounder Rajia Abdelaziz after a night out during college. She was walking back to her car during the night after an event at college and a car full of guys stopped and started catcalling her and one even got out of the car and started walking towards her. After surviving this scary night, she realized that she didn’t have a lot of time to call for help using her phone and that all the panic buttons on the market weren’t fashionable or subtle. So, what did she do with this information? She created her own jewelry line selling fashionable and everyday accessories that have safety devices disguised underneath. Her product, InvisaWear, was soon founded with the help of her co-founder Ray Hamilton.

Star Burst Charm Necklace

InviaWear was made with the intent of keeping people safer, especially when we’re in tough situations and we can’t access our phones to call for help. Rajia wanted to make the world a safer place to be in, and didn’t want other people to suffer when they needed help during difficult situations. Statistics show that around 1 in 4 women, and 1 in 7 men get attacked at some point during their life. That’s a lot of people who get attacked, which caused such a spark that InvisaWear has been featured on ABC News, CBS, Good Morning America, and WBZ. InvisaWear has also made national headlines for helping to save a young woman’s life when she was in a car accident. There are so many other success stories about InvisaWear saving other people’s lives, and this was all thanks to Rajia Abdelaziz after she realized that there was a need for more safety panic buttons. Rajia’s company doesn’t just sell jewelry, she also sells pepper sprays, and other self-defense products to keep others safe. InvisaWear believes “that everyone deserves to feel safe and secure”, and Rajia did just that! You can check out her website and shop here! 

Sources:

Why We Created invisaWear – Our Founder Rajia’s Story – invisaWear®

WoW Woman in Wearable Tech I Rajia Abdelaziz, founder of invisaWear — WOMEN OF WEARABLES

4 Comments
Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Business::Entrepreneurs, Challenge, Fashion, Female Empowerment, Jewelry, Social Impact

Riya Karumanchi: Founder and CEO of Smart Cane

Posted by krummelva24 
· Saturday, September 28th, 2024 
· 1 Comment

Riya Karumanchi was only 15 years old when she came up with an idea to revolutionize technology to improve the well-being of visually impaired individuals. One day while visiting a friend’s house, Riya was introduced to her friend’s visually impaired grandmother. She empathized with the woman as she struggled to navigate and move throughout her home. Riya didn’t understand how over the years, the traditional white cane that aids in guiding the visually impaired, hadn’t been replaced by newer technology. She recognized the massive effect that technological advancements have on a society and the people living in it but did not believe changes in tech were being distributed equally in all communities. She came up with an idea to apply that to the standard white canes. Her idea was to integrate technology to the white cane by adding ultrasonic sensors that work to identify objects on the ground that may not have been detected before. This new device, the Smart Cane, is able to detect obstacles that may be in one’s path and alert the user of their location with vibrations. Another feature of the Smart Cane includes a GPS navigation system which helps the user to travel safely and efficiently. This is also made possible by the use of vibrations: One buzz to turn left, and two buzzes to turn right.

Riya’s innovative idea had proved a success. Smart Cane had initial funding from many large companies such as Microsoft, Arrow Electronics, and Inertia Engineering. She raised over $85,000 in funding. Next her attention will turn to user testing. Riya recognized the importance of input from the prospective users themselves. She met with the visually impaired community and listened to the problems they encountered with the standard white cane. She then came up with innovation solutions and developed the Smart Cane. Smart Cane’s mission, she says, is to empower the visually impaired and create for them a better, safer way of living. “Instead of [building] a company that has a valuation of a billion dollars, it’s the person that can impact a billion people,” she explains. “It’s ambitious, but that’s my goal.”

To learn more about Riya Karumanchi and Smart Cane, click here.

1 Comment
Categories : Business::Entrepreneurs, Challenge, Entrepreneurship, Health, Social Impact, Technology, Women Entrepreneurs, Young Entrepreneur

TheRebelution.com

Posted by goliasmc21 
· Monday, September 26th, 2022 
· No Comments

Alex and Brett Harris have been doing big things since they were teenagers. It all started when these twins were sixteen years old, and they started the website TheRebelution.com. This website has been challenging young people everywhere to “rebel against low expectations” and is one of the “most popular Christian teen websites on the Internet.” It is run by young people who want to make a change in the world and inspire others to do the same. In addition to this website, Alex and Brett interned in the Alabama Supreme Court at seventeen, becoming the youngest interns to date. Then at eighteen they coauthored their first book. The book is titled Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations and it is one of the most impactful books I read in high school. At its peak, the book reached #5 on the Amazon.com bestseller list. This book launched the twins into the public light, and they received a lot of media coverage because of it. However, the twins have since then grown up and have moved on to different projects. Alex and Brett are no longer in their teenage years, but their website and writings are still relevant today.

The Rebelution | rebelling against low expectations

No Comments
Categories : Challenge, Christian, Websites

Super Business Girl!-Asia Newson

Posted by ShelatzAD21 
· Monday, October 4th, 2021 
· 3 Comments

Asia Newson is a young, teenage, entrepreneur from Detroit, who started her own business at the age of five! She wanted to experiment with candle-making while also teaching other kids like her how to become entrepreneurs. Her father first taught her how to make candles at a young age because he sold them himself at one point. Asia decided to create her own business, Super Business Girl, so she could have the freedom to design her own schedule. Ultimately, she looked at how hard her mom worked at her job and at home, so Asia decided that she wanted to create her own business to have more freedom to serve others. She started selling her candles outside of a store in downtown Detroit, which led to some conflict as she got older. Many people were projecting her business and brand as a scam and the security guards began chasing her from their storefront. Asia and her mother found a solution and went to get a permit. When the guards were shown the permit, they weren’t pleased but allowed it. Then she met someone who helped her out tremendously…

“Everything really started to change when Asia ran into Dan Gilbert, who is the owner of Quicken Loans as well as the Cleveland Cavaliers. He recognized her as Detroit’s “Super Business Girl.” She met with him in his office and he said, “I have keys to the city, and I can sell anywhere!” Today, Asia has trained 40 of her peers, young kids in Detroit, Michigan to be Entrepreneurs, which is to say Newson has created power and possibility across a whole community! She believes in helping other kids in Detroit and beyond learn to be entrepreneurs. She wants to open a candle store in every US state and she wants to sell her candles, as well as other products including “Super Business Girl” shirt, bags, and school supplies.”    (https://prettybrowngirl.com/i-see-me-pretty-brown-girlpreneurs/asia-newson-founder-super-business-girl/)

Asia is a 13-year-old business owner who is making an impact on the world. She was featured on the Ellen DeGeneres show and on America’s got talent for her business and for her strong entrepreneurial spirit. She made a large impact in her community by training up to 40 of her peers on how to become entrepreneurs in the Detroit area.

This story is a massive inspiration due to Asia’s ability to power through and not let anyone talk her down regardless of who they were and what they thought of her business. She wanted to create a major impact in her community and ultimately the world, and she is doing just so. Her idea is a new take on the young entrepreneur by being able to teach others her process of innovation and success in her business. She demonstrates the idea of pivoting and hard work to be able to push through the hardships of being overlooked as a young entrepreneur who grew out of the “Oh, this is so cute!” phase. She is taken seriously as a young entrepreneur who has made a major impact with not necessarily a new product, but a relatable process in making it. She again has inspired me, and hopefully, others, to start as early as you can so you can accomplish much throughout life. Taking the first steps to create a business will get the ball rolling, that’s what I need to strive for.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/leahhunter/2017/01/10/the-13-year-old-entrepreneur-changing-the-face-of-business-in-detroit/?sh=df67f791f1d2

 

3 Comments
Categories : Candles, Challenge, Positivity, Social Impact, Women Entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs

Catherine Cooke: myYearbook

Posted by hasseea20 
· Monday, December 14th, 2020 
· 3 Comments

Another relevant entrepreneur for students is Catherine Cook, creator of myYearbook, a free interactive online yearbook. At the age of fifteen Catherine and her seventeen-year-old brother Dave came up with the idea to be able to interact with more fellow students online. They quickly got their first investor from their web designer older brother and set to work. Soon after building their website, they combined with a user generated quiz site to garner many more interactions.

As they grew, Catherine’s business encountered some pivots as she tried to figure out what would work and what would not. At some points potential investors would want her to move headquarters or determine ad space. Ultimately, she stayed true to her business and vision and it paid off. MyYearbook.com was ranked one of the most popular sites for middle school and high school students in 2006. As her business grew, it attracted nicer advertisers like Disney and Neutrogena.

While she put time into growing it, as was a struggle for many school age entrepreneurs, school and grades started to suffer. Because being in the heart of her target market and being able to optimize her website with direct input and feedback made myYearbook more user friendly, it also became very overwhelming when trying to balance work and school. Later in her high school career Catherine found herself having to skip classes to work.

Yet through every obstacle and inconvenience, starting when she was just fifteen years old, Catherine Cook’s myYearbook has carved itself a niche for high schoolers and grown to 3 million members.

Cook kept up her business all throughout college, after which she sold myYearbook. She remains a partner however, working full time for the business. Catherine Cooke has become a very well-known entrepreneur, inspiring many young people to not let their age keep them from pursuing their big ideas.

3 Comments
Categories : App, Blog, Business, Challenge, Content Entrepreneurs, Creating, Education, Female Empowerment, Kids, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Reselling, Startups, Women Entrepreneurs, Youngest Entrepreneurs

Hey it’s WordPress!

Posted by hasseea20 
· Monday, November 30th, 2020 
· 4 Comments

Matthew Mullenweg grew up with hobbies like coding, art and economics. A fun mix. One of the main founders of WordPress, his hobbies and skills throughout his life led to many amazing web related ideas. In 2005 Matt left school at Houston and a consulting job to start his overhead business, Automattic. This later led to a slew of other companies that used Automattic as a launch pad, including WordPress. He was just nineteen when he decided to change the way people use the internet to publish.

Automattic and all of its resulting companies has turned into a completely virtual company of over 1,100 employees in more than 62 countries.

WordPress, which is used by many authors and writers to publish blogs, was started because of the closure of b2, the only other open source platform option at the time. Having used b2 throughout his life, its end was a pain for Matt. The idea and plan for WordPress started when Matt was approached online by a fellow coder after he had talked about the lack of a publishing space.

Using b2 as a starting base and template, the two entrepreneurs proceeded to build upon the main idea while improving any faults. A classic mash up of ideas and innovation, WordPress is now used by over 31 percent of the web. It is only one of many successes Matt made for himself, but it very much added to the open source world of the web.

He works on it constantly and takes joy from the benefit people receive.

From educational to professional, WordPress has added levels of simplicity, convenience, and efficiency to the way people work. Matt has an entrepreneur’s  spirit, and from his career history so far, it is easy to see he looks for problems to solve and thrives in finding solutions.

4 Comments
Categories : Blog, Business, Challenge, College, Communication, Convenience, Great Ideas, Male Entrepreneurs, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Millennial Entrepreneurs, Uncategorized

Matthew Mullenweg

Posted by martinnm18 
· Friday, October 9th, 2020 
· 2 Comments

As we are writing out our posts I don’t think any of us really pay attention to the platform we are using, or maybe you are and I am in the minority. No matter what, someone had to create this platform for us to write out our blog posts. This is where Matthew Mullenweg comes in, a performing arts school graduate and jazz saxophonist, but also the founding developer of WordPress. As Mullenweg and his team was still developing the platform, a competitor drastically increased its prices which opened up the opportunity for WordPress to be the main blogging platform.

What is interesting about the creation of WordPress, is the fact that they weren’t the first blogging platform, Movable Type was. Mullenweg just saw an opportunity to create a basically “free” platform. Something Movable Type does not do and still does not. This is an amazing example of a product that differentiates from the already established competitors. This is inspiring because though there is so much innovation around us, there is still so much more out there to innovate. This includes already existing products and services.

2 Comments
Categories : Blog, Challenge

Drew Estate: The Rebirth of Cigars

Posted by Asher Passalinqua 
· Sunday, November 24th, 2019 
· 1 Comment

Drew Estate is one of the most famous cigar brands ever, and dominates a large percentage of tobacco sales today, even though the company was started only twenty years ago. Drew Estate was started in 1998 by Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel, who lived in New York City at the time, and had a small boutique that sold cigars in downtown New York City.

Experiencing declining sales and interest in cigars in the American market, Jonathan Drew moved to  Esteli, Nicaragua, with the hope of starting the “rebirth of cigars.” While in Nicaragua, one of the cigar hubs of the world, Drew obsessed over making new, exciting cigar blends that could bring flavors and experiences never before seen in the American market. After a year or so of meticulously perfecting his cigar blends, Drew returned to the United States and launched what would become the company’s signature cigar line, ACID Cigars.

The company grew and grew because of the wildly popular ACID line, which was a completely unique set of flavor profiles for the cigar market. By 2004, the company had expanded so much that they moved their headquarters from New York City to Miami, Florida to help continue grow the expanding company. In 2007, the company opened one of the largest cigar manufacturing plants in the entire world, which was 96,000 square feet.

This state of the art factory helped to maximize the company’s production, and helped Drew Estate to become a wildly popular brand in the cigar market. Through innovation and perseverance, Jonathan Drew and Marvin Samel were able to start one of the most innovative and popular cigar brands in the entire world.

1 Comment
Categories : Challenge, Cigars, Communication, Great Ideas
Tags : , ,

GORUCK – Jason McCarthy

Posted by Laura Mosley 
· Monday, November 4th, 2019 
· 3 Comments

Image result for jason mccarthy goruck"

After the events of 9/11, Jason McCarthy decided to join the Army.  He was eventually deployed to southern Iraq in 2007 and realized humility.  “War was most humbling not for its costs, but for its clarity. I’m a better person because I went to war, because I served in Special Forces, because of the guys to my left and right who expected and demanded more of me than I knew I had. It’s not the revenge I sought after 9/11 that has endured, it’s the love in my heart for those I served beside. If there’s a nobler way to live a life than in service to others, I’ve not yet seen it.”

Image result for jason mccarthy goruck"

During this time, his wife, Emily, was a diplomat in Baghdad, and when they were together, he decided to make a go-bag (or go-ruck) for her just in case.  It was when he began organizing a second ruck that Emily suggested he should do more this.  However, their marriage did not last and he soon moved back to New York City with their dog, Java.  During this time, McCarthy said he lacked purpose in his life outside the Army.

He credits his recovery to his dog forcing him to get out of the house every day and also to deciding to go back to school.  While he slowly adjusted to civilian life, he continued thinking about go-bags.  “What lived on was the idea for a bag that you could use in Baghdad or New York City, that would be tough enough for Special Forces, but that I could use in NYC without looking like I was still in the military. GR1 would have to build a bridge between the military world I was coming from, to the civilian world I was in.”

According to McCarthy, being an entrepreneur had never occurred to him and was out of his comfort zone.  “I never even had a lemonade stand as a kid.”  In February of 2008, he finally founded GORUCK.  Not knowing how to build a backpack, though, McCarthy was stumped.  So, he placed an ad on Craigslist for a backpack designer and connected with a design team in Montana who were searching for a new project after being laid off in New Zealand.  The new team went through 6 prototypes, eventually settling on a usable design in 2010.

Image result for GORUCK"

 

The process of designing, scaling, and preparing to sell all but destroyed his savings, eventually causing him to partner with his Dad.  To market the product, McCarthy and some of his old buddies packed up and headed to Allentown, Pennsylvania to go rucking with the bags.  They were surprised by how many people wanted to join them.  In the summer of 2010, he did not sell many of his bags, but it gave him a new idea: the GORUCK Challenge.

He realized that people want a challenge and they want to push themselves.  He discarded his old plan of selling his bags in local men’s or sporting shops and instead marketed a challenge.  The GORUCK Challenge focused on people wearing the bags, not the bags themselves.

In 2011, he graduated from business school and focused more on GORUCK.  During this time, he and Emily remarried and now live in Florida.  GORUCK continues to grow, as well as the GORUCK Challenge where people push their limits with others.  McCarthy is not a typical entrepreneur – he never really wanted to be one, but with an idea and an earnest desire to help people and bring them together, he ended up creating a thriving business and finding a new purpose in his life.

3 Comments
Categories : Apparel/Accessories, Bootstrap Business, Challenge, Military