About this project
Entrepreneur Kid: Children's Books about Kid Entrepreneurs
$20,010
226
Teach Kids about Entrepreneurship Through the Stories of Real Entrepreneur Kids!
We know a child's long-term success hinges on his or her ability to problem-solve. We believe every child has the potential to be a builder, a doer, a creator, and a world-changer! That's why we created the Entrepreneur Kid book series. We want to inspire children everywhere with the real-life stories of incredible kids who have overcome great feats and reached unimaginable heights.
Entrepreneur Kid is a book series that showcases the true stories of real kid entrepreneurs who have started and continue to grow real businesses.
Meet the Entrepreneur Kids: Sebastian, Gabby, Jason, and Rachel
We researched hundreds of kid entrepreneurs from around the world and were captivated by the stories of these four movers and shakers, who we chose to be featured in the series:
- Sebastian Martinez, founder and CEO of Are You Kidding?, a wacky socks company
- Gabrielle "Gabby" Goodwin, founder and CEO of GaBBY Bows, a company that makes patented no-slip, double-faced hair barrettes
- Jason Li, founder and CEO of iReTron, a tech startup that buys, resells, and recycles old electronics
- Rachel Zietz, founder and CEO of Gladiator Lacrosse, a lacrosse equipment company
"Sebastian Creates a Sock Company"
In “Sebastian Creates a Sock Company,” readers follow the journey of five-year-old Sebastian Martinez, who — with the help of his older brother, Brandon — turns his love for socks into a business that not only makes wacky socks, but also enables the duo to finally revamp the school dress code. Sebastian is the CEO of Are You Kidding Socks?, based out of Miami, Florida. Brandon goes by D.O.S, for director of sales. We love that Are You Kidding? socks partner with charities, including Live Like Bella, SLAM ALS, and Autism Speaks, to design special charity socks that support those causes.
"Gabby Invents the Perfect Bow"
In “Gabby Invents the Perfect Bow,” five-year old Gabby Goodwin of Columbia, South Carolina can't stop losing her hair bows everywhere she goes. She and her mother join forces when she’s just seven years old to invent a new kind of bow that doesn't fall out and has two sides, so you always see the cute design. We love Gabby’s story, because she not only has a patent but is the CEO of her company, GaBBY Bows. She and her mother Rozalynn make the perfect tag team! These two are truly solving a problem, worldwide -- GaBBY Bows have been purchased in 50 states and eight countries!
"Jason Saves the Environment with Entrepreneurship"
In “Jason Saves the Environment with Entrepreneurship,” we help make technology accessible for young readers. The book is about Jason Li, founder and CEO of iReTron, a tech startup that buys, repairs, and resells used electronics. Jason has been a serial entrepreneur since fourth grade, but at 14, he founded iReTron based on his passion for the environment. He went on to receive a $100,000 investment on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank. Based out of his hometown of Los Gatos, California, iReTron is currently being run by three employees while he studies at the University of Chicago.
"Rachel Turns Her Passion Into a Business"
To pull the whole series together, “Rachel Turns Her Passion Into a Business” chronicles the entrepreneurial journey of Gladiator Lacrosse founder and CEO Rachel Zietz. Rachel is a testament to the idea that entrepreneurship can be learned. She never intended to be an entrepreneur, but during her participation in Young Entrepreneurs Academy at her local chamber of commerce, Rachel learned she could start a business to solve a problem she faced everyday as a lacrosse player: Low-quality equipment. Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Gladiator Lacrosse is a multi-million dollar business now. Its products, starting with goals and rebounders, can be found in national retailer DICK’S Sporting Goods, as well as online.
Why Do We Need this Book Series?
There is a large and growing library of exceptional biographical stories about adults who have changed the world, but what about kids who are defying age and stereotypes to accomplish the unexpected, such as starting businesses while still in elementary, middle or high school? We need more nonfiction children’s books about incredible kids.
In the Entrepreneur Kid book series we highlight the obstacles and achievements of four kid entrepreneurs who will challenge the kids in your life to think and dream big.
Did you know there are Entrepreneur Kids everywhere? From technology titans to clothing connoisseurs, there are thousands of young makers and doers all around. Their stories just aren’t well known.
We want kids to know that they don't have to be "grown up" to start a business. They can achieve their dreams now. It all starts with solving the problems they see around them, just like the entrepreneurs in this four-book series have done!
Who Should Read this Series?
The series is written for Pre-K to 3rd graders, or roughly 4-8 year olds. The books feature 32 pages of engaging illustrations along with captivating stories of Entrepreneur Kids in action.
These books are perfect for solo readers or as parent-child read-alouds. Each book in the series also makes for a fitting classroom read-aloud with potential for entrepreneurial or problem-solving activities to follow. Every book ends with a question to get kids thinking about what problems they'd like to solve. The books also feature a biographical "Author's Note" for parents and teachers to read up further on each Entrepreneur Kid. We want our adult readers to be ready for Q&A time from their kiddos, and photographs of the Entrepreneur Kids in action will have children engaged in learning about children like them making big differences in the world.
Meet the Team: Erica, Li, and Dan
Entrepreneur Kid was imagined by author Erica Swallow and illustrator Li Zeng. The two teamed up to write and illustrate the series and pulled in videographer and web developer Dan Ndombe to film interviews with each of the entrepreneurs and their families, employees, and mentors.
The trio traveled across America to each Entrepreneur Kid's home to understand how their businesses were founded, who was involved, and how the businesses are growing today. Here's a little more information about Erica, Li, and Dan...
Erica Swallow, Author
A journalist and entrepreneur, Erica is a passionate writer. She came up with the idea of Entrepreneur Kid books after realizing there aren’t enough nonfiction books about kid heroes! Her editorial work has been published in Forbes, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. She believes education is the key to opportunity. Learn more about Erica on Twitter, LinkedIn, her writing portfolio, and her website.
Li Zeng,
Illustrator
A Graphic Design professor at the University of Central Arkansas, Li is a serial entrepreneur, having founded social innovation platform Plus Designer and Cube Lady, a creative studio focused on serving women and girls. An award-winning illustrator, Li leads all Entrepreneur Kid design and illustrated all four books in the series. Learn more about Li on Twitter, LinkedIn, and her website.
Dan Ndombe, Technologist
A software engineer, tech entrepreneur, and YouTube creator, Dan is the creative driver behind Entrepreneur Kid’s website and book videos. Known as “Dan Newbie, the wine glass musician” online, he visits schools to teach kids about unconventional creativity. His work has been featured on NPR, ABC, NBC, and CNN, among other venues. Learn more about Dan on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
How Your Support Makes an Impact
Your contribution to this campaign will not stop at your door with the delivery of your copies of the Entrepreneur Kid series. We're excited to announce that 30% of the campaign will directly benefit Entrepreneur Kids! First, we're distributing 20% of the campaign proceeds back to our four featured Entrepreneur Kids: Sebastian, Gabby, Jason, and Rachel. Secondly, 10% of proceeds will go to a new Entrepreneur Kid Scholarship Fund, which will help support entrepreneurship education for kids under the age of 18.
The remainder of the funds raised will be used to order the minimum print order of 2,000 books (500 of each book). Any remaining funds after printing, shipping, and the Entrepreneur Kids funds will be used to reimburse the campaign collaborators for travel and administrative expenses incurred during the Entrepreneur Kid interviewing process.
The Book Series is Just the Start!
We're on a mission to inspire children everywhere to think creatively and solve the problems they see around them. For starters, we're launching this children's picture book series that features true stories of real kids with real businesses. We hope that kids, parents, and teachers everywhere will be inspired by the trials and tribulations of Sebastian, Gabby, Jason, and Rachel.
After we reach our goal of bringing these books to children everywhere, we plan on translating the series to multiple languages, starting with Chinese, the native language of our illustrator, Li Zeng. Based on early reader requests, we also have plans for Spanish and French in the near future!
Finally, we hope to grow our website, EntrepreneurKid.com, to be a central destination to learn about and from incredible Entrepreneur Kids around the world. In the coming months, we'll begin interviewing Entrepreneur Kids and their parents about the work they've done to become business owners.
If we can inspire just one kid to solve a problem, our work will have been worth it!
Keep in touch!
Risks and challenges
We've done our best to mitigate as many risks as possible, but sometimes the unexpected pops up. The biggest risk for the Entrepreneur Kid project is receiving our printed shipment on time. Though the campaign ends in April 2017, we've estimated a conservative July 2017 timeline for backers receiving rewards to set expectations.
Following the close of the campaign, we expect delivery of the books in 6-8 weeks. We will ship them out as soon as possible. Backers will be notified of any delivery delays.
Otherwise, everything is in place to have these books in our backers hands in a timely manner. We've finished illustrations; final book texts are approved; and the printing files are all ready to send to the printer. Now all we need are the funds to make the print possible. From there, we're ready to deliver!
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Funding period
- (31 days)