Raelynn Heath is a young entrepreneur that had her hit idea at the age of 4. I don’t know about you but that is insane to me that at the age of 4 she had her own business! I can tell you that that was not what I was doing at the age of 4. She is from Raytown, Missouri and started her business selling her own jewelry. Her business is called Raelynn’s Materials. She focuses on creating her own jewelry along with repairing others. The piece of jewelry she specializes in are bracelets. Her main platform for selling her product is on Facebook and Etsy. For her different types of jewelry, she makes it out of various materials. It varies from plastic beads all the way to polymer clay. Additionally to that, she even recycles different materials to add into these lovely pieces of jewelry. From this business she hopes to expand into the fashion industry. With her products she even donates back to the community by donating jewelry to those that have went through some sort of traumatizing event. Not only is she a talented individual she is also caring to the community. Just like any kid she has big dreams. She hopes to someday have a storefront in Paris and believes she will be a millionaire at the age of 16!
Archive for Millennial Entrepreneurs – Page 2
Zev Shapiro is no ordinary college student. His childhood was unlike his peers. Born and raised in Cambridge Massachusetts, he is currently a sophomore at Harvard University. At the age of 10, he helped manage Senator Elizabeth Warren’s campaign. In 2014, he was invited to the State of the Union Address as Elizabeth Warren’s guest. He enjoys reading academic law and public policy journals for fun and discussing politics. He always has had an entrepreneurial spirit, especially with his visionary personality; he often looks ahead as to what can be solved and improved in our society. Before graduating high school at Cambridge Rindge and Latin in 2020, he launched TurnUp (in 2019), a non profit application dedicated for young activists to increase voter turnout. TurnUp targets Generation Z progressives by having the capability to connect with other progressive individuals for specific causes. Zev wants to provide his peers with a network to organize events, marches, and protests for teenage activists. He specifically focuses on increasing voter turnout in all U.S elections but there are some other causes such as social justice, racial inequality and educational rights issues. The use of TurnUp proved to increase 36 million young voters nationally in 2020. Additionally, TurnUp made it possible for 17,000 people to make connections with one another and attend progressive events and it has over $2,000 individual donors. This new progressive activism app has grown in such a short amount of time. Through TurnUp, Zev Shapiro brings together a new generation of young activists for leftist causes.
Despite Zev Shapiro’s political beliefs, as Christian entrepreneurs we should be inspired by his entrepreneurial spirit and dedication so that we can create some kind of innovation which spreads Biblical Truth, the Word of God, and conservative thought to Generation Z. So what are we waiting for?
To Learn more about Zev:
Hart Main, age 13
When Hart Main was 13 years old, his little sister Camryn was selling candles for a school fundraiser. He remembers teasing her for the “girly scents” and saying that only women would buy her candles. This jovial teasing turned into a business idea later on when Hart was saving for a $1500 bicycle. In order to reach a larger crowd Hart created ManCans, candles scented to appeal to men as well. Instead of flowery, sweet scents, ManCans candles smell like a “fresh new baseball glove.”
Hart’s business idea was like no other, it was unique, and appealed to a new genre of people; for this reason, ManCans rapidly took off selling more than 300 candles a week. “It started as a Joke; it really wasn’t meant to turn into anything serious” says Hart. Thanks to his mother’s encouragement, his jokes became reality. “Even if it sounds like they’re joking, if their idea sounds like something they can do, by all means, I tell them to go for it,” Amy, Hart’s mom, says. Hart’s little sister also has a dog-walking business of her own, which was sparked by a simple conversation in the car.
Starting off, Hart had high ambitions, a little too high for a startup business; however, he was encouraged by his mom to stick to his main scents and branch out as expenses allow. Right now, ManCans offers eight unique scents such as: NY Style Pizza, Grandpa’s Pipe, Sawdust, Campfire, New Mit, Fresh Cut Grass, Coffee, and even Bacon. Along the way ManCans featured the scent “Money to Burn” but because of low sales has since been discontinued.
Variety of ManCan Scents created by Hart Main
Hart makes all his candles in soup-cans, and although it is a for-profit business, he donates soup to local soup kitchens with a portion of the proceeds. This is a prime example of how you can make a positive influence in the world, without necessarily donating all of your earnings to charity.
ManCans has been a business of trial and error. Hart took something laughable and made it sellable. ManCans serves as a perfect example that products don’t have to serve just one audience, and there is always a way to make things marketable to different groups. Young entrepreneurs should be encouraged by Hart’s story to not reject a product, until they attempt see it from a different angle; in Hart’s case, this meant making masculine scented candles.
Moziah Bridges grew up in a home in Tennessee, where fashion had a huge roll in his upbringing. His father used to walk around the house in suits, even when not going out in public. He was always taught to dress nice and present himself in a professional way. It was very rare that you saw a Bridges family member in a sweatshirt.
When Moziah was 9, he remembers going to the mall and seeing very overpriced, low quality bow ties. Moziah begged his mom to buy one for him, but she said that they were way too expensive. Moziah, who now goes by the name Mo, decided there to create his business, Mo’s Bows.
Mo’s grandmother was a skilled seamstress who taught him how to sew his own bows. This rocketed Mo’s interest in the fashion world. Mo’s Bows are high quality and affordable bow ties. Each and every bow is hand crafted and unique. While Mo is at school, his mother keeps the business going, and when he gets home from school, he helps her to package and ship the bowties.
The duo appeared on the hit television show, Shark Tank. While on the show, they gained the support of Daymond John who offered not only an investment but also an entrepreneurial mentorship. Starting off by selling bow ties on Etsy, Mo’s Bows are now featured on Amazon, ebay, and Mo’s personal website. Additionally, Mo has worked with the NBA becoming their personal fashion correspondent; many of Mo’s Bow’s feature the NBA logo.
Next year, Mo looks forward to graduating high school and going to college for fashion design. Mo’s story serves as an inspiration to other entrepreneurs, and he is a role model to young kids. He teaches the lesson that when there’s a passion, there’s a successful business to be unveiled. Mo’s business is something that he loves doing; so in a way, he never really works. Young entrepreneurs should take his business as a model of how they run their own businesses, find a passion and run with it.
We don’t think much about soap. It’s just a simple necessity for us to wash our hands and keep ourselves clean. But would you be surprised that there are people in the world that have never seen a bar of soap before? Probably not, but in many impoverished countries today, over 800 children under the age of 5 die from diseases as a result of compromised hygiene and sanitation. Erin Zaikis hopes to change all that with her company, Sandara.
Erin’s company Sandara recycles used hotel soap to redistribute across Uganda, India, and Myanmar in an effort to increase hygiene and education as well. She knew that children around the world were dying without access to sanitation products, while big corporations like hotels were throwing out old soap after just one use. Erin saw what a big problem this was and founded Sundara in 2013 to combat this current issue. Sundara first started as a non-profit business recycling used hotel soap, but it evolved into a bigger company that now works across different countries and provides education and work opportunities to single mothers, domestic abuse victims, and widows. Their main values include fostering dignity, building sustainability, agility, and female empowerment. This is shown through Sundara’s two different programs, Rise Fellowship and Emergency Aid. Rise Fellowship provides “mentorship, seed funding, and resources to female entrepreneurs living in low to middle class income countries.” In addition, Emergency Aid is a program dedicated to providing urgent, short-term relief to those who need it immediately. Erin’s company has impacted thousands of women and children around the world and over the past 8 years, has recycled over a million bars of soap and reaches 200,000 people with serious hygiene education every year.
Erin has worked with Sundara for the past several years to help fight the rampant issue of sanitation and hygiene for women and children in poor countries around the world. Her company has changed the lives of many, giving dignity and respect back to those who need it. Erin Zaikis is a true entrepreneur with her company and let’s hope she continues to change the world with her innovative ideas.
Bella Weems is a 28-year-old who is the founder of the jewelry company Origami Owl. At just 14 years old, she turned her passion into a business after her parents told her she would have to earn her first car. Her passion for handcrafting jewelry turned into a multi-million-dollar business.
Origami Owls main product is called the “Living Locket” which is a locket which you can add in your own, personalized charms to. This is unique because each charm can represent the persons hobbies and interests and showcase them when they wear the necklace. Bella also sells bracelets, earrings, and other accessories.
Bella is a busy kid entrepreneur, but she still allots time to give back. She started the “Owlettes Initiative” in which she personally mentors young aspiring entrepreneurs ages 12-17. Bella shares tips with these kids and any advice from her success story. I think this part of her business is truly inspiring because she found a way to help others as well as keep up a successful business.
Bella says the best part of being a kid entrepreneur is, “…being able to encourage kids of all ages to not be afraid to reach for their dreams and never let anyone tell them they’re not good enough or their idea isn’t good enough.” Bella’s business Origami Owl not only lets people express themselves through their jewelry but inspires young entrepreneurs to take the risk to start making something they are passionate about become big.
11 Successful Kid Entrepreneurs Keeping Their Eyes on the Prize
City Bonfires was created and is still produced in Maryland. It was created by Chris McCasland and Michael Opalski when both of their jobs were impacted because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of this, they were both at home a lot more than they were used to and started looking for something to do with all of this time they had recently acquired. I think that it is really great that they make everything right in Maryland and with American made materials.
City Bonfires sells several different product packages on their website. They sell just the “portable firepit”, three different smore packs (which include smore ingredients since these are safe to cook over, and scented ones which interestingly you can also still cook over. I think this is a very interesting concept and something that has been missing on the market. Yes there have been other little fire makers out there, but none that are made out of food grade wax and plant based materials that makes them perfectly safe to cook things like smores over.
I really like the idea and execution of City Bonfires. I believe that with innovation cool niche products like this can really make a go of it. There is nothing quite as perfect and well thought out as this product on the market. I think it is very fun that this whole company came from the pandemic.
It’s amazing how the simple practice of folding paper has managed to find itself as the hobbies of many nowadays. Origami came from the ancient Japanese practice of folding paper into different shapes and figures. This seemingly simple idea of folding paper was the exact inspiration for Tina Hovsepian and her company.
Cardborigami is a combination of origami and cardboard. Tina’s idea for the company came to her during a senior design project when she was asked to rethink the idea of ‘temporary shelter.’ That’s when she made her first prototype of a temporary, foldable, and cardboard shelter for the homeless. It was immediately a hit, and she started her company in 2010 and it has been successfully running for the past 11 years. The Cardborigami website says, “Our centerpiece product provides immediate emergency shelter to homeless and/or disaster-impacted populations, allowing us to support the work of established partner organizations that offer transitional pathways into permanent housing and other long-term services.” This statement sums up Cardborigami very well and establishes what their goal is. Cardborigami even offers other programs like social enterprise, disaster preparedness, and pop-up homeless shelter sites in addition to their main product.
Carborigami’s mission supports the homeless, which is a big social issue nowadays, and their main product is very clever. Cardboard is biodegradable, so it’s healthy for the environment after it breaks down, and it’s foldable and easy to transport, so anyone can bring it with them for an easy and temporary roof over their heads. Tina even comments on design by saying, “Design fundamentally impacts the daily life of people. Architects are armed with aggressively creative ideas and innovative solutions to complex problems. With more designers taking leadership and focusing their talent on socially responsible design, the world would be a better place.” It is absolutely true that designers bring a lot to the table when it comes to coming up with new ideas and changing the world for the better. “Socially responsible design” could be this company’s mantra, and they are truly succeeding in their mission. It is a wonderful idea to address this issue in the world and I hope to see more Cardborigami products giving shelter to those in need.
Timothy Armoo is the co-founder and CEO of the social media marketing company Fanbytes. Fanbytes helps brands market on social media platforms used by 13-25 year-olds. Because of the company’s expertise on social media platforms used by Gen Z, Fanbytes advertisements typically outperform traditional ads by 4:1.
Timothy started and sold his own media company at 17 years old, he then used his experience to co-found Fanbytes his second year of college. Timothy has noted that Gen Z has grown up with social media and has a buying power of 150 billion dollars, and so is an unavoidable marketing segment. Timothy Armoo gives this advice:
“Focus on serving the smallest possible market and delight them. It can be easy to think everyone is your customer, but focusing on being incredibly valuable to a small subset of your audience is critical to making you stand out in the market”.
Fanbytes has worked with many companies and organizations including Apple, McDonald’s, and the UK Government. The company has won Timothy Armoo many awards and accolades including:
“Most Influential Person in Marketing and Advertising” – Evening Standard.
“Leading the new school of marketing” – Forbes Magazine.
“Creating the WPP of Gen Z” – Huffington Post.
I think Timothy’s advice is very helpful. It’s great to see a company that is so specialized, successful, and has a clear focus on doing what it’s good at.
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