My small group of teen entrepreneurs with BIG DREAMS, BIG HEART and BIG POTENTIAL is at it again and based on what they have scribbled down on the timeline for Q1 2010, things are definitely not slowing down anytime soon. I am ECSTATIC to report that in November 2009 the Top 4 Producing Renegade CEO’s (under my direct care) with an average age of 17.5 were ‘balling big time’ – having grossed nearly $100k combined in their respective businesses. They are igniting the energy and living through their entrepreneurial endeavors which is motivating the others. They represent a variety of traditional, service and technology related businesses and some even had to do the old school handshake big dollar contract get up. How is that for Keeping It Renegade?
So how did they do it? Same as just about everybody else – They built their “big idea” starting with zero dollars, zero business knowledge and a lot of determination. I would have to say in my experience in collaborating and sharing with these teen entrepreneurs, the difference between them and most people is they LISTENED……………………..to themselves. It’s an art in itself.
And what was my role in all this?
I cared …………and connected with them, oftentimes when nobody else did. Nothing more, nothing less. I ask the same of you and will continue to ask it of others I meet along the way.
Just because the majority of teens do not have money or a recognized name especially when they are trying to launch an idea whether it is business or otherwise, does not mean they don’t have value.
Alas, their life circumstances dictate that they are teens by default . But let it be known, they are Renegade by choice .
Stay tuned as we decide on the best way to introduce them and their respective stories.
@teenbizcoach
Comments Off Posted by Shonika Proctor on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
From being selected as a National TV Business Commentator for a show that reaches over a half million viewers daily to being chosen as the subject of a documentary that will reach in the millions of viewers- the past few weeks have brought a whirlwind of incredible news, amazing partnerships, international recognition and tremendous opportunities for the Renegade CEO’s and emerging Teen Entrepreneurs across the globe.
To the most amazing business coach who has helped me from nothing to everything and understands me. Devon Landers, 19, CEO, TexasCrawlers.com @DevonLanders on Twitter
Inquiries, questions, well-wishes and nastygrams gotta love them- have come from all over the place, from teens and adults, new and long-time friends, organizations and family, all asking me about my journey to this point and wanting to know how I got the ‘Golden Touch’. So what is this experience in the limelight all about and how does it feel? My teens have been famous for a long time so I have learned to live vicariously through them. Needless to say the question inspired me to write a post today about ‘Growing Up Renegade’.
BLOG CLIFF NOTES(Since I know I can sometimes be long-winded, tee hee he):
So how does it feel to be in the spotlight?
Just like it feels sitting at the conference table when you enter a new partnership- one person is looking at you with a big grin and thinking ‘we love these guys because they bring a fresh voice’ and another person is looking at you with a big grin and thinking ‘we love these guys because the real pundits are going to have them for lunch.’
Alas, it’s the same as it ever was….
Entrepreneurship is not a course or a class, but a level of consciousness. Therefore, in order to learn it you must first LIVE IT.
How to Level Up is the title of a cleverly written blog post that I read today on www.chrisbrogan.com For those who are not famiiar with Chris Brogan 1. If you are doing anything online or in the social media space you should be as he is one of the pioneers in that space and 2. He is a social media consultant who speaks on the “human perspective” of how you market and brand yourself in the social media space.
Like I always say, you can’t exist ‘online’, unless you exist ‘offline’. The Internet is merely another tool for marketing and promoting yourself/your business.Unless you can create real dialogue with real people, then don’t expect to get very far.
In Chris Brogan’s blog post, “Leveling Up” refers to playing video games and essentially advancing to the next level of the game. He uses it as a metaphor for how to go to the next level in your business. His blog posts are ‘easy reads’ so be sure to check it out and let me know what your thoughts on it.
Teen Renegade CEO Patricio Quezada, 18, CEO of Hispanics Learn is going to be featured on an upcoming segment of CNN (in the next week). We will share the link with you as soon as the story airs. The story will air on CNN plus all its affiliates and on the web. This kind of exposure, which is free and will be in millions of homes across the globe is priceless.
The Renegade CEO’s are becoming the go to place for the hottest teen and young entrepreneurs. So make sure you are connected with us because for the past few stories we have had requests for multiple teen entrepreneurs in certain geographic regions or industries. So you never know when we are going to be seeking you out.
The CNN Producer reached out to me for leads and had considered several teen CEO’s for the story. Three days full of anxiety and anticipation would pass before I asked my teens if any of them heard anything back. Patricio non chalantly says to me ‘oh yea, she been called me back and finalized a date for me to come to the studio.’ !!!Teenagers!!!…Go figure, lol! Luckily, we have long been ‘READY’, hence, after creating a few marketing promos special to this media feature and some interview coaching, we were able to flow with the energy and bask in the magical experience of the day.
In case you missed it Teen’s Turn to Summer Startups was featured in this week’s Wall Street Journal. The article talks about how teens have started resorting to getting their entrepreneur groove on since summer work is difficult to come by because the economy is soft and unemployment is so high. Essentially adults are now competing for many of the jobs that were once difficult to fill (think fast food, retail cashiers, etc). Imagine that- starting a teen business is now vogue.
Ok, so what’s wrong with this picture here?
I’m a teen and I need a job. But the jobs are hard to come by because so many people (Translation ADULTS) are out of work. So let me start a feel good ‘hobby’ business where I now have to work even harder to scrape together a few bucks because everybody is going to try and start one and use the same resources to figure their ideas out. And on top of that I am going to try to sell to a CONSUMER (Translation ADULT) who is as broke as me, hence why they took my job in the first place. But never mind any of that, my parents who once thought the idea of me starting a business as a teen was bananas is now going to be totally on the bandwagon because the WSJ said it is all on the ‘okie dokie’ because everybody else’s parents are doing it. Having said that, if you need a micro investment for your business, print the article and show it your parents
So I decided since this summer folks are going to be cuckoo for cocoa puffs and parents are going to be seeking out your favorite haunts and resources, I would share some of my favorite tips of How Renegade Teen Business Owners can break from the rat race and stay in a league all their own.
But before I get to the tips in recognition of National Autism Awareness Month I wanted to give a shout out to Renegade CEO, Danielle Herb, 15, Founder of Drop Your Reins. Her company does ADD/ADHD and Autistic Training Programs through natural horsemanship. This summer she is doing her 1st Annual Level 1 Mastery Certification Course in N. Florida. Only 10 spaces remain and the course costs $3,995 per person for 1 week of Natural Horsemanship Training (and IT WILL SELL OUT). She is also giving away one full scholarship valued at $3,995. If you are a teenager and those numbers are hard for you to wrap your brain around…guess you haven’t been reading my blog posts in full and/or spending enough time with me…I’m just sayin’ there is a reason why I only post once a week ;-)
If you want to learn more about Danielle Herb’s Natural Horsemanship course peep her site at: http://www.adhdkidsscholarship.com/ (HURRY! Scholarship Deadline Ends 4/30)
Learning to Fall by Bryce Maddock, Founder of Task US
In yoga, one position I can’t master is the handstand. Every week I am put to shame by the 50 and 60 year old yogis who effortlessly toss themselves in and out of the position. Last class, as my frustration surged, I took it upon myself to ask one of the handstand masters, “How did you learn to do that?”
“I learned how to fall,” she responded.
This lesson applies to business and life: In order to truly succeed one must be willing to fall. We all know people who are too afraid to fall. Unwilling to take risks, they never get off the couch, never pursue the guy/girl they are attracted to, never escape their mind numbing 9 to 5 job.
If you are an entrepreneur you have already demonstrated a willingness to take a big risk. However, simply being willing to fall is not enough. Ultimately it is a numbers game. The more risks you take, the more you increase your chances of success, but the more falls you have to be willing to take as well.
This is why the most successful entrepreneurs have fallen many times. Russell Simmons launched the now defunct website 360 Degrees of Hip Hop. Richard Branson was forced to sell off his prized possession, Virgin Records. The Donald has lost fortunes on multiple ventures, and even went bankrupt.
So the TEEN CEO question of the year seems to be: How do I earn some side money during slow times in my business without cutting into my business marketing and work time? Translation- how do I earn quick and easy money without having to work too hard for it?
And the survey says…while I know a number of ways I can’t share all my best secrets at one time… so for starters- write freelance articles for your community newspapers. You soooo didn’t think I was going to say that did you? Well here is the quick run down on the benefits:
Fraser Doherty, CEO of Super Jam, is an 18 year old from the UK who received a gift at age 14 that couldn’t be returned. Some may have seen it as a very low tech boring gift but little did Fraser know 4 years later it would be worth $1,000,000. We talk about such gifts in great detail in Chapter 4 of our book, Teen Entrepreneur Success Secrets [boy oh boy, if you only knew the true power of 2 cans and a roll of string ;-D].
The Earth’s most precious natural resource is truly a rare find. As it changes by the second, it is that of our time.Shonika Proctor, Excerpted from The Seuss Shall Set You Free
At the age of 14 Fraser Doherty was spending time with his grams (grandma) when she taught him how to make jam from her own secret squirrel family recipe. Can you imagine such a thing? He was not playing hours of video games. He was not asking her to chaperone him all over the place so that he can shop and buy new clothes, shoes and gadgets. He was not showing her the latest greatest application and social network on the Internet. Ya’ know, he was probably doing quite the opposite-hanging and chatting with his grams face to face about what life was like 50+ years ago and the art and science behind baking and cooking. I can imagine them now having a very intense and heated conversation about what really makes the home in homemade
Willie Tyler and Willie Brown are both master ventriloquists and Lester and Woody are their respective ‘dummies’ or ‘puppets’. My friend Bara who lives in Prague, Czech Republic is a master craftswoman puppeteer. She has handmade some amazing puppets in her time and it is a truly time consuming and dying art. I have somewhat of a fondness of these dying arts. It is something about the whole process of taking some artistic and creative abstract thing and making it come alive so that you can bring it in tangible form to the real world. To me, it is somewhat like the pursuit of entrepreneurship in many respects.
If you look at the video above (from the 1970’s by the way) you have to admit the sheer coolness of Lester. He was pretty hip and fashionable…for a dummy This brings me to my focus of today’s post- Entrepreneurs and the Obama Administration. Huh, what?!?! Where did that come from? Well, you know me and my random but somehow connected thoughts.
Being a teen entrepreneur coach, of course this headline touches my heart: “UK Teen Entrepreneur Writes and Publishes a Book in 30 Days”. But imagine how emotionally overwhelming it would be to have been a part of that experience. Luckily for me- I WAS!!! In today’s post I am going to share a special journey that I have been on with an amazing and incredibly thoughtful teen from the other side of the ocean.
Congratulations! Today is your day, you’re off to great places, you’re off and away. -Dr. Seuss, Oh the Places You’ll Go
gotta love them- have come from all over the place, from teens and adults, new and long-time friends, organizations and family, all asking me about my journey to this point and wanting to know how I got the ‘Golden Touch’. So what is this experience in the limelight all about and how does it feel? My teens have been famous for a long time so I have learned to live vicariously through them. Needless to say the question inspired me to write a post today about ‘Growing Up Renegade’.
