Category Archives: Kid Entrepreneurs

What Do you want to be When You Grow Up?

  By Erica Diamond

That was the question I asked 25 Grade 2 students this morning. And I got a gamut of answers, “A businessman, a lawyer, a nurse, a doctor, a spy like my mom (hmmm okay), an opera singer (yes I laughed too), a celebrity (what career is that exactly?), a baseball player, a hockey player, go into my daddy’s business, a JUGGLER.” OK great answers! Yes, I just left my son’s school for “Parents as Teachers Day.” I volunteered for this once-a-year day last year, and I was excited to return again this year.

The minute I walked into the class, I saw my son’s face. The smile was ear to ear. If he coulda crawled back into the womb, believe me, he would have. Of course he was totally misbehaving and showing off in front of his friends. Up and down, talking out of turn, chatting non-stop. But I let it go because 9/10 times, he’s such a rule follower and an absolute joy. My little son on the other hand, we may have to teach about condom use at 10 years old, but that’s a whole other ball of wax.

Anyhow, after I listened to the kids’ answers of what they wanted to be when they grow up, I put two words on the Smart Board – ENTREPRENEUR and KIDPRENEUR. A few actually knew the word: my son obviously knew the word… he’s lived with an entrepreneur since he’s born, so he understands. But most kids didn’t. When I read the definition of ‘entrepreneur’ (from a kid’s book I will tell you about soon), things like: you are your own boss, you set your own hours, you make your own money and generally, if you want more money, you have to work harder. You don’t have to ask anyone when you want to go on vacation. You make the rules. You have to work as hard as all the people who work for you and then harder. You have to know ALL the jobs in your company, etc… You could have heard a pin drop. They were interested.

What was so cool, was then seeing the sparkle in their eyes. Their brains working. A life of possibility. A future still undetermined, with boundless opportunity. This notion that their whole life still lies ahead of them, and they can pick and choose how they want to live it. And it made me realize that some people I know my own age, or even older, still don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. It made me think of the many people working jobs they hate. Living a life of rut and routine because there are bills to pay and mouths to feed. But that’s life. That’s reality. And it’s tough in adulthood to just press the reset button and get a “redo.” That is what was so pure and exciting to teach these children about the future. And about the now. That it’s never too early to plan… to plan what you want to be, to save your money, to get organized.

As you know, WomenOnTheFence.com is not a Blog with product reviews and endorsements. It wasn’t my vision when I started a year ago. But today I’m going to encourage all of you moms and grandmothers, aunts and sisters, to get the book KIDPRENEURS for the kids in your life. The writers of this book sent me a copy for my kids, as they know that I am an entrepreneur and felt I would appreciate it. As a blogger, I get sent stuff all the time, explaining each and every time, I DON’T DO REVIEWS. But the reason why I chose to Blog about this one, is because YOUR CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE. MY CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE. Why not teach them all the possibilities and avenues, at an age where they are discovering the world around them. Hey, no one ever died of hard of hard work!! I like getting my kids thinking outside the box, and I hope you will encourage yours to as well. Are they too young to start their own business now? Obviously! But as I pointed out to the Grade 2 class, even making a lemonade stand is entrepreneurial. You  have to make good tasty lemonade, sell it at the right price, find customers, understand the costs involved, set a selling price, and decide what you’re going to do with your profits (in our lemonade stands, the boys get to keep $1.00-2.00 each, and the rest put in their bank account, or give to charity). Selling chocolate bars is very entrepreneurial as well. If you’re looking at me like I’m crazy, that’s okay. I simply wanted to point out to you mommies, a different approach. Our kids are never too young to start.

I don’t think we need to shelter them as much as we were sheltered. I think we should expose our kids and then let them make their own choices. My boys know all the swear words, but they don’t use them. They know about where babies come from. They know about death. Not every intricate detail, but if they ask, I answer. Every time. It’s just the way I am. To me, knowledge is power, not danger, if handled with kit gloves.

So, after the 25 Grade 2 students finished their business plans (I gave them handouts from the book), and I told them they can bring their plans home and work on them with their family, I told them one last simple thing before I left:

You can be ANYTHING you want to be if you set your mind to it, and work hard.

And for you, the adults, who maybe also still haven’t figured out what you want to be when you grow up:

You can be ANYTHING you want to be if you set your mind to it, and work hard.

It’s never too late.

What do you think??

xoxEDxox

Have a great weekend ladies, and enjoy this quote…

 www.womenonthefence.com

Tedx Conference entirely for Youth: by Angela Maiers

I am a huge fan of TED, a platform for the nation’s biggest and brightest thinkers to spread their world changing ideas. But adults aren’t the only ones with big ideas and talents. TEDxRedmond was the first ever TED-events arranged for kids by kids with a theme of “Power to the Students.”

Over four hundred youth attendees packed the Washington theater last month for one of the largest TEDx events entirely for youth. I was unable to attend, but feel honored to know both the organizer, former TED speaker Adora Svitak, and several of the students presenting.

After speaking at the annual TED conference in Long Beach, California, Adora, twelve-year-old teacher, speaker, and author spoke about wanting to bring a TED-like experience home to Redmond, Washington. “I had such a great experience during my first time at TED, but I realized that not everyone had such an opportunity,” she explained. “Through TEDxRedmond, I’m hoping to share the magic of TED in an independently organized event.”

I am especially proud of Zoe Sprankle whom I had the honor of coaching as she prepared for this life changing presentation appropriately titled: Small Actions, Large Impact

Zoe, I could not be prouder!
By Angela Maiers

Feature: Junior Achievement’s efforts to teach kids around the world about business

Feature: Junior Achievement’s efforts to teach kids around the world about business

By Kate Foley, Fearless Ambition


When people think of Junior Achievement, the first thing that comes to mind may be the JA they experienced when they were a kid.

“Their perception that all we do is teach kids how to make lamps and birdhouses,” says Marketing and Media Relations director Stephanie Bell.

However, Bell says, JA has grown substantially in the last 20 years, and is now a global organization that reaches 122 countries in all parts of the world.

Today’s JA offers 24 program in the U.S. alone, covering business concepts like work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

“JA empowers young people to own their economic success,” Bell said. JA’s programs create an online space where teams of kids and teens can create and run a virtual marketing company together. The competitive environment in the online program mimics real business situations, which allows the students to learn what life is like ‘in the real world’.

“Students can understand the relevance to what they learn in the classroom and how it matters to their life. Our programs make that connection for them,” Bell said.

Bell, who has worked for Junior Achievement since 2001, says she feels inspired by teaching students business success at a young age.

“I really enjoy doing something with such a positive impact on young people,” Bell said. “At the risk of sounding cheesy, I hope that will help make the world a better place.”

With its global expansion over the last few decades, JA is definitely working to impact the world. Its current curricula cover six continents. Regional operating centers around the world take U.S. developed programs, and culturally adapt them to other countries to suit their own economic and cultural interests.

For more information on Junior Achievement, or to get involved, visit their website at www.ja.org.

The Most Successful Teen Celebrity Entrepreneurs

The Most Successful Teen Celebrity Entrepreneurs

The recipe for success is to do one thing really well, diversify and go viral.

By Maureen Farrell

From Forbes Magazine Online


It’s hard enough to land a line in a TV commercial, let alone snag a starring role in a feature film. Or bag a record contract. Or a chunky book advance. Or a big box store endorsement deal.

But achieving all of the above, with some philanthropy on the side? Now that’s serious entrepreneurship–and it’s all in a day’s work for a rarefied clique of teenage celebrity entrepreneurs who have star power to spare.

These preternatural, barely post-pubescent brand-builders have dabbled in multiple entertainment genres, bagged endorsements, raised money for charity and even sold their personal stories and photos to the tabloids.

In Pictures: 11 Teen Celebrity Entrepreneurs

The path to becoming a multitasking multihyphenate? “Don’t try to do it all at first,” says Frederick Levy, a Hollywood agent and author of Acting in Young Hollywood. “The most successful tween and teen stars have built either an acting or music career and then branched off into other areas. Once people like you on a television show, they’ll buy your albums and your clothes and almost anything else you want to sell.”

That’s what 16-year-old Taylor Momsen is doing. A cast member on the CW’s Gossip Girl, Momsen’s manager, Sam Maydew, says her first love has always been music, but “at 12, people won’t take you seriously.” Now after three successful seasons as Jenny Humphrey, Momsen’s musical career is taking off. The lead singer in punk band Pretty Reckless, last year she signed a contract with Interscope Records and will be on the Warped Tour this summer.

Momsen has company among teen celebrities who spread out into other areas, but unlike most, she didn’t rise out of the two tween and teen star factories. Entertainment conglomerates The Walt Disney Co.DIS – news people ) and Viacom‘s (VIA – news – people ) Nickelodeon are the machines that built A-listers like Miley Cyrus, Hillary Duff and the Jonas Brothers.

“These platforms put celebrities in front of millions of young people,” says Mitchell Gossett, an agent with United Talent Agency who represents Victoria Justice, the star of Nickelodeon’s Victorious. “Most of these actors are multitalented. Once they’ve been adopted by Disney or Nickelodeon, they can start marketing ancillary products.”

Still, with the changing media landscape, Gossett says even teens who have been crowned by Disney and Nickelodeon as the next sensation must find ways to get their names and faces out to the public virally by cultivating a Web following. Gossett, who formerly represented Miley Cyrus, credits her success to her own knowledge of viral marketing.

“Miley had this machine behind her, but she also knew how to use the Internet to generate the undercurrent for her extraordinary rise,” says Gosset. “The machines like Disney are looking to young people to help them figure out how to use the Internet most successfully.”

Some entrepreneurial youngsters have found a way to make YouTube a platform for launching their own careers. Sixteen-year-old music sensation Justin Bieber was discovered by agent Scooter Braun through videos he posted on YouTube. Bieber’s talent and his YouTube following sparked a bidding war between Usher and Justin Timberlake to sign Bieber to their respective labels. Usher won.

“I used to fly around the country looking for talent, and I still do, but nowadays another way is to spend hours a day on the Internet looking for the next star, ” says Gossett.

Miley Cyrus and her Hannah Montana franchise have spawned multimillion-dollar empires both inside and outside Disney. But she’s not the only one. Find the 11 top teen celebrity entrepreneurs here.

Video: These Kids Mean Business

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Clarence Page looks at the role of entrepreneurship education as a way to help change the lives of at-risk youth.

Centered on budding entrepreneurs across the country and the programs created to foster their interest and understanding of the free-market, the documentary tells the tale of underserved youth creating and living their own versions of the American success story.

For more information visit
http://www.pbs.org/thesekidsmeanbusiness

Kidpreneurs Book Makes the NAPPA Gold Award

Serial entrepreneurs and constant advocates for the fostering of intelligent young minds, the Toren brothers have done something unique with “Kidpreneurs,” by outlining the basic tools and strategies adults use to groom their businesses in a simple, straightforward manner that will allow any child to easily understand.

Throughout the many years that Matthew Toren and his brother Adam Toren have been entrepreneurs, it has been their long standing mission to take their own “tool kit for tomorrow” and pass it forward to as many children as they can. “We are humbled and honored that our book, Kidpreneurs was recently announced as the winner of the NAPPA Gold Award (National Association of Parenting Publications)” says Matthew.

Jacobson Entrepreneurship Academy for middle school students

Jacobson Entrepreneurship Academy

Middle School Camp for Students Completing Grades 7-9

Iowa City
July 19-23, 2010

Apply Today!
Download an Application

Des Moines
July 26-30, 2010

Apply Today!
Download an Application

The Jacobson Entrepreneurship Academy is a week-long day camp for Iowa students who have completed 7-9 grades and are interested in entrepreneurship and owning a business. The Jacobson Institute holds two academies each summer, in Iowa City and Des Moines.  The camp runs daily from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (early drop off and late pick up are available for an additional fee).

Camp participants:

  • Hear entrepreneurial start-up stories from nationally recognized entrepreneurs
  • Learn the nuts and bolts of starting a business from University of Iowa faculty
  • Network with other young Iowans interested in starting their own business
  • Compete for SEED CAPITAL CASH PRIZES at the end of the week
  • Receive recognition as a top young entrepreneur in Iowa

What is the Jacobson Entrepreneurship Academy?
A week-long day camp geared for young people who want to start, operate, or improve their business.

How much does the Jacobson Entrepreneurship Academy cost?
Through generous support from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation, you pay only $175 for a week—lunch, snacks, materials, and T-shirt are included! Iowa City participants may elect to drop their children off early (7:45 a.m.) and pick them up late (until 5:30 p.m.) for an additional fee of $10 per day.

Who can apply?
Current Iowa students who have completed 7-9 grades living in the Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, or Des Moines area. Contact the Jacobson Institute for more information.

Schedule
Campers spend the day in the classroom learning about entrepreneurship, hearing guest speakers, and developing their business plan. By the end of the week, camp participants have developed a business plan, business cards, flyer and PowerPoint presentation that they present to a panel of judges who award CASH PRIZES to the top plans! Up to 32 young entrepreneurs will be honored.

Transportation
Iowa City: For Cedar Rapids area students, transportation will be provided from a central location in Cedar Rapids to Iowa City and back again each day. It will be the parents’ responsibility to provide transportation to and from the drop-off point each day. For Iowa City students, transportation to and from the camp is the responsibility of the parents.

Des Moines: Transportation to and from the camp is the responsibility of the parent.


If you are interested in getting more information about this program, contact Dawn Bowlus at 319-335-0985 or [email protected].

Jacobson Institute presents Youth Entrepreneur Camp in Iowa City, July 12-16

Youth Entrepreneur Camp

Elementary Camp for Students Completing Grades 4-6

Iowa City
July 12-16, 2010
Apply Online Today!
Download an Application

Area students who have completed 4th-6th grades have an opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship and business during the Jacobson Institute’s Youth Entrepreneur Camp, sponsored by Hills Bank & Trust Company.

This one-week day camp is held at the John Pappajohn Business Building at The University of Iowa. The camp runs daily from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (early drop off and late pick up are available for Iowa City participants for an additional fee).

During the camp, students will:

  • Learn how to make money doing what they love
  • Create business cards
  • Design a business flyer
  • Invent their own ice cream flavor
  • Make new friends
  • Have fun!

How much does the Youth Entrepreneur Camp cost?
Through generous support from Hills Bank & Trust Company, you pay only $175 for a week—lunch, snacks, materials, and T-shirt are included! Iowa City participants may elect to drop their children off early (7:45 a.m.) and pick them up late (until 5:30 p.m.) for an additional fee of $10 per day.

Transportation
For Cedar Rapids area students, transportation will be provided from a central location in Cedar Rapids to Iowa City and back again each day. It will be the parents’ responsibility to provide transportation to and from the drop-off point each day. For Iowa City, students transportation to and from the camp is the responsibility of the parents.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Dawn Bowlus at 319-335-0985 or at [email protected].

High School Drop Out Rates cost the US Billions

High School drop out rates affect our economy in vast and numerous ways.  Eating at the core of our job market and economic growth as a whole we are faced with the question of what to do with our education system.  Our nations High School drop out rates are only growing and the expense of this over the life time of just one drop out is imense.  To put things into perspective;  if the kids that had dropped out of high school had actually graduated in the year 2007, this country would have benefited with an additional 321 Billion dollars over their lifetime.  Go to The Kidpreneur Club and donate to a movement dedicated to educating kids about entrepreneurship, business and real-world lessons.