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

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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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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I am calling Wayne Liew “hot dog” today because he is on a roll. He has been tearing down the house with some phresh baked posts on his blog recently.

In a recent post he published entitled ‘9 Alarming Reasons to Outsource’ he breaks Outsourcing down like legos. This blog post is in simple and approachable language that ANYBODY familiar with the term Outsourcing or not can relate to.

So peep the post  http://bit.ly/ZdPIz and tell me what you think. While you are on his site be sure to check out some of his interLiews (I branded him with that name today) with Teen CEO’s. I call him the Oprah of Malaysia

And furthermore if you totally dig his work be sure to connect with him on Twitter @wayneliew (Don’t let that Morgan Freeman Bruce Almighty Avatar sike you out, lol) or if you feel really Renegade today, subscribe to his weekly blog updates. Until next time-

Keep it real and keep it moving!

Kind of sounds like a riddle huh? If you want to be exlclusive, then try being inclusive.  Too often I see young entrepreneurs who aspire to be like some certain ’successful & branded’ person or accepted into this certain circle of ‘friends’. Now don’t get me wrong, role models are important and all but what is it about that person that you idolize? Is it their lifestyle? Their fame? Their attention? Their money? All of the above?  

Before many of those people were rich and famous and branded….they were what?

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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.

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You asked for it…Confessions of a bad girl [with good intentions...of horse]. LOL, get it? of horse??? Anyway, that is the translation of my blog post title today. And naturally, it was difficult to think of something “creative” because you put me on the spot. So I took a very simple thought of what the post was about and added a silly twist.

Everyday people ask me how do you think of these snappy titles for your blog posts and articles? How do you think of all these ideas? How do you come up with all these wild and crazy antics? How come your world is so seemingly small and you know EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE? Short and dirty answer- I learned it from my mom. She is the REAL creative idea & networking fairy. In fact, she makes my ‘creativity’ look like a kite in a wind tunnel. On the flip side, logistics and technical instruction I learned from my dad. It is why I am both linear and lateral in thought.

But before we get into the details of this and really ”go there”, it is only fair to tell you that I really DO ”go there” ALL the time. This is what helps you build real experiences and thus inspires your own creativity. I am random and curious yet I am interconnected because I talk to strangers all the time. I create real experiences with real people everyday. I know everybody in my neighborhood from the bum who lives at the end of my street to the person who owns every building on the street, LOL. If you are standing on the corner waiting for the traffic light, or sitting next to me on the bus or waiting with me in the elevator and our eyes connect I have to smile and say hello and wish you a nice day because it is just strange to me if we don’t do that. You know the universe might be trying to send me a message and I don’t know who is delivering it. So you have to be tuned in and have self-awareness. That is kind of the premise behind how creativity starts. If you can talk to a complete stranger about anything, then you are definitely on to something And for those who once said I was weird now say I am a creative thought leader…funny how that works now. So now you know what is meant by being a leader and not a follower

It is a day like today that people who we met 5, 10, or more years ago can search for us. Who would have ever guessed the interesting people we met in our lives long ago in passing we could get a chance to renew our bonds? I get “friend” requests and emails regularly from people I met traveling in other countries , to people who remember racing shopping carts with me in dormitory hallways and remember things I did in the 4th grade classroom (and the teacher hitting me on the head with a pencil for being a class clown…)

So anyway, let’s carry on with THIS POST, LOL. The topic today is creativity…which by the way is ALL RELATIVE.  What’s creative and hip to someone else is the stupidest and most ridiculous thing to others. So REALIZE, ACCEPT and UNDERSTAND that first. And then you can better absorb this post.

Soooo- what is MY DEFINITION of creativity? It is the confidence to act on YOUR ‘deviant curiosity’.

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I was going to title this post the Young and the Restless but unless you are a middle aged woman in America I didn’t think you would get it. Sooo anyhoo, SLEEP or lack thereof is the focus of today. This has been the hot topic of many of my teens (who I have been personally coaching) over recent months. And shame on me, I have been promising this article since the holidays but it stayed idle in my draft file for 12 or so days. So alas, here it is. Following is a relaxation video with some beautiful peaceful scenery, some tweeting birdies and you know a little nice reflective music [on YOU TUBE] no less. After watching this video or trying every other ’sleeping trick’ possible, it WILL probably NOT help you sleep.  Before you scroll to the bottom of the video and click ‘Continue Reading’ I suggest if you are easily offended you don’t read the remainder of this post. So before we continue on into much heavier dialogue, if you prefer to see a PG Rated version of this post, then read this article instead…and if you choose to continue reading–don’t say I didn’t warn you).

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