Radu Antohi, 17, is a name you should make yourself very familiar with. You will start seeing the name of this Famous Renegade Teen CEO appear over and over again in very influential circles and high profile places (online and offline) around the world. He has been a hidden treasure of the Renegade CEO’s for the past 10 months. The best way to describe him is a modern day Ghandi. He is inspirational, true to his passion and determined to make change in the world.

I have been recently sharing him with others in my networks and circles of social influence but my conscience will just not allow someone else to tell his story before me and not the same as I would. You will soon see his claim to fame but realize there is so much more to him and his worldly perspective

Growing up in the poorest country in Europe, the Republic of Moldova, where just 5% of the population has Internet access, has been his daily inspiration motivation to improve the quality of life for himself and also for everyone else around him. He is extremely selfless and often writes the most profound and incredible messages to me about his vision for his country and his grassroots work and outreach efforts in his community. I am convinced that he will be the Youngest Prime Minister in the Republic of Moldova and I will definitely be there on the day he does his swearing in!

Here’s hoping that on Radu Antohi’s rise to fame (in the public eye) that all his dreams come through!

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

Without nay hesitation nor second thought, 2010 is going to be the Year of the TEEN Entrepreneur! You heard it hear first folks. Entrepreneurship for young people is an evolutionary phenomenon that stemmed from the Internet (continue reading to learn how this came about).

Teens are often "lumped in" with another category of people older or younger than them and don’t really identify with either of those groups or they are just mulled over. People have high expectations of them yet give them every road block when they try to move forward- SORRY TEEN, I would love to work with you but the problem is you don’t have enough EDUCATION….MATURITY….EXPERIENCE….Sound familiar?  They have had to take a back seat for far too long and they are tired of being labeled and told they are unmotivated and apathetic. They don’t need >> to calm down, shut up and listen, to hear you tell them what it ‘all’ means. Nor do they want to be spoken of in future tense. They are present now. They are successful now. They are making impact now. They are making contributions now and they need and want to be given credit and recognition NOW.

What can you do NOW? Open the space up for them. How will you know if you have succeeded? They will have a ‘real conversation’ with you and will return to you at some point in the near future and start another one. And if they really love you, they’ll even tell their friends!

Teen Entrepreneurs are claiming their space in the universe and owning it! And it’s about time. It takes about 15 years for a movement to evolve to something much greater than that. So it’s time! There are many a tell tale signs that is built on what has been evolving over the past decade and additionally, the number and types of inquiries we are getting from teens across the globe tells a story in itself. Not to mention, in the month of November three more teens surpassed the $10,000/mo revenue mark….whooop!

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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.

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What a fantastic week…it was! We had so many big things happen I don’t even know where to start. So I guess I will start from the beginning of the week.

1. Ed Nash, 18, UK, got his iphone app submitted for approval to Apple. Go Nashy! We also started his official marketing campaign for LamboFaces.com LamboFaces is his philanthropic endeavor where people pay 1 British Pound to upload their face on a website. The 100,000 most interesting and beautiful faces will be painted onto a Lamborghini. The ‘World’s First People’s Lamborghini’ will then be auctioned on eBay with no reserve price and the money will be used to build a hospital in a poor community in the south of Zanzibar. No idea where people think of this stuff. I swear I had nothing to do with this, lol.

Twitter @Nashy (I am not going to spill the beans on his app, but perhaps he will. I have to say it is a pretty cool concept…in a teen tech genius type of way).

2. Ben Lang, 16, (barely 16, lol) is on fire! First he did a book review on his blog which got 25+ comments. So we were able to line him up with a feature article on next month’s Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Blog which gets a whole lotta traffic.  Ask and you might receive. But threaten the influential blog owner who fears the worst if he doesn’t feature your teen entrepreneur and you know something, that usually works Also, Ben got his first article published in his local newspaper. It is a multi part article and just might turn into a regular syndicated column. WHEW HEW! When I heard that, it totally made my day. He is such a giving person and is sincerely and truly deserving of it.

Twitter: @entrepreneurpro (Ask him about his new sponsored comments program, it is a really cool concept!)

Full of grace and inspiration, Danielle Herb, Founder of Drop Your Reins, the Only Official Grrrl Renegade CEO, celebrated her Sweet 16 on October 23rd. Happy, Happy Birthday to Danielle!

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Just in case you didn’t get the memo on it: Service Organizations are supposed to serve the people. While I realize that we live in a capitalist society it is still very possible to achieve your social mission and make money and today’s teen entrepreneurs are doing just that.

Having my pulse on society I am feeling that all the world needs now is a little organic cleansing. These organizations that have been around for years and years whether non profit or for profit are going to be flatlining soon. I am on the grassroots level and very connected at the community level. Like a bad criminal who has left too many clues, their tell tale signs are evident. Everyday I am making calls on behalf of my teens and my work with teens. I look for opportunities at the local, regional and national level where they can take an active role, serve on committees and board of directors and have their voices heard especially as it pertains to policies and topics that directly impact them and their future. Before I go off on my 1 min tangent about these bullies in the ’social’ service space I want to share some tips on how my visionary teen proteges and emerging young leaders can avoid going down that same path.

5 Tips on Serving For Young Entrepreneurial Leaders:

1. Companies are built for customers not for you.  Without customers your business cannot exist. You must serve before you can lead. My average client is 17 years old and from Day 1 it is my duty and honor to serve them and support them like the great leaders they are of our time.

2. Walk with them. Don’t tell people to take a different path or lead them to the path if you are not going to walk with them. Embrace. Educate. Empower.

3. Know Your Impact. My global program strategist, Wheatle Peart taught me about the importance of tracking metrics and reach. You need to know your numbers. Use a list management system such as http://bit.ly/madmimi1 (up to 100 people can register on your list before you incur a monthly subscription fee). This is a program that will allow you to capture emails of people who visit your website/blog.  It is IMPERATIVE that you have one of these. When you need to connect with your audience to make an announcement, offer a new product, host an event it helps if you know where they are and can reach them at once. Encourage people to keep in touch via your email list or social networking site.

4. Build a Bridge for the People. You need to serve as a conduit. If people are connecting to you, that usually means they respect your work and want to be involved. If you don’t want to personally take the calls have someone on your team (i.e. your mom/dad/grandparent or a college intern in marketing, business or social services) who will accept the calls/emails on your behalf and have a way to build a bridge to get people where they want to go. If you don’t know what is happening at the ground level you can’t continue to stay at the top. You need to know the challenges that exist in the marketplace so you can innovate and evolve with the ever changing marketplace. Use a survey or feedback system like Survey Monkey.

5. Leverage Your Community. You don’t need to do anything and everything on your own. Other people will gratefully and humbly support your cause. Don’t be afraid to ask. Be inclusive and express your sincere appreciation. If you give them a space they will fill it.

So what inspired this post today? Even though I am so tempted at this point, I will not even put high profile Acronym ’service based’ economic development organizations on blast in this post. Long story short- Since the late spring/early summer I have been calling, emailing, calling and emailing some very high profile ‘urban’ organizations that have presence at the national level. While they advertise that they are all about economic empowerment, working with the community and uplifting today’s youth, the reality seems to be unless you are an ‘elitist’ (you are a person with a branded name who only talks to other people with branded names) or a ‘victim’ (a national story can be made to profit from you) it is not likely you will get a call back.  So tell me…who are they really helping?

Until next time kids….challenge not the limits of society but the limits of oneself.

@teenbizcoach

Being that we live in a free enterprise system, the system cannot fail you. You can only fail yourself. But I am in the wrong for saying that.  People say stupid things to me like, you have a Republican message on a Democratic platform. Uhh, I am not in the business of politics. I am not in the business of religion. I am in the business of building a better livelihood (personally and professionally) for myself and others around me. And that is exactly why I work with teenagers  because they TOTALLY get that. 

The access to information and opportunities are there for those who want them and choose to go get them. That is what they need to learn- simply how to access the information and opportunities and then go leverage them to their benefit. You don’t need a job that barely pays a living wage to do that.

Anyway, here are Shonika’s Sure Fire Stimulus Funding Tips to ensure whether you are an employer or employee YOU HAVE IT LAST!

1. Live your life by design not by default. I believe it was Robert Kiyosaki who said that. But essentially it means, don’t settle and don’t throw yourself in the air like a bunch of confetti, lots of little shredded paper flying every which way. If the first thing or opportunity that comes along doesn’t seem to be a good match for you wait. Take your time and look for opportunities (jobs, consulting, training, etc) that align with your long term vision. Choose what you are passionate about even if you don’t fully have the skill set developed. Your purpose and passion will always take you the furthest.

2. Build Your Network Align with other strategic partners and individuals (now not later) who are working complimentary to you.  Write down what things are missing from your network and invite credible and trustworthy people into your network so that you can ALL pool your assets and resources. It’s who you know that will get you in the door and it’s what you know that will keep you inside (See #1).

3.  Realize the Power of Giving. Give, Serve, Share….whatever you call it. And I don’t just mean in a charitable sense. I mean being open and authentic with people. When you hold back valuable information and opportunities, what you have to lose is insignificant in comparison in to what you have to gain by putting it out there. Your intellectual property and life experiences hold value. So I am not saying give up your “secret sauce”. I am saying put it out there that you have a recipe and ask people to help you produce, manufacture and market it. Use the folks in your network (See #2) to help manifest your dream.

4. Ask better questions. Instead of saying “you didn’t know” take a little time to research what you are getting into. Think through the possible outcomes and your growth potential in the future.  Ask specific questions to make sure this is an ideal match for you. Ask questions about the organization’s path they are walking, their vision, what resources they have in place, the key people in their network, the partnerships they have, where their funding comes from and find out what some of their clients are up to. If they give you broken and somewhat superficial answers then you know that the organization that is not concerned about the details now certainly won’t be concerned about them later.

5. Manifest Your Destiny and Take Ownership of it. Dream of what you want and build the energy around it. A large part of being able to attract these things is telling yourself what you want and envisioning this. Why must you do this? A lot of people call it “law of attraction” but the concept is you are building self-awareness and keeping it centered in your conscious mind. If it is on the forefront you are most likely to be able to see opportunities directly related to evolving that dream whether it is in general conversation or an article that you read etc. When it is on your radar you will be more in tuned and see other roads leading to your destination that you may not have seen before.

So that’s a “RAP” …play on words….(See Recovery Action Plan). If you get a job or contract related to stimulus funding, let us know. We would love to do a case study on it and see how we can support you to repurposing that opportunity and keeping it going  and growing long after the funding has run out.

Until next time,

Keep it real and keep it moving.

This morning I read an article entitled: Obama Promises More Than 600,000 Stimulus Jobs http://bit.ly/a28T5

YAWN…let me just call it now- Stimulus Jobs and Stimulus Bail Out- EPIC FAIL. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it >:-) I have been reading the stimulus bill. If you want to peep it you can check it out here: Read the Stimulus (1500+ pages and counting).

But before I break out into the anatomy of a Stimulus Job, let me just put it into you in simple terms. In the famous words of musician T.I. It is not who gets it first but who has it last.

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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)

5 Tips How Teens Can Actually Start it Up:

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Does anyone know what the word “help” means? Being that it is overrated and used so freely I am not even sure anymore. So I have been trying very hard not to use it as of recent months. I am eliminating it from my vocabulary.

Help is a sad little pathetic word. It means I have exhausted all resources and I am desperate for anything you have to give me. It puts you, ‘the asker’, in an inferior role. Help is a desperate plea that results in a reactive answer.  Some adults and companies especially those in America have asked for ’help’ and they got ‘help’. Now what are they asking for? Naturally, more help. 

I want you to start being in tuned to people who use that word. How do they use it? How much do they use it? Do you see a pattern with the people who are using that word? Ask them what are they asking for.

I am also requesting (with much gratitude) that the teens and adults in both my personal and professional networks eliminate the word “help” from their vocabulary. And know if you ask me for ‘help’ the answer will be a resounding NO. Start replacing that word with words like: empower, empowerment, inspire, inspiration, motivate, motivation, encourage, encouragement, uplift, uplifting, enable, enabled, assistance, facts, information, advice, assistance. Ask a question with a word that will result in a proactive response vs. a reactive one. Renegade Mom Marianne St. Clair says it best – “when you eliminate the broad term help, it forces you to think about what you are asking for and craft your request in such a way that you specifically ask for what you want”.

So if you are in need of my guidance and support, tell me what you need (what is a necessity) and what you have to work with. Not what you want or what you don’t have. If you are having a difficult time or a brain cramp do you need inspiration to create new ideas? Do you need information to make a well-informed decision? Do you need encouragement to get through a challenging time? Do you need assistance in connecting with someone to evolve a project that you are working on? I am always willing to give you the support and resources to those requests and in abundance!

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