In a world full of innovation and entrepreneurs, young business owners are everywhere, though businesses operated by young kids that achieve a certain level of success are a bit fewer and further between. Well, here is a story of one such business, called Are You Kidding:

It all started when two brothers, Brandon and Sebastian Martinez from Miami Florida decided to turn their passion for socks into a business. When they were little, the brothers grew up loving socks and making their own fun designs, so when their mom one day asked them about making their very own sock business, they did not hesitate to get things running! Sebastian immediately started creating design ideas for their socks, and the brothers began planning logistics to get the party started.

With help from their mom Rachel, the Martinez brothers soon began designing and manufacturing their socks through a company in Guatemala. They began shipping products to their house, but soon moved to a warehouse to better accommodate their extensive inventory in 2014. That was when the new sock company Are You Kidding was born.

Are You Kidding stands out in more ways than just one. Besides the fact that it was operated by young kids, the sock company also gives back to the community by donating 30% of each sale of charity stock to various charities they support, such as Special Olympics, Big Brother Big Sister, Make A Wish Foundation, and Live Like Bella.

The brother owned company also established the Kids Helping Kids Initiative which enabled them to partner with schools to provide tools, socks, and hosting fundraisers for charities affiliated with each school.

Are You Kidding had a humble start, making $15,000 in sales the first year, but soon rocketed to $150,000 the next year, $250,000 the following year, and over $500,000 the year after that. With such a study growth rate, the Martinez brothers can look forward to a promising future in the sock industry.

In 2014 two brothers started the company Are you kidding. The two brothers were interested in helping others so by starting their own business, they are able to fulfill this goal. Brandon and Sebastian Martinez were fifteen and thirteen years old when they first started their business. The two started designing and drawing their own sock designs at home but have eventually made the upgrade to sell their unique socks on their online store. Their socks feature designs such as race cars, rocket ships and googly eyes. The price of each pair of socks costs ten dollars. In order to stay successful they took roles. Brandon became the director of sales while Sebastian is CEO. They were able to make $15,000 selling their specialty socks in their first year of business. By the second year, they claim that “We have been able to already reach the $15,000 that we made last year and are on track to double and hopefully triple our sales this year.” Instead of just keeping all the profits, they wanted to give back to the community. The company “teamed up with organizations like the American Cancer Society and the Live Like Bella Foundation last year to raise more than $3,000 for cancer awareness. In April, the company partnered with The Hue Studio and donated 25 percent of all proceeds from its “Eye See You” sock sales to Discovery Arts, a charitable organization that brings art programs to children with serious illnesses.” The brand kept growing and partnered with major organizations such as  Live Like Bella, JDRF, Make-A-Wish, Cowboys Who Care and the Special Olympics. 

These two young entrepreneurs inspired me because they were able to make a big impact at such a young age. They had a vision and were able to achieve it so I would describe them at very innovative. They continue to make new designs and always want to improve.