Start as a Student, Graduate as a CEO!
By Kate Scanlan
The Emerald Coast Chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, (YEA!), is an innovative program that transforms local middle and high school students into real entrepreneurial successes. May 2015 marked the graduation of the second class from YEA! Emerald Coast, with seven students turned entrepreneurs ready to launch their own businesses.
YEA! is a cutting-edge program that takes students between the ages of 11 and 18 through the process of starting and launching a real business or social movement over the course of five months (roughly one semester). By the end of the class, students own and operate fully-formed and functioning businesses, which may be carried on after their graduation from the program. YEA! aims to teach students at an early age how to make a job, not just get a job. It is the ONLY pre-college program developed by an entrepreneur, at a university, with support from a major entrepreneurial foundation, the Kauffman Foundation and the United States Chamber of Commerce.
This year’s YEA! class featured seven budding entrepreneurs: Savannah Bartleson, 11th Grade, Seacoast Collegiate High School: Smiles by Savvy; Huston Locht, 9th Grade, Choctawhatchee HS: Storage Cat; Christopher Loffler, 8th Grade, STEM Academy: Toy in the Box; Ashley Pellerin, 12th Grade, Fort Walton Beach HS: Southern Arts Studios; Baili Pettet, 9th Grade, Choctawhatchee HS: Simply Baili; Olivia Rose Talley, 11th Grade, Choctawhatchee HS: Olivia Talley Cosmetics; and Peter Masone, 10th Grade,
The students in YEA! Emerald Coast Class are among 8,000 students in 38 states nationwide enrolled in this entrepreneurial education class that teaches young people how to generate business ideas, conduct market research, write business plans, pitch to a panel of investors, and launch their own, legally registered companies. The class was under the direction of the NWF State College Costa Leadership Institute with Barbara Britt and Kate Scanlan, lead instructors.
The program culminates each spring with the students presenting their business plans to a panel of local investors. The panel allocates start-up investment to students depending on the strength of each plan and presentation, also awarding one student the opportunity to represent YEA! Emerald Coast as a Saunders Award semi-finalist at a regional investor panel competition. Finalists from the regional panels then compete at the national level. Peter Masone, a sophomore at Niceville High School, was chosen to represent the Young Entrepreneurs Academy Emerald Coast at the YEA! SE Regional Saunders Scholars Competition in Boca Raton, FL on May 29. Peter also received a $500 gift card from Sam’s Club, a national sponsor of the Academy. While in Boca Raton, Peter made everyone incredibly proud as he networked with students and industry leaders while learning valuable business skills.
The Young Entrepreneurs Academy is a joint project of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Costa Leadership Institute at Northwest Florida State College, and the Destin Area Chambers of Commerce. The YEA! class would not have been successful without the support of The Doolittle Institute, and many local business people who served as mentors, guest speakers and student sponsors.
All of the students who participated in YEA! Emerald Coast this past year worked hard to grow into strong, confident entrepreneurs and everyone involved is incredibly proud of each of them.
For more information on the next Young Entrepreneurs Academy of the Emerald Coast class, visit www.nwfsc.edu/LI, email [email protected], or call 850-729-6880.
Ashley Pellerin, Southern Arts Studio
Ashley Pellerin is a senior at Fort Walton Beach High School and founder of Southern Arts Studio. As a student, she received many awards for her pieces in several art shows at Fort Walton Beach High School and the Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation. Ashley also completed a four week precollege summer program where she learned various skills from drawing to fine arts marketing. As an artist, Ashley created commissioned works including a custom 7×7 foot mural for a local church’s banquet and a logo for a church’s 100th year anniversary.
When not working on her art, Ashley works in an aftercare program and is a leader in her church’s youth ministry.
Olivia Talley, Olivia Talley Cosmetics
Olivia Talley is 16 years old, a junior at Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach, FL, and the founder of Olivia Talley Cosmetics. For the past five years, Olivia has deeply invested her time and money into the entire world that is makeup and everything concerning it. She loves makeup, but more so, loves teaching techniques to others and seeing their face light up with inspiration. Olivia got her idea for Olivia Talley Cosmetics when she was at YEA! and one of the investors brought up Michelle Phan, a popular makeup artist who self-published a book on lifestyle. Immediately, Olivia was inspired to follow Michelle’s footsteps but take a different path, one of her own.
To follow her own path, Olivia will be taking a cosmetology course at CHOICE High School next year and by the end of her senior year, she will have obtain and earned her cosmetology license.
When not working on Olivia Talley Cosmetics, she is the historian for Key Club International at her school, and upon her senior year, she will be taking AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics.
Peter Masone, The Hall Mall
Peter Masone is a sophomore at Niceville High School in Niceville, FL and the founder of The Hall Mall. Peter generated the idea for The Hall Mall when he was at an airport and noticed that passengers were purchasing items for their next flight out of vending machines because it was the quickest and most convenient way possible. Peter saw this as an opportunity because he was misplacing or offering his supplies during school and was always running out of materials. Once Peter started to pay attention to other students and teachers that had lost or asked to borrow supplies in his classes, he knew he could launch a successful business.
When not working on launching The Hall Mall, Peter is tremendously involved in Niceville High School’s leadership program, including the creation of a service project that placed second in a statewide leadership competition. Since his freshman year Peter has been class president and helped plan his school’s Homecoming and Prom.
