Posted on September 17 2019
Starting with the release of Drop 005, Simply Thriving Brand will be donating 5% of all revenue to Youth Entrepreneurship & Supporting Foundations. A major part of Simply Thriving’s goal is to create a community in which optimism and dreaming go hand in hand in helping people realize their true potential, instead of trembling in the footsteps of someone else’s vision. Within everyone is a certain fire and creative ability, and our goal is to bring that fire and ability out.
Too often young entrepreneurs have great ideas that could make significant improvements to our community, however, due to their age, sometimes obtaining the funds or coaching to do so is nearly impossible. We say that experience is the best teacher, but at the same time are not providing enough outlets for our younger dreamers to gain this real-life experience. To combat this, we as a brand, are now aiming to provide these young minds with more ways to test their ideas, giving them opportunities to learn from their failures and mistakes, and most importantly grow. We want everyone to be the best version of themselves; at any age.
We are Simply Thriving Brand, and we support Youth Entrepreneurship.
I sent some questions over to our CEO and Founder, Zachary Polito, to get to the root of why supporting young entrepreneurs is so important to him.
- Why do you think that age deters people from supporting younger entrepreneurs?
I don’t think age necessarily deters people from supporting young entrepreneurs, rather I think there is a lack of known organizations for those interested to donate to. I also think the mindset behind why you should donate to begin with is skewed. In my opinion, many people when hearing “donate to youth entrepreneurship” would think to themselves “why would I do that if I could donate to an already well established foundation” rather than realizing they would be allowing our young minds to experience failure early on and empower quicker innovation.
- Did you ever receive assistance like this during your entrepreneurial career thus far?
A lot of this thinking for me was inspired by the entrepreneurship program I was a part of at Florida State University. In this program lead by renowned entrepreneur James Dever, 40 sophomore students are accepted each semester deeming their major Entrepreneurship. During the course of the next 3 years, you are actually required to start your own business. Your course load consists of individual departments of the business start up process like marketing, management, data analysis, and so much more. The best part is, you are even provided with the startup funds needed to get off the ground. We were able to experience many of the decision making struggles, failed tactics that turn into lessons, and the entire start up process at an early age without having to worry too much about funding. Which is often times the biggest barrier to entry for young entrepreneurs.
- What opportunities do you think these donations will open up for young businesses?
If these donations make a serious difference for even just one entrepreneur, I will be content. However the goal goes far beyond just one. I hope these donations will allow entrepreneurs to chase their dreams, experience the ups and downs that come with the lifestyle, and open up the door for young minds to make a difference in the world. I also hope these donations pave the way, as companies like The Positive Vibe Movement did to me, for business of all sizes to start giving back to the community and foundations of their choice.
- What is some advice you would give to the up and coming business minds of today?
Start. Research. Test. Adapt.
The most important piece of advice I think I, or anyone for that matter, can give would be to just START. Absolutely nothing can happen before you stop postponing and just start. In doing so, researching your competitors and target market is absolutely crucial. Become obsessed with it. From there, test test test. Try new things, don’t make assumptions. What could be true for others can be entirely different for you. You’re young. The entire point of this is to get these experiences under your belt. And finally, adapt. Nothing comes easy, but that’s the case for everyone.
- Why is failing so important in learning how to succeed?
Failure is important IF it is used as a learning experience. When you fail, aside from the hit on your pride, you’re often times brought back down to reality and can use that as fuel moving forward. In failing you are one step closer to a successful path.
- Besides passion, what is the most important aspect or trait when it comes to being a successful entrepreneur?
The willpower to keep going when things get tough and your journey is forced to take an unexpected turn. KEEP GOING. Once you fall in love with the lifestyle rather than the life is when you truly begin Thriving.
End Conversation
This is why Simply Thriving is giving back. The world is in need of new ideas and strong leaders, and hopefully, with these donations, we can enable the next generation of entrepreneurs to succeed, grow, learn, adapt, and make a difference.