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!
- Co-Founder of Free the Children (FTC).
- Age when he started: 12.
- Industry: Difficult to define.
- 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.
- Decided to get his Gr. 7 class together and fight against child labour.
- 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.
- Has met with the likes of Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Sir Richard Branson.
Kelly Lovell
- Founder of Lovell Corporation.
- Age when she Started: 5.
- Industry: Difficult to define.
- Started by running bake sales and selling stationary in her neighbourhood.
- 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
- Co-Founder of Screamin Brothers.
- Age when he started: Early Teens.
- Industry: Desserts.
- Started when their family adopted two of their brothers from Haiti just after the 2010 Earthquake.
- They wanted to help out the other children in Haiti.
- Started selling the organic, allergen-friendly and gluten-free frozen treats at local Farmer’s Markets in their hometown of Lethbridge.
- Once the company grew, it became a family effort with everyone helping with manufacturing and distribution.
Katelyn Lohr
- Founder of K8’s Freetoes.
- Age when she started: 8.
- Industry: Fashion.
- Started by asking her Mom to cut the toes off of her socks so she could wear her flip-flops in cooler weather.
- Soon, her friends/classmates all wanted pairs. She used her own money to start selling them to friends/classmates and at local markets.
- Has become a hit with spas, yoga enthusiasts, and dancers all over North America.
- Has had the chance to present her creations to stars at the Daytime Emmy Awards.
Nick Lavery
- Founder of Take5 Digital.
- Age when he started: 10.
- Industry: Digital Media.
- Started when he shovelled neighbourhood driveways/sidewalks and then began selling home-made bird feeders and bird seed.
- After this, he began doing sports highlight videos for friends.
- This again morphed into doing videos for different types of businesses, including fitness studios, restaurants and financial services.
Patrick Mott
- Founder of Mott Communications (this link takes you to an article Patrick wrote for The Huffington Post).
- Age When He Started: 12.
- Industry: Public Relations.
- He started by Tweeting! He mostly tweeted about education and politics, which amassed a large following.
- Started to capitalize on this and provides advice on social media strategies to businesses of all sizes and types.
Aanikh Kler
- Founder of UndrTheRadr.
- Age when he started: 14.
- Industry: Social Media.
- Downloadable ringtones that only teens or young kids can hear.
- Part of the proceeds go to Free the Children.
- 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?