One of the best ways to inspire your child to innovate, create and change the world is to expose them to stories of successful youth entrepreneurship that they can relate to. This shows them that yes, it is possible for young people to make a real difference, and yes, they can make their dreams a reality.
Do you want to inspire your child’s entrepreneurial spirit? Then share with them these five amazing examples of youth entrepreneurship at work:
Jack Kim, founder of Benelab
Jack Kim is a teenager from Seattle, and he’s a great example of youth entrepreneurship at work. For years, he’d been using his coding skills to create search engines on the web. Over time, he realized their power, and how they could easily generate revenue from just minimal amounts of traffic. This sparked a light in Jack, and he set out to create a special search engine that could build on that idea – one that would make philanthropy and donations easier for people across the world.
And that’s just what he did. In 2012, Jack launched Benelab. He recruited classmates to be a part of his start-up team, and he implemented a “no adults” rule, employing only teenaged colleagues to get the company off the ground. Now, Benelab is fully up and running. It works like Google and Bing, using algorithms to deliver results to searchers and serving up ads for various websites across the web. But unlike those big brands, Benelab doesn’t take that ad revenue as profit. Instead, all of it is donated to a different philanthropic cause, and the cause changes monthly. To see Benelab in action yourself, visit http://bene.co/.
Talia Leman, founder of RandomKid
When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Talia Leman was just 10 years old. Though her home of Waukee, Iowa, was nowhere near Katrina’s warpath, its effects on the people and children of New Orleans concerned Talia. To help, she started RandomKid, a nonprofit organization that provides resources for kids who want to raise money and secure donations. Through RandomKid, Talia was able to work with children across the country, raising money to support the people of New Orleans. In the end, Talia and RandomKid raised more than $10 million toward Hurricane Katrina relief.
Lizzie Marie Likness, founder of Lizzie Marie Cuisine
Lizzie had loved to cook since the age of 2. At age 6, when she wanted to help pay for her own horseback riding lessons, she decided to put that love of cooking to work. She took her talents on the road, making healthy, homemade goods at her local farmer’s market. Now, she’s launched her own company, Lizzie Marie Cuisine, which not only sells her homemade concoctions, but also teaches other kids how to cook healthy, live healthy and have fun doing it. She even has a WedMD Fit Channel web series called “Healthy Cooking with Lizzie,” and she has been a spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign. Of her work, she says “The greatest reward is doing what you love for the good of others.”
Asya Gonzalez, founder of Stinky Feet Gurlz
Asya Gonzalez launched her own company at the young age of 13. Called Stinky Feet Gurlz, the brand offers unique 1940s-inspired t-shirts, hats and other clothing items. And although her main goal was to “have freedom, make my own money and make my own rules,” Asya also uses her company to help others. A portion of every t-shirt sold goes toward She’s Worth It, a non-profit group that works to end human trafficking and slavery.
Want your child to be successful in youth entrepreneurship too? Then enroll them in a VentureLab program today. We’ll help encourage their innovate spirit, and we’ll give them the tools they need to succeed in the long run. Contact us today to learn more.
