Raising Entrepreneurs

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Rasaq Omolade was born a very healthy baby boy, 15 years ago in Alagbole, a suburb of Lagos. Six months after, the mother took him for immunisation against some childhood killer diseases. This supposed extraimmunity care later turned out to be the biggest sore in his life. The injection developed complications that made him unable to walk with the leg. As if that was not enough, the parents were told at the hospital that he had polio which has affected the other. That was how Rasaq lost the ability to use his two legs effectively.

For the15 years that Rasaq has lived on earth, he has done so without using his legs. This disability denied him the opportunity of enjoying the benefits of life like his other siblings. He is the only child of his family who was denied formal education.

Rather than take to begging, he chose to develop himself in a vocation. As a young boy, he developed a flair for shoe making. He would mend shoes for neighbours and family. This flair was further enhanced and Rasaq began to fabricate shoes as well. He has no formal training in the art.

All the while, he worked from home. One of his neighbours, Mrs. Bukola Adebisi, who had always been impressed by Rasaq’s ingenuity, found him a place somewhere close to a market place. It was a small piece of land littered with refuse. Rasaq saw the place, cleared off the refuse and started his trade there. He saved enough money and erected a wooden structure, which now serves as his cobbling shop.

Eventually, the market fee collectors started demanding a fee of N10, 000 per year for using the shop. Having paid the first instalment with a loan he obtained from his father, Rasaq has borne subsequent charges ever since. Today, the young entrepreneur at 15 has four apprentices working under him. His is a story of a cripple that has refused to be disabled. Razaq made the best out of his disability.

This year, Razaq was awarded third place in the inaugural Indomie Heroes Awards.

He was flown to Abuja in a flight; he now has a wheel chair courtesy of Dufil Prima and he was lodged in a prestigious hotel alongside his father. And to cap it all, he was sitting on the same stage that Presidents, Ministers and other important dignitaries have stood. He got a cash prize of N500, 000, which he said he would use to expand his shoe making business.

Read the full story in the Lagos Daily Independent.

At an age when pimples and popularity could be enough to send someone into a self-esteem spin cycle, Caitlin Carey is committed to discussing her mental-health issues and providing a resource for others to fight their stigma.

Carey, 17, of Bridgewater is the creator of http://stepoutofthesilence.org, a forum for teenagers with any kind of mental-heath issues. Her efforts are one reason why Caitlyn was honored on Dec. 8 as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Somerset County Business Partnership Awards ceremony.

Dianne Durland, who headed the Somerset County Business Partnership Selection Committee, said the Young Entrepreneur Award is modeled after the Rotary Club, since the recipient also wins a scholarship.

“The Rotary motto is “Service above self.’ (Carey) brought that out more than the other participants,” said Durland, a vice president at Community First Bank in Franklin (Somerset).

Durland said that while there were many motivated entrepreneur applicants – including landscapers, jewelry makers and chefs – Carey’s idea was unique and she is a one-woman operation.

Read the full story at MyCentralJersey.com.

Nehemiah Walker, a 17 year-old student from Capitol Heights started his business, Freedom of Expression Photography, due to a passion for his art and a belief that he could deliver a quality product for a reasonable price. Seventeen year-old Jordan Jackson of Upper Marlboro started his business, Original State of Mind LLC, because of his painting talent and a desire to use products that promote environmental friendliness.

These two student entrepreneurs, along with 22 others like them from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, showcased their companies and networked their businesses to the D.C. area business community during The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s Youth Showcase, held at the National Building Museum on Tuesday, December 9th from 6:00 – 8:30 pm.

The event highlighted the achievement of these student entrepreneurs who have created businesses focusing on a wide range of products and services, from dog clothing items to local artists’ CDs, painting services, lunch boxes, and more. With the holiday season rapidly approaching, the event also provided a venue for these entrepreneurs to sell their wares in time for gift-giving.

“Most children start out selling something — lemonade, cookies or candy for themselves or for non-profit groups. These student entrepreneurs have taken their childhood fascination in business ownership miles further than that,” said Amy Rosen, President & CEO of NFTE. “They have shown determination as only an entrepreneur can by voluntarily completing the NFTE training program. Some have also completed our summer BizCamp program, which teaches them how to write and present a business plan,” Rosen added.

Read the full story in The Earth Times.

Raised in the impoverished South side of Chicago, Dr. Gray defied the odds and became a self-made millionaire by the age of 14. At the age of 21, he received an Honorary Doctorate degree of Humane Letters from Allen University.

In his rise from poverty to national and international prominence as an entrepreneurial icon and pre-eminent power speaker, Dr. Gray has inspired millions around the world. At the age of 24, he has achieved more than many achieve in a lifetime.

Since his first interview at 11 years old on KVBC Channel 3, Gray has become a celebrity, featured in thousands of print, magazine, radio and television media including The NBC reality show Starting Over, 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, The Montel Williams Show, Oprah & Friends, Tom Joyner Show, The Michael Baisden Show, The Tavis Smiley Show, CNBC, BET, NBC, FOX, CBS, NPR, Ebony, Jet, Essence, Upscale, Black MBA, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

He was also featured as one of the Dream Team Financial Experts for “O” The Oprah Magazine in March 2008 issue. He is also a syndicated columnist with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) federation of 200 weekly newspapers reaching more than 15 million readers.

Gray began his entrepreneurial, personal and civic development at six years old selling home-made body lotion and his own hand-painted rocks as book-ends door-to-door. At age seven, he was carrying business cards reading “21st Century CEO.”

At eight, Gray became co-founder of Urban Neighborhood Enterprise Economic Club (U.N.E.E.C.) on Chicago’s South side. U.N.E.E.C. was the forerunner of New Early Entrepreneur Wonders (NE2W), the flagship organization he opened on Wall Street. NE2W enlisted, educated and engaged “at-risk” youth by creating and developing legal ways for them to acquire additional income. Gray is the youngest person to have an office on Wall Street.

Between the ages of 12 and 16 years old, Gray founded and operated business ventures that included KIDZTEL pre-paid phone cards, the One Stop Mail Boxes & More franchise and The Teenscope “Youth AM/FM” interactive teen talk show, Gray was also Executive Producer of a comedy show on the Las Vegas Strip and owner of Farr-Out Foods, “Way-Out Food with a Twist,” aimed at young people with the company’s first Strawberry-Vanilla syrup product. Farr-Out Foods generated orders exceeding $1.5 million.

As a pre-teen, Gray reached 12 million listeners and viewers every Saturday night as co-host of “Backstage Live,” a syndicated television and radio simulcast in Las Vegas. Gray’s inspirational spirit and grounded personality sparked speaking requests from organizations around the country.

Gray’s sense of social responsibility motivated him to create the non-profit organization, The Farrah Gray Foundation. Among other programs and initiatives, his foundation provides scholarship & grant assistance for students from at-risk backgrounds to attend HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). The Farrah Gray Foundation is also in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, launching entrepreneurship programs in inner-city schools across the country.

Gray’s work did not remain under the radar-screen for long. He soon then became the youngest member of the Board of Advisors for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. He was also given a three-year term on the Board of Directors of United Way of Southern Nevada at the age of 15.

From writing her first product reviews as a teen, Tina Wells progressed almost immediately to running a marketing agency, which specializes in reaching the notoriously difficult-to-pin-down teen girl market.

Tina, a Lancaster native, began writing product reviews at age 16 and formed Buzz Marketing Group in 1996. Her company has received recognition throughout the region, and she was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

Now 28, Tina is interviewed as an expert by publications around the world.

What was the first step in forming your company?

For me, it was sitting down and thinking about what services I wanted to offer. I knew I wanted to be a liaison between young people and companies that target them.

How is the economic slowdown affecting business?

We haven’t seen it yet, and I think it’s because we’re more of an alternative marketing solution. Viral marketing and grassroots marketing are cheaper alternatives to traditional marketing, and I definitely feel like that part of our business is strong.

Read the full story in the Philadelphia Metro.