Who Are Some Well-Known Young(er) Entrepreneurs?

Last week, I held a contest to see what you, my readers and followers, would like to see me write about next. Admittedly, the online response rate wasn’t what I thought it would be, but offline, I got a lot more reaction than I had anticipated.

I’ve been sharing lots of facts and information about entrepreneurship lately. However, I’ve been told many a time that people (kids and adults alike) relate to/understand concepts & ideas when they have real-world examples. Here are some examples of entrepreneurs who are either still teens or got their start as teens!

Craig Kielburger

Craig is the poster child for being a young(er) entrepreneur!

1. Co-Founder of Free the Children (FTC).
2. Age when he started: 12.
3. Industry: Difficult to define.
4. Started when he read an article about a South Asian boy his age who was sold into slavery and murdered when he tried to escape.
5. Decided to get his Gr. 7 class together and fight against child labour.
6. 20 yrs later, FTC is the world’s largest network for children helping children through education by delivering programming to over 6,000 youth groups worldwide.
7. Has met with the likes of Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson.

Kelly Lovell

1. Founder of Lovell Corporation.
2. Age when she Started: 5.
3. Industry: Difficult to define.
4. Started by running bake sales and selling stationary in her neighbourhood.
5. At age 24, she now runs 5 consulting enterprises under her umbrella that ranges from online portal/tracking tools, her own media series and merchandising an empowerment-inspired jewelry line.

J.R. Wikkerink

1. Co-Founder of Screamin Brothers.
2. Age when he started: Early Teens.
3. Industry: Desserts.
4. Started when their family adopted two of their brothers from Haiti just after the 2010 Earthquake.
5. They wanted to help out the other children in Haiti.
6. Started selling the organic, allergen-friendly and gluten-free frozen treats at local Farmer’s Markets in their hometown of Lethbridge.
7. Once the company grew, it became a family effort with everyone helping with manufacturing and distribution.

Katelyn Lohr

1. Founder of K8’s Freetoes.
2. Age when she started: 8.
3. Industry: Fashion.
4. Started by asking her Mom to cut the toes off of her socks so she could wear her flip-flops in cooler weather.
5. Soon, her friends/classmates all wanted pairs. She used her own money to start selling them to friends/classmates and at local markets.
6. Has become a hit with spas, yoga enthusiasts, and dancers all over North America.
7. Has had the chance to present her creations to stars at the Daytime Emmy Awards.

Nick Lavery

1. Founder of Take5 Digital.
2. Age when he started: 10.
3. Industry: Digital Media.
4. Started when he shovelled neighbourhood driveways/sidewalks and then began selling home-made bird feeders and bird seed.
5. After this, he began doing sports highlight videos for friends.
6. This again morphed into doing videos for different types of businesses, including fitness studios, restaurants and financial services.

Patrick Mott

1. Founder of Mott Communications (this link takes you to an article Patrick wrote for The Huffington Post).
2. Age When He Started: 12.
3. Industry: Public Relations.
4. He started by Tweeting! He mostly tweeted about education and politics, which amassed a large following.
5. Started to capitalize on this and provides advice on social media strategies to businesses of all sizes and types.

Aanikh Kler

1. Founder of UndrTheRadr.
2. Age when he started: 14.
3. Industry: Social Media.
4. Downloadable ringtones that only teens or young kids can hear.
5. Part of the proceeds go to Free the Children.
6. Big believer that with proper business planning and a purpose, the younger generation can make a positive change in the world.

 

Who wants to join them?