We all use socks almost every day, but at best, we just use them functionally with certain pairs of shoes. Have you ever considered socks to be a tool for raising awareness? That is what young entrepreneurs, Brandon and Sebastiaan Martinez, thought when they came up with their business “Are You Kidding?” These brothers loved socks so much, they decided to design their own. At the age of 5, Sebastian Martinez grabbed his crayons and began designing many fun patterns for socks he would like to create. Just one year later, he and his brother launched a business to sell their creative designs in 2014.

Since then, the brothers have sold over 500,000 socks and are currently still running the business at the ages of 15 and 17. They partcipate in many fundraising events to raise awareness for causes such as pediatric cancer research or diabetes research. Some of their charity socks include autism awareness, cancer awareness, and bullying awareness socks. They also focus a segment of their socks on things they believe people enjoy like space, cookies and bubbles. Each sock design takes around 2 months to design and manufacture and the brothers work together to both manage creating new designs and running the company as a whole.

As entrepreneurs, we can learn a number of things from the “Are You Kidding?” business. The Martinez brothers demonstrate how to take an ordinary, every day item and turn it into an exceptional, unique product. Furthermore, they discovered a new avenue for raising awareness for different causes that people can incorporate seamlessly into their every day lives. The “Are You Kidding?” business continues to thrive and is very active on social media testing new sock patterns and interacting with fans. They have raised over $350,000 for charitable causes and continue to make it the driving motivation behind their business.

On a trip to Banlgladesh in high school, Robert Feldman was shocked by the lack of basic necessities available to the people who lived there. He left with a strong desire to make a difference and help to solve this problem. Growing up in Florida, Feldman also noticed a lack of clothing that could handle intense activity. He then decided to create a solution to solve both of these problems. That is when he created Bearbottom.

Bearbottom is a clothing brand that aims to create versatile clothing for men so that they can take on any adventure. Feldman developed this line to be the perfect combination of eco-friendly and durable material, while remaining stylish. He started his first production in Bangladesh in an effort to provide sustainable clothing and jobs for the people there. Additionally, he implemented  a “buy one, give one” business model. Essentially, every time someone purchases an article of clothing from Bearbottom, a meal is donated to a child in India.

Since its inception in 2014, Bearbottom has grown into a very popular brand of clothing for “adventurers” and is currently worth $25 million dollars and has generated millions of revenue in donations to developling countries.

As entrepreneurs, we can learn a great deal from Feldman’s story. First, we can see the impact of a business with a mission. Feldman had a heart for the people struggling in Bangladesh and put all of his efforts into helping them. Customers of his brand resonate with him as a person and with his vision for the company which makes it more appealing than other brands.

Additionally, we can see the importance of creating of valuable product. Feldman noticed a gap in the mark for both durable and stylish clothing and decided to fill it with his own products. The company was incredibly successful due to demand for a product like this.

Mitch DeForest co-founded Ramped Careers, a business that helps with job finding for everyone in any kind of circumstance. The business started after DeForest struggled with the process of submitting resumes and interviewing for jobs that he did not get. It is different than other job finder websites as it trains those with different backgrounds on how to seem appealing to companies and others who are hiring. This makes it so that many people have access to their dream jobs, and do not need a specific background to get one. Ramped also helps to make sure that people do not feel like a tool in the hands of the employers, but rather a needed asset to the team. Because it teaches people with different backgrounds how to apply for a job, it also must teach people what their dream job is. To do so, Ramped uses feedback from professionals to figure out content that best fits the user. One of Ramped’s main goals is to treat others the way they deserve, which is with support and respect. DeForest has received $3 million in funding, and his business is growing in popularity. This is a great example of thinking like an entrepreneur as DeForest takes on an already competitive environment and puts his own spin on it. Having options for people with all different backgrounds is really important in the world today as the US is a very diverse country. To find a job is a painstaking task, writing the resume, finding the dream job, getting rejected from the dream job, filling out more paperwork and so on. Ramped was created to make all of it easier, and it does a great job of doing that. To discover more about Mitch DeForest and Ramped, the company he co-founded, click the link here.

Mikaila Ulmer is a prime example of young entrepreneur starting their own business from scratch. Her business, “Me & The Bees Lemonade started from a good ole “tried-and-tested” family recipe. Born in Houston Texas, the geographical location was a huge benefit for her startup as Texas is known to have some of the best fresh squeezed homemade lemonade in the country. She began her entrepreneurial business venture when she was just 5 years old by selling her great grandmother’s recipe from the 1940’s. This wholesome and creative decision the passing down of family tradition would spark ideas for expansion and years of success. In 2015, “Me & The Bees” made an appearance on the show Shark Tank. Ulmer and her family’s decision to ask for an investment to support the growth of the business helped tremendously. Not only did she receive $60,000, “Me & The Bees” received a large amount of positive feedback and recognition, leading to a rapidly growing customer base.

Today, Ulmer’s lemonade receives over half a million units each year in its now 1,500 locations of purchase. But Ulmer doesn’t plan on stopping there as she is working towards the development of new product lines such as natural beeswax lip balm. Ulmer has stuck out from other similar businesses as she excels in maintaining and building relationships with current and prospective customers through her ability to market a brand which is focused on natural, homemade, family recipes. Ulmer was also able to spark emotion in her customers as her first lemonade stands held a unique and innovative sign that stated, “Lemonade $3, Smiles Free!” This short phrase holds volume as it was able to make people smile and created a welcoming environment for prospective customers to approach and buy ice cold refreshing lemonade.

Ulmer’s story of success holds a much deeper meaning. It goes to show just how creative and capable we are early in our lives. A simple idea such as setting up a lemonade stand and selling to customers can help develop an entrepreneurial mindset bound for future success in areas such as sales, marketing, and product development. Whatever chapter of your life you may be in, remember that there are plenty of resources and opportunities at hand to pursue and successfully create your own business venture.

15 Most Successful Teen Entrepreneurs and Business Owners

Mikaila Ulmer – Wikipedia

Robert Felder started his dream after taking a trip to Bangladesh. During his trip he realized that although it is one of the largest clothing manufacturers in the world, many people there can’t afford clothing. He was horrified that many of the people who worked these factories were the same people that couldn’t afford to clothe their kids. Robert knew what he needed to do and set out to make a change with his own business.

His clothing company set out to build personal relationships with the manufacturing companies he was working with. Expanding to China, India, and Bangladesh, he ensured that he only worked with those who treated their employees with decency and respect, and ensured that his product would give back to clothing the community. Felder’s good ethics paid off when the COVID pandemic hit. Because of the trust he has built up with both his manufacturers and their surrounding communities, His clothing company was able to weather the storm and keep demand high through the crisis, causing him to outlast many of his largest competitors and increase profits when the world returned to normal.

At just 14 years old, Fraser Doherty began making jam using recipes passed down from his grandmother and sold them door-to-door in his Edinburgh neighborhood. His small venture quickly gained traction, leading him to set up a stand at a local farmer’s market and even bike around to personally deliver his products. As demand for his jams grew, Doherty found himself overwhelmed with orders, prompting him to leave school and rent a factory for a few days each month to meet the increasing demand.

In 2007, his SuperJam, made entirely from fruit with no added sugar, caught the eye of the U.K. supermarket chain Waitrose. This partnership marked a significant milestone, allowing SuperJam to be stocked in stores across the U.K. and Europe. By 2012, Doherty expanded his business internationally, launching in South Korea and Japan. In a standout moment, SuperJam generated £1 million in sales within just one hour on a Korean shopping network.

Doherty’s entrepreneurial success earned him prestigious recognition in 2014 when Queen Elizabeth II awarded him an MBE for his contributions to business. By 2019, he had sold over five million jars of jam. However, Doherty’s impact goes beyond business; he’s also committed to community welfare. He organizes hundreds of free tea parties for elderly individuals and has initiated local beekeeping projects to support environmental sustainability.

From a young boy making jam in his kitchen to an internationally recognized entrepreneur, Doherty’s journey is a testament to his passion, dedication, and desire to make a positive difference in both business and his community.

When struggling researching for another young entrepreneur, I remembered someone from my years in High School. Zech Wu, but more commonly known as Wu has made a great name for himself in the photography and videography field in western Pennsylvania. Wu’s story starts at a small catholic High School named Vincentian.  In Zech was a class of 2020 graduate, and that was the final graduating class of the high school. Vincentian had a very successful basketball team, and Zech was the team manager for them.  My connection to Wu starts here. When Vincentian closed in 2020 a few of the basketball players from their team transferred to Bishop Canevin (my high school). These players became some of my best friends, and I am still friends with them to this day. In 2022 when my high school basketball team was making a run at a Pennsylvania state championship our coach hired someone named Wu. I remembered him from the very successful Vincentian team, and he became our official team photographer. After that season, Zech attended the University of Pittsburgh and started filming Football and Basketball for the school. His work is truly amazing. Wu separates himself from many photographers due to his quality. In western PA, photographers have been on the rise. I see more and more at every sporting event, and this is due to Wu’s success. They witnessed how successful he was and wanted to make a name for themselves as well. After graduating from Pitt, Wu got a job as the head photographer for the University of Arizona’s Men’s Basketball team! As you can see this personal connection made me think of Wu to write about his journey as a young entrepreneur.

Recently our class got to hear from an established entrepreneur named Scott Moran, who is the co-founder of Samcart, a digital retail business meant to help entrepreneurs get their products out in the world. I was intrigued so I did some more research into this company. It condenses all of the hard steps of creating a website, arranging product bundles, figuring out how to add payment options  and more by making it super easy and attractive to potential customers. This can be done for both digital and physical products. The program is designed to adapt to each individual entrepreneur’s needs because the founders themselves know how to draw in, and keep, people.

This is the part I want to focus on. In both the in-class interview and articles that I read, Scott Moran focuses more on the idea of returning customers because they provide more revenue than just one time buyers. This means that it is vital to both cater to people who have come back but also focus on what exactly makes people come back and, conversely, they don’t like. He zeros in on upsells, cross-sells and constantly reaching out through emails.

An up-sell is what a customer sees when they are ready to checkout and then they see a suggestion that would add to their experience or perhaps further their experience with the product they are set on buying. This gives the costumer something else to consider and keeps adds a possible product to purchase.

Cross-selliong is similar but it focuses on suggesting different options for the original product that the customer is already looking at. This gives options and provides the customer with choice which means that they browse for longer.

Scott stresses the need for getting repeat customers but first you have to get them in the first place. There is a need to get people through the gateway, so to speak. Gain access to potential customers’ emails, and then you can send them enticing offers that may get them coming back.

I think what’s an important take away from Samcart’s business model is that an entrepreneur must always be aware of what works and what does not. Not what works for me myself, but what appeals to the people that I am trying to sell something to. This requires foresight and adaptability, which is what I think the Moran brothers display most of all.