By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Five Slidell teens had their own mini version of “Shark Tank” at the SMH Founders Building last week—albeit with a much nicer tone.
Five of the six teenagers in Slidell who were selected to participate in the first Young Entrepreneur’s Academy (YEA!) took another step in the formation of their business ventures as they had a great opportunity to meet with the CEO of five top companies here.
The teens sat across the table from Slidell Memorial’s Bill Davis, Dawn Sharpe-Brackett from the East St. Tammany Chamber, Ron Newson with State Farm, Kirk Arnold with 1st Castle Federal Credit Union, and Ron Davis with Blue Bell.
The CEO’s gave over an hour of their valuable time to coach the teens and offer great advice about being a business owner, and being a boss, although the words of wisdom were delivered in a considerably nicer tone than what some prospective entrepreneurs hear on the national TV show, “Shark Tank.”
YEA! is in its first year as a Slidell project, brought here by a Leadership Northshore team. The program was created in New York in 2004 as a year-long endeavor for high school students to start and run their own legitimate business. The YEA! program offers the teens a chance to brainstorm their business idea, write a business plan, interact with professionals, pitch their idea to potential investors, obtain funding, register their business, participate in a trade show and launch their own business.
Selected by the Leadership Northshore team members for the first year are seven local teens with the following business ideas:
Samantha Whitacker: Cultural Identities, an urban t-shirt design and sales company.
Dominic Brignac: Ads to You, a door-to-door ad business.
Karl Schriener: Garageenterage, a garage organization company.
Kayla Andre: Kayla’s Community Jewel, a jewelry sales company with a portion going back to non-profits.
Caroline Cenci: Place Me Pretty, a stone coaster sales company.
Garret Spinks: Supply Pacs, LLC, a school supply pack company.
CEO’s on hand talked about a variety of subjects for the young people, making a particular point to highlight the importance of networking, building a brand name, and maintaining a strong business reputation.
“Be careful what you are saying, especially on Social Media outlets,” Newson said. “Behave like the most important person you respect because once your reputation is damaged, it’s hard to regain.”
Brackett, who leads the Slidell Chamber that offers numerous networking opportunities, has seen first-hand how important that aspect of business is.
“Take advantage of any networking opportunities you have,” she said. “Not only do you let folks know what you do, but it helps you become comfortable in one-on-one business relationships.
“And the most important thing is to build business relationships with the people you believe you want to do business with,” she added.
Davis talked about building a brand name, something he has led SMH to do very successfully.
“Is your company consistently reflecting the brand you have created for your organization?” he asked. “It’s harder to regain a brand reputation than to build one, so make sure the service and product reflects what you say your reputation is.”
The group will continue to meet regularly with the Leadership Northshore team members to continue learning about starting a business.
Ann Bowser, with the Leadership team, said this program is open to teens once a year and they are currently accepting applications for the 2015-2016 class that will be taking up to 20 students. To apply, go online to estchamber.com.