I’m not always jealous of two nine-year-olds, but when I am, it’s because they started their own business, made a ton of money they later donated to charity and were endorsed by Hugh Jackman.
Someone say #lifegoals.
Anissa Patel and Esme Venton teamed up with nine of their friends to start up their own small business for one month as part of the Pledge Your Profit Campaign put on by One Hen, an organization that equips and empowers young people to start small businesses and use their earnings for good, and the Laughing Man Foundation, a non-profit started by Hugh Jackman and David Steingard to promote entrepreneurship for social change.
After an inaugural meeting, the group officially opened for business and named themselves Spring into Action, deciding to sell spring flowers and pre-made cookie mixes to earn profit. Once their month-long trial was up they had earned an incredible $3,300USD – all to be donated to the causes of their choosing.
In a blog about their experience the girls said, “It was really hard to decide which organization to give to, as we all had a lot of causes that we care about.”
Their solution?
“We decided to donate to three charities.”
Spring into Action gave their profits to an organization supporting Duchenne ’s muscular dystrophy research, as one member’s younger brother lives with DMD, in addition to a children’s cancer fund and a girl’s empowerment camp in Senegal.
To top off their success, Hugh Jackman wrote a HuffPo blog endorsing their achievements and noting the importance of investing in youth potential.
Besides the obvious, what Anissa and Esme did may have an even greater impact.
Thanks in part to Spring Into Action, this once-small campaign has now received quite a bit of attention. Laughing Man Foundation and One Hen are extending the campaign to all young people 18 and under to register their small business ideas for a chance to win a $500 donation to the charity of their choosing and a shout-out from Jackman on social media and the One Hen website. A campaign that equips young people to start up a small business is a well-timed opportunity in a world experiencing unprecedented youth unemployment. Young people ages 15-24 make up 40% of the world’s total unemployed population.
The campaign even goes a step further than skills-training, encouraging young entrepreneurs to invest their profits in the world around them.
Pledge Your Profit works simply: groups borrow a small loan from a teacher or parent, run their business for 30 days, and donate their profits to a charity of their choice.
Once the 30 days are up, the group writes a one-page report on their business, the charity they chose to support and why. The winners receive a $500 additional donation and have their blog featured by Hugh Jackman on his social media channels and the One Hen website.
One Hen has a plethora of resources for registered teams, including business ideas and tips.
In his blog, Jackman expressed his support for the girls of Spring Into Action and the Pledge Your Profit campaign this way:
Campaigns like these will likely inspire and equip the next generation with good business practices and the desire to use business for good. And if the campaign continues to produce results like Spring Into Action’s, it may be that the next generation comes to inspire us.
At least, two nine-year-olds inspired me. Now I just have to get their numbers and text them for business advice.
This piece was written by Meredith Hastings, content coordinator for World Vision Youth.
World Vision is proud to support the work of Laughing Man Foundation, as Hugh Jackman has been an ambassador for World Vision Australia. While on an ambassador’s trip to Ethiopia, Hugh met a young coffee farmer named Dukale, working to lift his family out of poverty. After spending time on Dukale's farm, Hugh realized that something as simple as a cup of coffee could have a profound impact on global poverty, a realization that laid the foundation for the eventual launch of Laughing Man Coffee & Tea.