Archive for Millennial Entrepreneurs – Page 7

Behind the Make-Up: Michelle Phan’s Story

Michelle Phan grew up in a poor home. Her father left when she was six, and her mother soon remarried and opened a nail salon. Michelle admired her mother’s work ethic and her desire to make others feel beautiful. While her mother encouraged her to become a doctor so that she could be successful and earn money, Michelle decided to follow her passions and go into art school. Her artistic abilities extended into cosmetics, and she began creating videos of her make-up routine to post on YouTube, becoming one of the first beauty vloggers. The videos she posted quickly began gaining popularity, and her hobby turned into something much larger. Once her first video hit 1 million views, she was accepted onto YouTube’s partner program.

Michelle’s YouTube career continued growing, and she moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to pursue it more fully. She partnered with the make-up brand Lancome, featuring them in her videos. Michelle even began her own make-up startup. She called her startup Ipsy, allowing people to subscribe to receive a monthly make-up bag  She was very successful and was posting two videos a week, but the strain of the constant work was wearing down on her. She felt that she had lost an essential part of her channel by turning it into tutorial-generating machine. After her new business Em Cosmetics flopped, she turned her back on social media for a time, deciding to travel the world and figure out what she really wanted to do with her life. After a year, Michelle was ready to begin again. In 2017, Michelle left Ipsy and relaunched Em Cosmetics with a much smaller make-up line.

Michelle was able to reevaluate her life and pursue what she really loved. She became successful as her mother wanted her to, now her net worth is $50 million. Her mother was able to retire thanks to her daughter. I find this to be a beautiful story of creativity and following your passions.

Need a Lyft? (John Zimmer)

About Lyft:

Lyft is a ridesharing platform created in 2007 in order to improve transportation in urban environments. Co-founder and acting president, John Zimmer, came up with the app by identifying an unnoticed problem. Since its inception, Lyft has been steadily growing into one of the best ridesharing services in the U.S., competing with other large companies like Uber.

John Zimmer (Inspiration and Innovation):

John Zimmer first identified the previously mentioned problem while attending college at Cornell. The problem was that 20% of seats in vehicles are vacant while these vehicles operate on highways. This statistic can be easily overlooked as insignificant, but Zimmer saw this as an opportunity. Capitalizing on the perceived potential, he joined forces with Logan Green who was already working on a ridesharing service called Zimride. Because Zimride was not very successful, the two decided to start developing a more mobile-focused app. With the launch of Lyft, Zimmer and Green established the solution they had been working towards.

Importance:

One of the qualities that stood out to me as I was researching John Zimmer was his ability to frame a problem. Because it is very common to see vehicles on the road with empty seats, it is not a factor that most people would consider to be a problem. George Zimmer was able to see past mundane details and use this perceived problem to discover the value of filling empty seats.

Adelle Archer

Most people may have never heard of Adelle Archer. She is only 27 years old and she is the co-founder of Eterneva. Eterneva is a very unique company that takes people’s cremated ashes and turns them into diamonds. For $7,000 a person can have their loved ones ashes turned into a diamond. Sadly, Adelle got the idea when her business mentor died of pancreatic cancer in 2015. Archer wanted to find a special way to honor her mentor, and upon a discussion with a technician she discovered that a diamond could be created from ashes.

 

The 8 month process may sound a bit odd. Adelle addressed a very unique niche in the market. Sadly, people die at many different stages in their life. In the unfortunate event that a woman’s husband passes away, she could get his ashes turned into a diamond and carry him with her wherever she goes. This does not have to be a young woman or a married couple though. An urn of ashes is not going to be passed down for more than one generation, but grandma’s diamond would last many more than one generation.

 

This is also a growing industry, in 2015, the number of cremations surpassed the number of burials for the first time ever. Adelle has changed the relationship with loss. The loved ones who purchase the diamond are updated throughout the process. The small startup company did $280,000 in sales last year and is projected $2 million in 2018.

One of Our Own, Making it On His Own

 

Image result for justin corbin jumpstart strategies

Grove City freshman and young entrepreneur, Justin Corbin has already made his headway, deep into the political scene. Born and raised just outside of Pittsburgh, Justin was inspired at a very young age by his brother David- who made and sold his own Duct Tape wallets. Justin was initially driven to make his own money to buy what he wanted without the help of his parents. His sense in independency led him to selling 150 para chord bracelets at five dollars a piece which he simply bought for cheaper at local stores. Pressing on to his Boy Scout days, Justin furthered his ability to sell by raising over $5,000 worth of popcorn.

Justin thought he always wanted to be a chiropractor but after a Patrick Henry College political science camp he found his interests shift to getting involved in the political scene. He then discovered a problem, having a hard time as a young American, getting active in the political world so him and his brother created an outlet serving many of his piers getting their voter registration which would later evolve drastically to become his largest company as of now.

Justin’s work ethic and talent with people was prevalent in his senior year of high school when he took a job with Dunkin Donuts (now just Dunkin) in January and by July he was managing the store along a with a Baskin Robbins.  Also, by that time he had an internship set up with U.S. Representative Tim Murphy which developed after a random encounter with him at a local Macy’s. That fell through after a short time due to him dropping out of his campaign from a discovered affair he was having. Through another encounter with a customer at his Dunkin Donuts, he got connected with republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Mike Turzai who was soon to run for Governor and gave Justin and his brother David the job of running his campaign social media outlet, Snap Chat. And that was the first job and the beginning of Jumpstart Strategies which exists now to engage Americans as informed voters. Jumpstart quickly spread in awareness as it took over running the social media tactics for many major political campaigns in Pennsylvania. Justin Corbin discussed his success in discovering that, “Every campaign is won online” and later said that he found, “a niche that no one else has covered.”  When asked about the potential problem of his age running such large accounts he said, “I actually had a much easier time selling this to politicians as they know my aged people know how to work social media because we are on it all the time.” Jumpstart has found itself facing little competition but heavy opposition from the other side of the aisle as they decided to protect their name serving only the Republican party. Unfazed by these attacks, Justin has discovered traits about himself he picked up from his hostage negotiator father, Brian Corbin who taught him how to stay level headed and non-emotional in high pressure situations. Jumpstart has led him to interactions with President Donald Trump and numerous occasions with VP Mike Pence.

Young and fearless, Justin Corbin is driven to set himself apart from the pack and to be successful at whatever he does. This has led him to coin his company as ‘Winning Decisively’. Justin says he tells himself every morning, “You didn’t wake up today to be mediocre.”

Smart Scents

It seems as if entrepreneurs keep getting younger and younger. A 13 year old boy, named Hart Main created what would become the Beaver Creek Candle Company. The company started off producing and selling ManCans, a new kind of candle. ManCans are candles that have many manly scents such as bacon, campfire, coffee, fresh cut grass, and plenty more. The idea came about when Hart was teasing his little sister about the girly scented candles she used to sell for a fundraiser. With a bit of financial help from his parents they created the product, ManCans. ManCans is in approximately 150 different stores nationwide, and is very successful. From ManCans he has created other products for the company as well, including SheCans and specialty scented candles that smell and look like apple pie, cherry pie, and more.

Hart Main originally launched his business because he wanted to earn $1,200 for a bike to compete in triathlons. Hart has now surpassed his goal by a great amount. His business has given 100,000 cans of soup and $35,000 to 25 soup kitchens in four states. What is very interesting about this company is that all products are hand handcrafted, and each candle is carefully prepared, packaged and shipped by people in their workshop. They guarantee a high quality, long burning candle that pools evenly and delivers fragrance from the first light to last. This company has been surprisingly successful and they only plan to keep growing.

This young man, and his company are very inspiring to young people and he shows that entrepreneurship has no age. This young man started his company at 13 by simply noticing that candles are very femininely scented. Hart then created his product in pursuit of a goal, buying himself a bike. All entrepreneurial ideas start with a problem and I believe this demonstrates that concept perfectly. He noticed there were no manly scented candles, and wanted to do something about it. From that, the Beaver Creek Candle Company was born. As a person this shows that Hart is very goal driven, determined and innovative. Hart Main is also genuinely a great person and this is shown by his efforts to help soup kitchens by giving them soup and a portion of all of his sales. He is a great guy with great intentions and I hope this is an insight to others of what makes great entrepreneurs.

A Jewelry Empire At The Age Of 16 – Post #2

Amanda Thomas is a young entrepreneur who turned her dreams into a reality. In 2005, at the ripe age of 16, she created her own jewelry line called, “Luv Aj”. Jewelry had always been a passion for Amanda. During her teen years, she would return home from school each day and create new designs. One day, she saw an opportunity to turn her after school hobby into a business. By utilizing digital sites like Shopify and Instagram, Thomas was able to not only sell her creations, but also find creative ways to market them.

The unique aspect of Thomas’ business venture was how she capitalized on social media as a marketing tool even before the idea became popular. She was able to see the advantages of using social media as a vehicle to spread her message before most people were able to see them. This was due to her entrepreneurial mindset. Her open and creative mindset allowed her to identify problems before anyone else could and find solutions to those problems that ultimately benefited consumers. Thomas was able to use sites like Instagram to communicate with famous influencers who would then be able to share her products with their already established fan bases. A few of these celebrities included Beyoncé, Gigi Hadid, and Emily Ratajkowski.

Through these well thought out and developed marketing tactics, Thomas was able to expand her jewelry business to boutiques across the nation. She was recently added to Forbes ’30 Under 30’ list at the age of 26.

The most inspiring part about Amanda Thomas’ story is the fact that she was bold enough to act on her idea. She easily could have created her own jewelry line and only have sold it to her friends and family, but she was bolder than that. She not only took the risk of creating a Shopify account, but she also took the risk of reaching out to celebrities. This tactic clearly paid off as her business took off and she created a jewelry empire.

David Karp – Post #2

We often taken the websites that we use for granite and never tend to think about who exactly created them.  Many people use “Tumblr” and the creator of that is a man by the name of David Karp.  Karp created the website in 2007 when he was just 21 years old.  He embodies the types of characteristics that all entrepreneurs must have in order to achieve success.  He is driven, refuses to accept failure, and he made his vision become a reality by working at it everyday.  Tumblr is a micro-blogging website for its users and he recently sold it to Yahoo and now has an estimated net worth of $200 million.  What is unique about Karp is the fact that he did not let his age stop him from achieving his dreams.  It was difficult for him to garner respect due to the fact that he was so young, but none of that bothered him.  Tumblr is still extremely popular even with many others competitors emerging once they caught wind about blogging websites.  It remains popular because it is often the first blogging website that comes to people’s minds and Karp made sure of that with savvy advertising and publicity.  Karp was able to sell his empire to Yahoo for a reported $1.1 billion and the website is now valued at over $800 million.  All of this happened with one man and a crazy idea.  I learned that sometimes it does not take a large group of people and all kinds of planning in order to make a great idea.  Sometimes all it takes is a self-driven person and a computer.  An unstoppable work ethic and vision is the perfect formula to get someone started on their path towards success.  He consistently worked towards his goal, and it did not happen overnight.  Success takes time and Karp stands by that.  If what he did was easy, everyone would be doing it, but they are not.

Finding the Power in Your Problems

Ed Hollands: DrivenMedia

Picture a rainy-day commute through the city; traffic piling up, staring out your window at all the other cars and trucks. You can’t even enjoy your favorite view of the city because there are too many tall trucks and vans in the way. This is where 23-year-old Ed Holland found himself and then suddenly it hit him. What if you could turn a profit off the view that is blocked; more specifically what if he could find a way to sell unique advertising on all those blank trucks and vans? He took this thought and ran with it, creating a startup called Driven Media.

There was an unrecognized opportunity by many businesses that Ed had uncovered. His company will wrap trucks with advertisements. The innovation around Ed’s business comes in the form of tracking the impressions the vehicle advertisements have. DrivenMedia contracts with companies whose drivers are on the road at least 5 days a week and uses their GPS trackers to ensure the ads are being seen. Each day a typical trailer or truck is seen by an average of 55,000 people. When you break down the cost per 1000 impressions, it is quite a valuable deal for the companies that contract with DrivenMedia. Ed’s company sells 12-month packages and it has proved to be a very profitable niche.

Reading about Ed’s story it affirmed to me the simplicity and excitement that lies in the everyday life in respect to the possibility of innovation. Even when you are not necessarily looking to innovate thoughts can just materialize in your head and change your life completely. It has reminded me to not only recognize problems in life and complain, but to then continue those thoughts into forming possible solutions. No pain, no sale. Never underestimate the power hidden in your problems.

 

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Click above to be directed to DrivenMedia website

Eterneva

Eterneva

“Makes memorial diamonds out of the cremated remains of loved ones.”

This startup was born from personal loss. The founder, Adelle Archer, lost her mentor to a battle with pancreatic cancer. She discovered the lack of options of ways to commemorate loved ones. The business Archer was working for at the time was researching diamond development that, combined with a trend in cremation over burials led her to wonder if the carbon from the ashes of loved ones could be used to create diamonds. She found a few other companies were successfully doing so and began working on her own way of sentimentally including passed loved ones in life. Eterneva sends a small portion of ashes to Amsterdam where the eight month process begins. Unlike competitors, Enterneva includes the buyers in the process by sending text updates throughout the eight months. They build close relationships with their customers throughout this time and appreciate the person being memorialized. Customers can also pick from a variety of colors- traditional clear, red, pink, yellow, blue,green, and black. Many families pick colors that were special to their loved ones.

Will this be an accepted way to move foreword in grief?

Admittedly, this does sound a bit strange at first. However, Archer explains, diamonds allow people to pass the memory of loved ones down generations where ashes in urns do not. At first I thought who would ever turn someone they loved into a piece of jewelry? The more I read about this idea, the more it began to make sense to me. Life is beautiful, why would we not want to commemorate it in a way that reflects the beautiful people we get to share it with? This is a deeply connective idea, I believe there is truth in saying the diamonds can be an excellent way to grieve losing a loved one and still feel connected to them.

What is the cost of Eterneva?

Diamonds made naturally are pricey to begin with, how does Eterneva compare? Eternrava asks $7,000 for .5 carat diamonds. It is in fact more expensive than natural diamonds, however these diamonds have a much more emotional factor to them.

Brian Chesky

I am sure nowadays everyone either knows or has in some way heard the name Airbnb or personally used the app. This app has completely revolutionized to travel and hotel industry and was created by some of the youngest entrepreneurs. The co-founder of Airbnb is only 37 years old named Brian Chesky .When he first got started with his business he was only 27 years old. I found him and his business interesting because he completely innovated the hotel business with his business. Before his business if you wanted to stay somewhere you had basically three options. You would have to stay in a hotel, motel, or with a friend or family. If you didn’t have any friends or family in the area you were forced to settle with spending the money. Airbnb changed that.

So far, about 44.8 million adults are using Airbnb worldwide. In 2014 their website surpassed 800,000 listings. That means they have surpassed Hilton Worldwide, the InterContinental Hotels Group or any other hotel chain in the world in logging numbers. The business is only getting bigger and bigger each year as well.

When asked about what he credits his success to he said, “childlike curiosity and wonder…[is] probably the most important trait you can have, especially as an entrepreneur.” His promotion of the importance of a young perspective is inspiring because it gives me hope that I could possibly come up with a successful idea just like he did.

I am also inspired to look for the mashups. He saw people who needed places to stay who also didn’t want to pay a ton and placed them with people who were willing to rent out their own property. They found a way for people to make money using things they already own and to satisfy the need for travelers to have a cheaper more homelike stay.

People like Chesky are helping to inspire young thinkers everywhere to believe in their ideas and try to make a difference in the world every day.