Archive for Millennial Enrepreneuers – Page 3

Chris Bumstead: Bodybuilding Redefined

(LEFT SIDE – Arnold Schwarzenegger, RIGHT SIDE – Chris Bumstead)

Born in 1995, Chris Bumstead, better known as “CBum,” is a Canadian bodybuilder and social media influencer who has quickly become one of the most recognized figures in the fitness world. Best known for winning the Mr. Olympia Classic Physique title four consecutive times (2019–2023), Bumstead has solidified his position at the top of the bodybuilding elite. Starting his competitive journey at just 19, his natural talent and relentless dedication quickly set him apart, earning him comparisons to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Like Arnold, however, CBum’s influence extends far beyond the bodybuilding stage.

Fitness is a notoriously difficult industry to breakthrough. The competition is high with established and professional athletes with pre-existing followings. Specialized diets, supplements, training programs, and competition fees can create financial barriers for aspiring bodybuilders. Slow physical progress, hormonal fluctuations, and mental barriers can all hinder one’s success. Bumstead has overcome all this and more. Not only has he attained a physique to be desired by sedentary and active people alike, but he’s also successfully translated his fame into multiple entrepreneurial ventures. He launched Bum Energy, a sports and energy drink company, and co-founded Raw Nutrition, a supplement brand focused on high-quality performance and recovery products. His partnerships with popular brands like Gymshark, Vaughn’s Treats, and Revive MD reflect his hands-on approach, ensuring that the products he endorses align with his values of transparency and quality in fitness.

In addition to his business endeavors, CBum is also a massive force on social media. With nearly 5 million followers on TikTok and over 24 million on Instagram, he’s one of the most influential fitness personalities online. He connects with his audience by sharing workout routines, nutrition advice, and personal insights into his life. Bumstead has been open about his struggles with mental health and his battle with IgA nephropathy, an autoimmune disease, further endearing him to fans for his vulnerability and authenticity. Bumstead’s combination of physical achievements, business ventures, and online transparency has made him a fitness icon. By redefining what it means to be a bodybuilder in today’s world, Chris Bumstead has inspired millions to pursue fitness.

Tim Ellis, Founder of Relativity Space, 3D Printing The Future

As a young intern at Blue Origin rocket company, Tim Ellis was surprised at the disinterest of his coworkers about the potential 3D printing technology had. With his unique position and interest Tim started the company’s 3D printing division and could see more clearly than the other engineers how 3D printing could bring revolutionary developments to the space flight industry. He brought up his ideas to Jeff Bezos, and even though Bezos agreed with Tim’s vision, Blue Origin itself wouldn’t be interested in taking further advantage of it. Tim realized he would have to strike off on his own to realize his vision. At age 22 he teamed up with a friend from college and together they founded Relativity Space, the first 3D printed rocket company.

Relativity Space’s mission is simple, building the future faster. Their website says, “We design and manufacture cost-effective, high-performance, and reusable rockets at an unprecedented pace and scale – setting a new industry standard.” Tim Ellis utilizes 3D printing technology to quickly make new parts as well as iterate on old designs to make better parts which allows for rapid innovation. The rocket parts they print are sturdier because they are made all in one piece without joints and other weak points rockets made with traditional processes have. Relativity’s rockets are not only reusable but, because of the 3D printing technology, can be made much quicker than traditional rockets. Tim Ellis has successfully leveraged the potential of 3D printing technology to make a rocket company capable of advancing the space industry to new heights.

I find Tim’s story particularly interesting because he gained inspiration from his work experience. He saw something that he was deeply interested in, 3D printing, not getting the attention it deserved and decided to give it that attention himself. He was motivated by his position that allowed him to see 3D printing’s true value and with his expertise he was able to transform his interests of 3D printing and space flight into one successful company. I want to approach every future internship I have as if it’s an opportunity to find a field for entrepreneurial innovation.

Davis Siksnans – Founder of Printful

In the rapidly expanding world of e-commerce, print on demand services have played a key role in helping businesses sell customized products without the need for a large inventory. This also means that young entrepreneurs are able to launch and scale companies with virtually no startup cost. A pioneer in this industry is Davis Siksnans, who co-founded Printful when he was 22. Printful has since become one of the biggest print on demand services and is valued at over 1 billion dollars.

Siksnans started his business as an online store that created print on demand posters with motivational quotes. As his company grew, he quickly realized that there was an opportunity to expand into the biggest category on the internet – clothing. At that time, there was already some competition in the industry, so Printful had to differentiate itself to draw customers away from the other providers. Siksnans achieved this by making Printful user-friendly and easy to integrate with e-commerce sites, such as Shopify. This took the logistical headaches out of print on demand and e-commerce services, which was the key to Printful’s success.

While Davis Siksnans did not start a “0-1” business, he became a highly successful entrepreneur because he looked at the problem differently than his competitors. He didn’t invent print on demand apparel, but he revolutionized the industry by making the experience user friendly so that anyone can start an e-commerce store. As mentioned earlier, Printful has grown to become one of the top competitors in the industry and is valued at over 1 billion dollars. They continue to thrive and explore new possibilities within the print on demand industry. Siksnans story clearly shows how creativity and innovation can create opportunities even when there are already other competitors. He looked at the problem differently, and that resonated with the market.

 

Hart Main- 13-year-old Scented Candle Genius

Hart Main, a 13-year-old who would tease his sister about girly scented candles, turned out to use that to spark up a very interesting business idea. Hart was very mature for such a young age; he came up with the name “ManCans” and he made a simple change in the scents to make it more manly so that it fulfilled his desires. His candles consist of many different scents, and they are created by using soup cans. His business has taken off and grown so much creating a lot of profit. The scented candles are sold in every state. Hart being a firm believer of giving back to the community, he donates to soup kitchens in multiple states across the country. This is very impressive for such a young entrepreneur, and it has spread country wide. With the help of Hart’s parents, this idea of his was able to be turned into a reality by selling manly scented candles to those in need. The parents have raised Hart in an incredible way, not all young kids would even be able to process an idea like this but let alone be successful in it while giving back to the community. Another important thing about Hart is all his candles are handmade at Beaver Creek Candle Company in Lisbon, Ohio, and they are not created by just normal everyday workers, but it is people who are diagnosed with developmental challenges. That is so amazing, he has opened more opportunities to others that face challenges daily to be a part of his very well constructed business. His candle business is simply one of a kind, he has a basic story that initiated it, and he has innovated in many ways by helping the society and growing the business itself.

10 Successful Young Entrepreneurs (investopedia.com)

Hart Main

Bloom Nutrition by Mari Llewellyn

Most likely, if you’ve been in the drink aisle of any grocery store in the past couple years, you may have spotted Bloom, a new and upcoming health brand. Bloom is a high-quality health supplements brand for women founded by 30-year-old Mari Llewellyn. Mari, who was born in England, founded Bloom alongside her husband Greg. Mari wanted to take control of her health after, “[she] hit rock bottom mentally and physically.” After this she decided it was time for a change, Mari was able to lose 90 pounds and through this journey was able to grow in self-love as well. From this she was, “inspired to help other women do the same… to help everyone bloom into their best selves.” 

Bloom is consistently improving and shaping the women’s health industry every day. With their business growing everyday there’s no doubt they will stop anytime soon. With Mari’s Instagram having 1.5 million followers and counting, and Blooms having just over 500k its obvious Bloom has consistent customers. Mari and Greg both made Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2022 as well. Alongside having consistent products in store for customers to buy, Bloom has also partnered with lots of influencers and other major companies like Erewhon and Vita coco to get their name out into the market. 

Bloom offers a variety of supplement options in a way that no women’s health company has before. They have specifically crafted their supplements to fit women’s needs and are made from some of the best ingredients on the market. Bloom has dozens of options to choose from, coming in over 10 flavors and in a variety of different forms. From daily pills, portable drink packets, canned energy drinks and pre-workout their vast range of products meet the needs of any customer! 

If you would like to check Bloom out for yourself, click here.

 

Monika Dharia- Founder/CEO of EcoRain Poncho

Imagine coming up with and launching a business idea straight from your dorm room based off an issue with ponchos! Well, that’s what Monika Dharia did in 2016 as a sophomore at Duke. Monika Dharia studied environmental engineering, entrepreneurship, and economics during her time at Duke. She first realized that it rains a lot on the campus and went from thinking about renting umbrellas for free to eventually thinking about no plastic-based ponchos. She noticed that there was a problem with disposable petroleum-based products, especially with the ponchos. But how can you make a rain poncho more eco-friendly? And how can you make a poncho that’s different than any other poncho? Well, the answer lies in renewable materials and responsible packaging to help this ongoing issue. EcoRain Ponchos are sustainable ponchos that help to lower greenhouse gas emissions as well as being reusable and recyclable. These ponchos are responsibly sourced from Brazil made from sugarcane ethanol. What else also makes these ponchos unique? It’s that Monika made sure to include that the packaging for the ponchos is plastic free and made from FSC-certified recycled kraft paper. Soy based ink also helps to make their paper packaging easier to recycle. How many other companies that sell ponchos have unlimited uses because they’re 100% recyclable and is great for the environment? Not many other companies have thought of innovative ideas like Monika has! Monika has also won $35,000 in funding for her ponchos, but things started getting tough during the pandemic. Eventually she pulled through after getting a partnership with GreenGear. But it doesn’t stop there, because she also got a partnership with the Eagles and Braskem! So far, her ponchos have made an impact by fulfilling orders with Duke, Yale, North Carolina FC, the Eagles, and even some national parks like Yellowstone and Zion! Monika Dharia’s ideas and innovations towards the poncho market are groundbreaking, and it’s no surprise thanks to her entrepreneurial and environmental engineering skills! From an idea to reducing plastic in ponchos to being “the first 100% sugarcane-based poncho.” Monika has also been featured in Forbes 30 under 30, and in 2023 they have donated $11k to nonprofit organizations. If you still thought that was amazing, their business is also a minority and woman owned small business while also being 1% for the Planet members. So, Monika proves that if you see a need that can be fulfilled and even improved in the process to be more eco-friendly, to take a chance because your idea might be as great as an EcoRain Poncho!

Check out the EcoRain Poncho website here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Sustainable Rain Ponchos & Bags | GreenGear Supply Co.

Women ‘Green-Sports-Preneurs’: Monika Dharia, Founder of GreenGear – GreenSportsBlog

Forbes 30 Under 30 2024: Social Impact

Matt Mullenweg: The founder of WordPress

Where it all began

Born and raised in Houston Texas, Matt had a seemingly normal childhood to most. He was introduced to the technological world through his father who was acomputer programmer. Eighteen-year-old Matt loved to blog on a platform called b2/cafelog. This site soon was taken down by the owners and this is where Matt decided to launch his own site with the help of his friend Mike Little. In 2003 he and Mike soon built what we know as WordPress, and it was widely received by the public. Matt was only eighteen at the time of founding WordPress and he was still in high school. Due to his chronic migraines Matt was absent from school and this could have kept him from graduating but he was able to push through. After high school Matt continued his education at The University of Houston and chose to study philosophy and political science. During college Matt still worked on WordPress and grew more and more detached from his schoolwork. This lead Matt to drop out of college in 2004 to focus on WordPress entirely.

At nineteen years old Matt was offered a job at CNET in San Fransico which allowed him to work part time on WordPress. He stayed at CNET for only a year as he wanted to work full time on WordPress. Matt began building his team adding former Yahoo! executive Toni Schneider to join as CEO. Over the years Matt has joined several other ventures such as Automatic, GitLab, Global Multimedia Protocols Group, and helped launch Ping-O-Matic. Ping-O-Matic is a mechanism to help notify search engines about blog updates. These ventures led to Matt having an amazingly successful career with WordPress. WordPress powered about 40% of the internet in 2021 so one can only imagine how much it has grown in just three years. Approximately 400 million people visit WordPress sites each month. Overall, Matt Mullenweg is someone that is forgotten by most but as we can see and use in class WordPress is a very collaborative and easy service to use.

 

 

Kamaria Warren: Inclusive Party Supplies

10 Successful Young Entrepreneurs (investopedia.com)

Kamaria Warren was like any other kid when she went shopping for party supplies, such as innovations, for her birthday party. Yet, she realized that there was a big issue when she was shopping. There was not a lot of representation for black and brown children on the designs on the various party supplies. She now has multiple employees in her business and various products that she has developed and sold. She becomes motivated and inspired by seeing how her products positively affect other girls like her. She teaches me that even though no one has done something yet, or no one has addressed an issue yet, does not mean that you can’t. Her unique take on inclusivity and seeing it in a unique, but important area shows how each person has an important perspective. Her perspective may have been overlooked by many, but once fixed it has changed the game for many children just wanting simple inclusive party supplies. She inspires me to always see how I can improve things and to consider how small things to me, could mean the world to others. While her business creates profit, she gives back by creating priceless value of joy when kids like her use her products and feel included.

Hart Main: Scented Candles

10 Successful Young Entrepreneurs (investopedia.com)

What started out as a joke with his sister about girly candle scents, turned into an idea, and thus a business out of it. Hart Main had the unique idea of making “ManCans” that are candles with more manly scents. His business has since grown and creates a lot of profit. Hart also gives back to his community by donating some of this big profit to soup kitchens. What may seem like a simple idea to others, became a reality to Hart and created a very popular business that sells candles in every state. He was impressively able to reach more people than just in his immediate area. With some help from his parents, he was able to create a business that creates value to those looking for candles with unique “man” scents and give back to those in need. He is not a selfish business owner and seems very humble with the successful business that he has created. This is inspirational because not every successful business owner is like this, and it is hard to teach humility. His parents did a great job at encouraging him while teaching him the importance of giving back. He is unlike other candle businesses out there because he has a good, simple story behind the business and has innovated many ways on how to equally grow the business and help society.

Vinusha MK: Baking

This 10-year-old chef-entrepreneur wants to be No. 1 in the desserts business (yourstory.com)

With understanding her interest in baking at just 9 years old after simply baking a cake, Vinusha MK had an ambition to flourish her new hobby and share it with others in some way. As her parents took her to events that inspired her mind, she eventually created the business “Four Seasons Pastry”. With baking items, each inspired by the four seasons, she created a business unlike many baking businesses. Not only did she create a business, but she had a very impressive and educational internship. During covid she even saw an opportunity to create baking kits. With mentors like her mother and professional bakers. She is inspiring because she is very ambitious and determined at a young age. From her story, I’ve learned that people in your life and their encouragements and inspiration greatly impact how your ambition and belief in yourself is. Her parents raised her to be confident and a goal getter and that is exactly how she turned out. Her goal is to be a #1 business in baking and set herself apart from the competition, with such big goals at such a young age, it reminds us to never give up. It also reminds us that no goal is ever too big.