Archive for young entrepreneur

Aaron Goldstein-Fever Smart

Aaron Goldstein has always been smart and entrepreneurial. When he was in Highschool, in Florida, he sold T-shirts for social media influencers and other celebrities. While selling these shirts he still maintained very high grades and was accepted at the University of Pennsylvania. During his time at University of Pennsylvania he achieved many things, however two stand out from the rest. First, he accepted a job offer at The Blackstone Group, in their real estate investment department. Next, he created Fever Smart.

Fever Smart is a wearable thermometer that not only monitors a person’s temperature, but also sends an alert to their (or their guardians) phone. This device was thought of when a friend of Aaron Goldstein had to undergo chemotherapy. The chemotherapy had weakened his immune system and Aaron offered to track his temperature to look for infections. During, one of their morning temperatures checks his friend, Collin Hill, had a very high temperature and had to go to the hospital, despite his low temperature the night before. After his friend safely and fully recovered Mr. Goldstein designed Fever Smart, so he would have known of Collin’s fever sooner.

While developing Fever Smart Aaron was a full-time college student, but still find the time to develop the proprietary technology. He also raised 60,000 dollars for his company thru an IndieGoGo Campaign; IndieGoGo is a crowd funding cite for entrepreneurs. After receiving this money his company took off and Fever Smart is sold in multiple countries to parents, hospitals, and the ill. Fever Smart has also grown tremendously through the Covid-19 Pandemic due to its ability to continuously track a person’s temperature. Lastly, due to Aaron Goldstein’s success he was named the 2014 College Entrepreneur of the Year by Entrepreneur Magazine. Learn more about Fever Smart below.

 

Gossy Ukanwoke

Gossy Ukanwoke was born to a teacher father and a pharmacist mother in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria where he studied at the Living Word Academy Secondary school. He later obtained a bachelor’s degree in management information systems at Girne American University, Cyprus in 2013. In 2010, while still attending university, Gossy founded the Students Circle Network, an academic social networking service meant to help teachers, students, and institutions to connect, which led ITNews Africa to name him “Africa’s Best Tech Entrepreneur” the next year. After completing his university studies, Gossy founded BAU Research and Development, through BAU he founded Beni American University, the first online university in Nigeria, with the goal of helping to equip students with the skills they need to graduate without the boundaries of a physical learning environment. Later, Gossy launched the Alistair Maine Group to invest in leisure, hospitality, and lifestyle in Lagos. He later was named the Managing Director of Nigeria’s sports betting company, BetKing. Throughout his career Gossy has spoken on entrepreneurship panels, given large keynote addresses, and been invited to speak at a business conference on Africa by the Harvard Business School. Gossy Ukanwoke’s dedication to the improvement of education in Africa as well as his other business endeavors has earned him many accolades and awards including Best Graduating student from Girne American University, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Finalist of Young CEO of the Year 2016 award by the Africa CEO Forum, Forbes 30 Most Promising Entrepreneurs 2018, Finalist at Future Awards, and Global Shakers 50 African Innovators to watch.

 

It’s great to see an individual that is so capable in entrepreneurship and uses his experience to not only do well in the business world but also to work towards improving education in his country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italian Graphic Design Entrepreneur

Do you ever wonder how you can make your social media look appealing? 

    Antia D’Alisera is not merely a successful YouTuber. Born in Rome Italy, and now a freshman at Kings College in London, she was raised by her father who is a movie producer and her mother who is an interior designer in Rome. Her older sister recently graduated from Parsons School of Design for fashion. Anita is surrounded by excellent taste and a beautiful eye for aesthetics. While on vacation, Anita and her family frequently travel to their house on an island off of Greece called Patmos. From growing up surrounded by her parents and sister’s excellent taste in style, art, and design, Anita has found a passion and deep interest for graphic designs, film, beauty and exquisite aesthetics. She is gifted with ideaphoria and can easily put her ideas into practice, since she currently has her own YouTube channel and her own graphic design business.   

    Anita D’Alisera, known as AniDali on Youtube (and for all her social media platforms), is currently a content creator for more than 6 years reaching 26.4 thousand subscribers. She is a young entrepreneur since she gets paid by YouTube, and also started her own graphic design business in 2020. The purpose of her business is to help Youtubers create aesthetic intro, outro, and banner templates for their Youtube channel. She customizes people’s needs based on what their YouTube channel is about and her prices are very affordable. There is a demand for having YouTube channels be pleasing, since the more the effort in regards to how one’s presentation looks the more people will subscribe to it. This is understandable and what a person says in their videos matters as well. 

   On the Fiverr website, an online marketplace for freelancers, Anita mentions that in addition to helping YouTubers create graphic designs, she customizes beautiful templates for clients’ social media as well. Anita has an entrepreneurial mindset because she realizes that not everyone is a YouTuber so she has branched out to help people make their other social media platforms look attractive and beautiful. Anita’s talent for design at her young age promises a lifetime of inspiration to create beauty and make it known.

Here is additional information on Anita D’Alisera: 

https://www.fiverr.com/anidali/create-graphics-for-your-social-medias 

https://www.instagram.com/anidali/?hl=it 

https://www.youtube.com/c/AniDali/featured 

Jimmy Donaldson: YouTuber, Philanthropist, Millionaire

James “Jimmy” Donaldson, better known as Mr. Beast, is a 23 year old YouTuber and millionaire from North Carolina. Known for his funny and exciting YouTube videos, Mr. Beast is a great example of a young entrepreneur who used his talents and passions to create impact for many people.

Jimmy began his career as a YouTuber when he was 13 years old. For the next few years, Jimmy maintained a small YouTube channel, posting gaming videos and videos estimating other YouTubers’ wealth. Little did he know, Jimmy would soon be one of the highest-paid YouTubers on the planet. Jimmy’s following grew to over 30,000 subscribers through 2016, and by mid-2016, Jimmy dropped out of school at East Carolina University to pursue his YouTube channel full-time. In January 2017, Jimmy posted a video of himself counting to 100,000, taking a total of 40 hours. This video quickly went viral and Mr. Beast’s YouTube career took off. Mr. Beast regularly posts videos of funny or wild challenges, massive money giveaways, and unique philanthropic activities.

Mr. Beast soon branched off from his main channel and created several new YouTube accounts, including MrBeast Gaming, Beast Philanthropy, and BeastReacts. While Mr. Beast’s main account has over 73 million subscribers, all six of his channels have 128.47 million combined subscribers. Additionally, Mr. Beast has participated in other entrepreneurial collaborations and ventures, including MrBeast Burger, Backbone One, and Juice Funds. Fans from all over the world also regularly purchase Mr. Beast merchandise from his several online stores. Mr. Beast has become one of the most famous YouTubers, and estimates of his net worth vary from $8 million to $25 million.

While several controversies have swirled around him, Mr. Beast claims to be driven by a desire to create impact through his entertainment. As he states in his Twitter bio, “I want to make the world a better place before I die.” Consequently, many of Mr. Beast’s videos have strong humanitarian and philanthropic themes. For example, some of Mr. Beast’s videos are about giving money away to homeless people or assisting educational organizations. Most recently, Mr. Beast has partnered with the well-known YouTuber Mark Rober in a collaborative attempt to raise $30 million to fund the removal of 30 million pounds of garbage from oceans, beaches, and rivers.

Mr. Beast is an excellent example of how passion can be wedded with skill to create impact. Mr. Beast not only runs a YouTube channel—he uses his skills and wealth to create impact in other people’s lives in addition to entertaining millions of people. Young entrepreneurs can learn from Mr. Beast as they seek to have an impact in the world through their business ventures. Mr. Beast was not necessarily outstanding or unique as a student. However, he took the opportunities presented to him and fills a special niche that provides value for millions of people.

Mikaila Ulmer: Founder of “Me & the Bees” Lemonade

Mikaila Ulmer is a 17-year-old girl who started her own lemonade business at a very young age. The business idea started after young Mikaila got stung by a bee and wanted to learn more about bees to overcome her fear of them.  At age 4, she started a business by creating a very small lemonade stand. Very quickly, this turned into the business “Me & the Bees” as a result.

Mikaila is widely successful, at just age 9, she struck an $11 million distribution deal with US supermarket giants Whole Foods Market. Mikaila has also been invited to the White House twice, featured on Good Morning America, NBC News, Forbes Magazine, and Time Magazine for her entrepreneurial success. Mikaila is very busy; she juggles school, her business, and public speaking. The unique thing about her business is that 10% of her brand’s proceeds are donated to bee conservation charities. It is amazing how she used a challenge of hers (getting stung by a bee) to learn more about it and start up a profitable and charitable business.

Mikaila’s lemonade recipe is unique because it comes from her great Grandmother Helen’s flaxseed lemonade. It is fresh-squeezed, and each bottle is made with care. Her family has a huge part in helping her business thrive. As an extension to her business, Mikaila has created a “Bee-to-Z guide” for young entrepreneurs. Here, young entrepreneurs can find inspiration, business tips, and more to make their big ideas come to life. A very inspirational quote from Mikaila reads, “My generation—we’re the future,” Mikaila says. “When we grow up, we’re going to be the people who are the presidents and the leaders of the world. […]  If we start at a young age making a difference, donating back, giving back, when we grow up we can do that on a larger scale.” Mikaila’s business proves that, just like the bees, you are never too small to make a difference.

The 9 Most Successful Teen Entrepreneurs in the World (careeraddict.com)

Mikaila Ulmer of Me & the Bees Lemonade | Microsoft In Culture

Engineering delicious dishes

 

With a degree in structural engineering, Peter Yang decided to go into the restaurant industry. As a second generation restaurateur who had a passion for creating tasty food, it made sense to launch his restaurant, Pokeworks. His parents owned a successful restaurant and ever since age 15, Yang has been working in the restaurant industry. He received his degree in structural engineering and worked in the field for a few months, but soon realized it was not the right path for him. So, he began helping his dad with his restaurant instead.

In 2015, Yang and some friends launched Pokeworks; a restaurant that specializes in Hawaiian inspired poke burritos and bowls. Poke means slice or cut in Hawaiian and refers to the seafood in the dish. Yang was inspired from some delicious Hawaiian dishes he had eaten and decided to introduce it to the mainland. Pokeworks’ focus is on responsibly sourced seafood and healthy, natural ingredients. They cater to people with a variety of diet restraints and emphasize on clean eating.  Pokeworks offers traditional poke, signature works, and limited time bowls, but also incorporate a variety of flavors from different cultures, such as Korean gochujang, Sichuan peppercorn, or serrano and ghost peppers.

In 2018, Yang was recognized as one of Forbes 30 under 30. Yang took his passion and expertise in the restaurant industry and created something unique that meets an unusual niche. He doesn’t believe in just good food, but sustainable fishing practices and clean, healthy meals that you feel good about. I appreciate that Pokeworks has dishes catered to different dietary needs since I have dietary restrictions and know the frustration of trying to find tasty, but healthy food that I can eat. Yang didn’t let his lack of credentials for starting a restaurant or creating recipes hold him back from following his real passion of cooking and creating a community around sustainable fishing practices and tasty, healthy food.

https://ideamensch.com/peter-yang/

https://www.pokeworks.com/

Brendan Cox- Teen Entrepreneur

Brendan Cox began his entrepreneurial endeavors in the seventh grade. He thought it unfair that his sister was earning money babysitting, but he couldn’t because parents were more inclined to hire a female than a male to babysit. He became determined to find a way to make money, so he Googled ways to make money and a suggestion was to sell candy at school. So, Cox sold candy at school and made $56 in profits.

This one endeavor evolved into Cox founding ten different business by age nineteen. He became interested in graphic design, so he taught himself by watching YouTube videos and learned how to use Photoshop. He launched a phone case company, called Kicks Case, where he designed the phone cases with his newfound graphic design skills. At only fourteen, Cox earned more than $50,000 through profits at Kicks Case. This business venture led right into Cox Visuals.

A clothing brand based out of Brooklyn contacted Cox and asked who his graphic designer was. When he explained he created the designs, they hired him, and Cox Visuals was born. Another business he founded was Teen Assistant, a business that connects teens with odd jobs that they can be hired for. Within two years of launching Teen Assistant, it generated over $200,000.

Cox is studying entrepreneurship at the University of Scranton. He is involved in the entrepreneurship program and hoping to get more students plugged into the program. Cox plans to continue his entrepreneurial ventures after he graduates from college.

Cox’s story inspires me in so many ways. I am amazed that he started such successful businesses when he was just a teenager. He was determined to do something and went after it. His determination and grit inspires me. He was interested in graphic design, so he learned it and ended up starting a profitable design firm because of it.  I am motivated to try new things. So often I decide not to do something because I don’t feel qualified or have the adequate skill sets to go forward, but Cox just threw himself into things that he didn’t know about and learned along the way. That is what I consider entrepreneurial thinking.

“How This Teenage Serial Entrepreneur Became ‘Hopelessly Addicted’ To Entrepreneurship In Seventh Grade”

Max Reisinger: 17 & Living a Dream

Max Reisinger is a 17-year-old from Chapel Hill, North Carolina who is living a life that many teens and adults alike wish they were: one of YouTube and social media fame and successful business ownership. Reisinger currently has over 250,000 YouTube subscribers and nearly 13 million total views on his channel, as well as his own clothing brand, Perspectopia, which is a combination of the words “perspective” and “utopia” and is the basis for what his brand as a whole strives for.

Max’s YouTube channel was the beginning of his career as an entrepreneur and continues to be an integral part of his brand and internet presence. Max’s family lived in France for 7 months while his mother, a French professor, was on sabbatical there; his documentation of parts of this experience, along with his filming and editing skills led to his first big break on YouTube. In May of 2019, his video titled “A Day in the Life at FRENCH PUBLIC SCHOOL” would eventually reach just over 2 million views. His next most viewed video is about his experience coming back to America, in which he describes the “reverse culture shock” felt and provides an overall reflection on his time in France. This uncommon life-experience intrigued many and allowed Max’s talents and personality to shine and made the important initial strides in his YouTube career.

Now, Max mainly uploads vlogs about his life and topics teens and the surrounding demographic can relate to, including videos about his first college visit, time management, or just his average day. Also, he receives paid sponsorships and an overflow of positive comments on his videos as to how he is a true inspiration to his viewers. Max has a joy for life and a unique personality that is entertaining and well-reflected in his skillfully-edited videos — all of which attract new viewers and subscribers every day.

But Max did not stop with YouTube: he wanted to build his brand as an individual and to create a community in which different perspectives and experiences could be brought together in order to support one another and aim for a better tomorrow. Thus, in 2019 he launched the aforementioned Perspectopia. Specializing in embroidered Champion crewnecks, the site also includes t-shirts and various accessories like bucket hats, socks, and stickers, all of which Max designs, makes, and ships from his bedroom. Though still a high school student, brother, son, and friend, Max is a champion of productivity (something he frequently gives tips about on his YouTube and Instagram) and manages to work on his business endeavors for an average of 80-90 hours per week.

Keeping with the brand’s message, Max created an online discussion forum connected with Perspectopia on the popular platform Discord, so that people from anywhere in the world can discuss their lives with and support one another in the context of his brand. Currently, Perspectopia is donating over half of its profits to a Filipino community recovering from a recent typhoon, where a member of the Discord server lives. Perspectopia has been successful thus far because Max has created a brand that is not only original in design and well-made, but is also based on a mission felt by many and appeals to the ethos of a person; by buying his products, his customers can be a part of something greater — whether that be helping those in need, or just embodying the message of trying to continually improve our world.

Overall, Max Reisinger is an excellent representation of what a young entrepreneur looks like, and is perhaps one of the most realistic examples of such because, after watching his videos, he is seen to be a genuine, hard-working person chasing his dream. The combination of Max’s unique and high-quality YouTube and clothing brand with his commitment to making the world a better place is what has made him a success and inspiration thus far.

Candela Cosmetics

Erin Alessandra Jung is the 19-year-old mastermind behind the beauty brand “Candela Cosmetics” which is currently expanding from its flagship store in Singapore to the California market.

Erin’s passion for beauty and interest in makeup began when she was just 10 years old. She started a channel at this tender age, but even further challenged age expectations when she started her own cosmetics business at just 17. The inspiration for Erin’s brand was a simple one– personal motivation drove her to recognize and meet a gap in the market. Erin found herself disappointed by the lack of options for her own sensitive skin and decided to take a leap of faith and make her own product.
Erin faced a lot of backlash because of the fact that she was a young woman looking to make it big in the cutthroat world of entrepreneurship in the risky cosmetics market.
Despite everything against her, Erin seems learned on the ins and outs of starting a business– she learned the hard way that you cannot do everything yourself and now has learned to delegate.
She also offered advice to other young entrepreneurs starting out, “Don’t let your fear of failure hinder your progress!”
She is also a driven young woman outside of Candela Cosmetics, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics and chemistry. Erin’s determinism and ambition are inspiring to the typical college student– she does college while also helming a successful business!

References:
Article in Today Lifestyle, Elle

Candela Cosmetics Website

Article in the Singapore American School Paper

 

 

Snap Clips, Founded by a 17 Year Old

If you want to be inspired then look no further. This is somebody much like us who took entrepreneur classes and entered competitions. Martin Dimitrov was a junior in high school at the time and graduated a year later in 2015. The idea started as a class project, much like the one we had a week ago, and he ended up taking it to District 214 Startup Showcase. The product is an easier, more versatile clip for barbells. Much like the hot trend of slap bands at the time, this product simply slaps on to the bar. He won $400 and was given another $2,500 to further advance the product. He then crowd-sourced with a goal of $8,000 but ended up exceeding that by about 3 times as much.

Martin took it to Shark Tank and won $150,000 for 30% stake in the company. Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Alex Rodriguez all joined and noted that the product could be used for holding together cables or wires as well.

“It’s kind of funny. Entrepreneurship isn’t about whether you’re 16 or 50, it’s more about having the spirit of an entrepreneur,” Martin said. He has inspired many as well as myself because of his willingness and action to get it out in the market while in school. I now know it is possible to do both simultaneously with a lot of hard work.

Slap Clips are still in business and seem to be doing well. They haven’t marketed it as a wire/cable holder yet after airing in 2018. Dimitrov was encouraged to stay in school by the sharks. I must admit, I saw a very similar product my first time in the Grove City weight room. Instead of a spring loaded clip, it acts like a metal watch wristband that folds over itself. I thought it was ingenious and I’d imagine that Snap Bands has a bit of competition.

https://snapclips.com/pages/about-us

https://allsharktankproducts.com/shark-tank-products-sports/snapclips-barbell-collar-weights/

https://gazettereview.com/2018/08/snapclips-after-shark-tank-update/