Archive for Kid Entrepreneurs

Jahkil Naeem Jackson: Founder of Project I Am

Posted by Sarah Karns 
· Tuesday, November 19th, 2024 
· 4 Comments

Jahkil Naeem Jackson is a 16-year-old boy who has an inspiring desire to help people in need. When he was younger, he helped his aunt minister to homeless men and women in Chicago by providing food and a few other necessities to them. It was through this experience that he decided he wanted to do something really impactful to help the homeless. So, at just 8 years old, Jahkil founded Project I Am, an organization that works to raise awareness of homelessness and help the unhoused population through providing what Jahkil calls “Blessing Bags,” which are filled with bottled water, toiletries, socks, and other necessities. Jahkil is now 16 and a 2-time bestselling author, and Project I Am is more successful than ever, having served over 135,000 people in the unhoused population.

Jahkil has received numerous accolades and awards for his philanthropy and influence, including being named a Youth Ambassador for Heartland Alliance and added to the WE International Youth Council. Most importantly though, Jahkil was noted as one of the three most influential people of 2017 by Barack Obama. These are incredible accomplishments for a 16-year-old and the impact that Jahkil is having on homeless people of all ages is enormous. Overall, Jahkil has the drive, compassion, and creativity of a true entrepreneur and is an inspiring figure in the area of social innovation.

If you want to learn more about Jahkil or the mission of Project I Am, visit the website here.

4 Comments
Categories : Homelessness, Kid Entrepreneurs, Nonprofit

Fraser Doherty- Founder of SuperJams

Posted by krummelva24 
· Sunday, November 17th, 2024 
· No Comments

 

SuperJam 100% Fruit Jams + 100% Nut Butters - All Natural & Delicious

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, Fraser Doherty’s successful entrepreneurial endeavors stem from his close relationships with his family, particularly his grandmother. As a young child, Doherty loved to make jam with his grandmother. It was from these sentimental memories that SuperJam was born. At the age of fourteen, he started recreating his grandmother’s recipes himself and selling the homemade jams door-to-door in his neighborhood. He soon expanded his small business by owning a stand at local Farmer’s Markets and making deliveries via his bicycle. Originally, his customers consisted mostly of neighbors and church friends, but as his business expanded, however, he began to receive more jam orders than he could fulfill. When Doherty was 16, he dropped out of school to work on his business full-time. He had to rent a factory for a few days each month to meet the demand of his customers.

Doherty set himself apart from competition in the jam industry by making SuperJam from 100% fruit with no added sugar or artificial ingredients. This caught the attention of many large grocery store chains in Europe. In 2007, for example, Doherty was approached by Waitrose, a high-end supermarket in the U.K. Within the next few months, jars of SuperJam were on the shelves of 184 Waitrose stores across the U.K. and Europe. Many other large companies have since followed in their footsteps. In 2009, SuperJam hit $1.2 million in sales, a 60% jump from 2007. By 2012, Doherty launched SuperJam in Korea and Japan, where they had also become hugely popular.

Doherty’s love of making jam with his grandmother proved to be a very successful business venture. By 2019, Doherty had sold his five-millionth jar of jam. He was also awarded an MBE medal for service to business in the U.K. by Queen Elizabeth II. Additionally, SuperJam is exhibited in the National Museum of Scotland as an “Iconic Scottish Brand.” Doherty’s entrepreneurial spirit has not only led him to become financially successful but has also proved to be a charitable success as well. SuperJam hosts hundreds of free tea parties in Scotland, England, and Wales for elderly people who live alone or in nursing homes. These volunteer-run events are a great way to bring the community together and connect people of all ages through live music, dancing, and drinks.

To learn more about Fraser Doherty and SuperJam, click here.

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Categories : Business::Entrepreneurs, Cooking, Food, Kid Entrepreneurs, Male Entrepreneurs

Cary Huang, a Mind Behind Battle for Dream Island

Posted by morganni23 
· Tuesday, October 29th, 2024 
· 2 Comments

Cary K Huang is a creator whose journey started sooner that most would expect. Cary, in collaboration with his twin brother Michael, created an animated web series called Battle for Dream Island. Their first entry in this series, “BFDI 1a: Take the Plunge”  was released to YouTube, beginning the story of the original twenty living objects and the host and establishing that the contestants would battle to win a beautiful island. It did not receive a wide viewership at first, as it was through the steady persistence of their uploads that their audience would grow. Cary and Michael were twelve when the first episode was released on the first day of 2010, and over the course of exactly two years and twenty-four episodes totaling nearly four hours of animation, they gained more than a thousand subscribers.

The fans of Battle for Dream Island and a similar YouTube show known as Inanimate Insanity would come to be called the Object Show Community. This online community, as is the case with others like it on the net, produces large amounts of fan made content. Some may consider the OSC, especially as it exists today, to be a self-sustaining vortex of inspiration, animation, and creativity. 

The brothers’ journey in online animation had a good early chapter. It was followed by several false starts in the form of sequel seasons that did not get far off the ground. Through most of his time in high school and college education at Stanford, Cary was too busy to focus on animation. During this time, he was able to experiment with code in some interesting projects. It was not until a flurry of new episodes releasing in 2017 and 2018 that Battle for Dream Island was ready to return, this time with a far larger production team and renewed art style. Following a hiatus that can be attributed to a lack of time at the end of Cary’s college career, Battle for BFDI (aka. BFB) was able to release episodes regularly until it reached its conclusion. 

The BFDI team is still active today, and is currently producing the prequel season Battle for Dream Island Again and the sequel season The Power of Two simultaneously. Each new animated episode receives millions of views. Though the world and the scope of their creation has expanded greatly, Cary and Michael’s original vision from when they were twelve years old still persists in their modern efforts.

2 Comments
Categories : Animation, Art, Comedy, Content Entrepreneurs, entertainment, Kid Entrepreneurs, Kids, Male Entrepreneurs, twins, Websites, Young Entrepreneur, YouTube
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Shubham Banerjee: Founder of Braigo

Posted by krummelva24 
· Saturday, October 26th, 2024 
· 2 Comments

Shubham Banerjee - Ringside News

12-year-old Shubham Banerjee’s interest in Braille and Braille printers evolved out of his love for science. While doing research for an engineering project to enter for a science fair in January of 2014, he discovered that less than 10% of blind people can actually read Braille. This was, in part, due to the extremely high prices of Braille printers, costing around $2,000. Additionally, technological advancements such as the development of voice-to-text software significantly impacted the lives of the visually impaired. Banerjee realized that many visually impaired people were not able to afford the extremely expensive Braille printers, or the technology needed to efficiently communicate without one. Therefore, his new goal was to significantly reduce the cost of a Braille printer.

Banerjee worked for weeks to create a working prototype. After seven attempts, he finally successfully created a prototype using a Lego Mindstorms EV3 robotics kit and some small electrical components. Banerjee and his father, a software engineer, would often stay up until 2 a. m. working on the project together. At 13 years old, a high school freshman, Banerjee founded Braigo, the company name combining the words Braille and Lego. Braigo was a low-cost, portable printer and embosser that prints out raised bumps on paper. Banerjee also co-founded the company Braigo Labs to further develop the printer. Banerjee was faced with a lot of criticism and uncertainty because many Silicon Valley startups had tried to undertake the same project without success. He did not let this affect his work and research, however, and persevered through the difficult times. “Some [people] said that the market is not that big, or [that this is] a specialty product,” Banerjee says, unfazed. “I just went ahead with what I thought was right.”

The Braigo printed proved a success even while in its early stages. Banerjee entered his product into the 2014 Synopsis Science Fair and took home the top prize for a science or engineering breakthrough. It was also endorsed by Henry Wedler, a PhD candidate in organic chemistry who was honored by Barack Obama as a Champion of Change for his work leading a chemistry camp for visually impaired students. As Wedler puts it, “Inventors have been attempting to do what Shubham has done with Braille embossers for many years. Sometimes, it takes a young, fresh imagination and a will of iron to be truly innovative. This is the energy and quality that Shubham’s knowledge and passion as an inventor bring to Silicon Valley.” Banerjee and his company, Braigo Labs, managed to bring in venture capital to ensure the success of his company, becoming the youngest person ever to receive venture capitalist investment, according to CBS. Banerjee’s innovative spirit helped to better the lives of the visually impaired, while also encouraging and promoting others to follow in his footsteps.

To learn more about Shubham Banerjee and Braigo , click here.

2 Comments
Categories : Business::Entrepreneurs, Engineering, Kid Entrepreneurs, Male Entrepreneurs, Social Impact, STEM, Technology, Uncategorized

Hart Main of ManCans Candles—A Spark of Inspiration in Innovation

Posted by Ana Geike 
· Friday, October 25th, 2024 
· 1 Comment

Thirteen-year-old Hart Main’s inspiration for manly-scented candles struck when his sister Camryn sold candles to raise money for their school and he thought this selection was lacking in appeal to the male population. Straying from normalized scents like Egyptian cotton and toasted vanilla that Hart considered more feminine in nature, he dreamt up candles smelling of New York Style Pizza, Grandpa’s Pip, Sawdust, Campfire, New Mitt, Fresh Cut Grass, Coffee, and Bacon, the current breadth of the ManCans line. Hart turned a spiteful spin on his older sister’s production to a full-fledged business venture with the encouragement of his parents and a heart set on a $1,500 bike.

While this transformation required initial investments on the Harts’ part, a primary drive behind its growth has been how ManCans gives back to the community before the candles are even made. As indicated by the name, the candles are made in cans—soup cans, in fact, which Main buys, donating the soup to local soup kitchens and keeping the cans to package the candles. The business’ growth has led to several demands in production—the need for a larger space than the Mains’ kitchen and more hands on deck.

Main—who is now 26—eventually shifted production to the Beaver Creek Candle Company of Lisbon, Ohio, another effort to give back the community as a manufacturing company employing people with developmental challenges. ManCans are sold across the nation, and the vigor Main has demonstrated in driving his venture this far and into the hearts of people in his hometown and beyond show that it will be a long time—if ever—until this thriving business kicks the can.

1 Comment
Categories : Bootstrap Business, Business::Entrepreneurs, Candles, Gen Z, Kid Entrepreneurs, Social Impact, Young Entrepreneur

Mo’s Bows

Posted by passaroca22 
· Monday, October 14th, 2024 
· 1 Comment

One young entrepreneur saw a pain in the world of men’s fashion: a lack of personal style and flair, specifically in the area of bowties. He decided to match his passion with the pain he saw, starting his own business to fill that gap. A nine-year-old native of Memphis, Tennesse, Moziah Bridges set out to create bowties with handcrafted, intentional style. Upon not being able to find a suitable bowtie for himself and realizing that many other style-conscious men struggled with the same problem, “Mo’s Bows” was born. The founder developed his sewing skills to make the ties from his grandmother’s scrap materials. Creative, determined, and passionate about his work, Moziah eventually hired tailors to handle the manual side of the business while he focused on the creative designs.

A pivotal moment in “Mo’s Bows” occurred when Moziah appeared on the hit entrepreneurial show, “Shark Tank.” The show gave “Mo’s Bows” great publicity and helped Moziah learn how to take his business to the next level. The company has sold almost $1,000,000 worth of handmade bowties and accessories (including a personal bowtie designed for Barack Obama). Mo’s products are carried by such noteworthy brands as Cole Haan, Bloomingdale’s, and Neiman Marcus. His company also supplies bow and neckties for the entire NBA.

Mo Bridges took his passion for creative, handcrafted style, fit it into the market’s gap, and built a large, successful, and impactful enterprise from the ground up. You can visit Mo’s business here.

Mo's Bows

1 Comment
Categories : Bootstrap Business, Business, Business::Entrepreneurs, Fashion, Kid Entrepreneurs, Uncategorized

RJ Duarte: The Founder of Green Worx Landscaping

Posted by krummelva24 
· Monday, October 14th, 2024 
· 1 Comment

Based out of Golden, Colorado, RJ Duarte was only eight years old when his entrepreneurial ventures started. Motivated by his desire to buy himself candy, Duarte started his lawn mowing business in 2008 with one lawn mower, a red wagon, and five weekly lawn mowing clients. He began to take his business seriously by his third season and invested his savings back into his company. Duarte’s dedication, commitment, and incredible work ethic as an entrepreneur are evident as his income tripled every year since he began his business.

As Duarte began middle school, his business had grown too large to handle himself. He chose a friend from middle school, Owen Johnson, to be a partner in his landscaping business. Two years later, Duarte and Johnson decided they needed a name for their company- they eventually landed on Green Worx. Green Worx had grown much larger than the mere neighborhood lawncare service it started as. After working with Green Worx for over five years, Johnson decided to part ways with the company in order to pursue a college education after graduating high school. Duarte and Johnson, however, still frequently meet as friends to discuss Green Worx and life in general. As Duarte was contemplating going to college and running his company from school, Green Worx was pulling in six figures from annual revenue. He decided to focus on growing his company and work on creating a full-scale landscaping business.

One way that Duarte demonstrated he was an excellent, young entrepreneur was through his willingness to take risks. After high school, in 2019, Duarte made the decision to drop Grenn Worx’s small clients and, instead, rebrand as a premium landscaping and maintenance company. This meant that he would be undertaking large-scale, intricate landscaping and construction projects. Green Worx added two construction crews and lots of new equipment to the company. Duarte knew how risky the shift in scale would be for the business but decided to continue with it anyway. “It’s higher margins for more risk,” he says. “That comes with headaches, but without headaches, there’s no reward.”

Green Worx was incredibly successful throughout the years. In 2015, Duarte and Johnson had won first place in the Celebration for Young Entrepreneurs and also won the Young Americans Bank Business Award. In 2016, the newsletter, The Golden Informer, wrote an article about the success of Green Worx and put Green Worx on the front cover. In that same year, Green Worx was nominated and won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award By Ernst & Young Foundation. By the end of 2016, Green Worx was 300% bigger than the year before. Green Worx continues to steadily grow. In 2019, the company brought in $750,000 in revenue. Duarte was never afraid of the workload and was always searching for new ways to expand and grow his business. Green Worx’s success is built off of his hard work and devotion to his craft.

Click here to read more about Green Worx.

1 Comment
Categories : Business, Small Business, Business::Entrepreneurs, Construction, Kid Entrepreneurs, Landscaping, Male Entrepreneurs, Manual labor, Outdoors, young entrepreneurs

Plushies With Pocket Powers

Posted by orlandoam23 
· Friday, October 11th, 2024 
· 1 Comment

In 2013, two sisters set out to create a product they never would have seen themselves selling. Sydney and Toni Loew are the founders of Poketti. What is a Poketti? A Poketti is defined in their website as, “A plushie with pocket powers.” According to their website, Poketti means many pockets. The family business started when Sydney Leow took an entrepreneurship class in 7th grade. Sydney and her team had brainstormed the idea of a plushie in that class. But the plushie kingdom did not stop there! Sydney was inspired and wanted to create her own plushie with a pocket for convivence to store treasures. She consulted with her parents, who are designers, and her sister, who became her business partner. The small idea in a 7th grade entrepreneur class became a family business idea. Each plushie has its own name and style. For example, Sydney the Penguin, Toni the Bunny, Roxi the Kitty and Baxter the Puppy are all part of their series 1 launch, and the first four plushies they created. In the summer of 2013, they launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign and raised $20,000 for the initial order of Poketti plushies. Since 2013, they have continued to be successful. Poketti has attended several trade shows and direct sales events. They have even produced a tv commercial. Poketti has spoken at many schools and clubs, inspiring young kids their age to chase an idea. Poketti has also received multiple awards. In 2016, Sydney and Toni were named Wonder Girls at the annual Women in Toys award gala. Sydney represented Poketti at the AGG Silicon Valley Grow Awards at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Poketti also received an honor for Innovative Branding at the annual ICON HONORS event. Throughout the years Poketti has been growing and growing. They even expanded their company to Walmart! Who knew that lives would be changed from a 7th grade class. Poketti Plushies with Pocket Powers Series2 Parker the Owl

Check out the Poketti website here!

 

1 Comment
Categories : Animal, Business, Business::Entrepreneurs, Design, Entrepreneurship, Kid Entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneurs
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Kenan Pala- Founder of Kids4Community

Posted by Ryan Principe 
· Thursday, October 10th, 2024 
· 2 Comments

Kenan Pala, a fifteen-year-old kid who simply always wanted to help out. Pala was from San Diego, and during his time there, he would spend a lot of time volunteering at soup kitchens, and beach cleanups. Through this time when Pala would help, he would also have the struggle of getting to support these causes due to the fact that these nonprofit organizations were not allowing the kids under the age of 18 to volunteer. After Pala had said this, he was convinced that he could start something that would allow any kid who wanted to volunteer could volunteer. In 2017, Pala founded the nonprofit organization Kids4Community. He said this about his foundation, “All our events are open to anybody of any age,” and “If you have the passion, you can come.” This was unbelievable for a kid like Pala to identify a problem of wanting to help, but due to age restriction he couldn’t always do it. Through this, he innovated in so many ways to create this nonprofit organization to just give back to his community. Also, Pala has raised $1 million so that he can help the local homelessness causes. He did all this while taking kids to help with 5k runs, dinner services, and backpack drives. For Pala this is quite impressive, while he is preforming these events, he is raising a ton of money when doing it. Although, he is getting to the age where college is becoming a decision, and when he enrolls, he hopes to help one last kid, and this is his ten-year-old brother Arden. Kenan Pala, being the inspiration he is, when he goes to college, he would like to hand this organization off to his brother, who is very interested in volunteering, this will leave his brother in the same shoes when Pala started the nonprofit.

Meet 16 Teen Founders Who Are Building Big Businesses — and Making Big Money | Entrepreneur

Kenan Pala’s Organization Website: Kids4Community: A nonprofit organization run by kids for kids San Diego

 

2 Comments
Categories : Business, Kid Entrepreneurs, Kids, Millennial Enrepreneuers

Gavin Batarse – Glove Wrap

Posted by kuscevicke24 
· Monday, October 7th, 2024 
· 2 Comments

Gavin Batarse is a baseball enthusiast and entrepreneur from Orange County, California. Gavin loves playing baseball, and he learned that the secret to catching a ball is by breaking in and shaping your glove. When you buy a new glove, it is very stiff, rigid, and hard to close. From t-ball players to professional baseball players, everyone needs to break in a new glove when they get it. People have tired so many different ways, such as driving a car over their glove or putting in under their mattress to try and make their glove less stiff. Gavin saw that this was a problem and knew there needed to be a better way for baseball players to break in their new gloves. This led to the creation of Gavin’s invention, the Glove Wrap.

Glove Wrap is an elastic band with the exact width, length, and thickness needed to break in and shape your baseball glove while forming a perfect pocket. You simply put a ball inside your glove, wrap Glove Wrap around the entirety of the glove, and then leave it be.

Gavin appeared on season 15 of Shark Tank, with his older sister Morgan and their dad and coach Jon, when he was just 8 years old. They were seeking $50,000 for 20% of their company. When Gavin came onto Shark Tank, Glove Wrap had sold over 1,000 products and had over $19,000 in sales. The Sharks were very impressed with his knowledge and his invention at just 8 years old! Gavin got an offer from Mark Cuban and Michael Ruban for $50,000 for 22% of their company. Gavin proudly took their offer, and he is hoping to grow his company so that Glove Wrap is used across the country, from little league to Major League Baseball teams!

Glove Wrap Breaks in Baseball Gloves Shark Tank Season 15

Kaitlyn Kuscevic

2 Comments
Categories : Baseball, Business, Entrepreneurship, Kid Entrepreneurs
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