Youth Entrepreneurs Serves Up Business for Breakfast in Kansas City

Another great startup event hot and out of the oven in Kansas City!  Youth Entrepreneurs is hosting its annual Business for Breakfast event on November 13, 2012 from 7:30am-9:00am at Livestrong Sporting Park.

Youth Entrepreneurs is excited to kick-start the day with an interactive discussion that features the insights of inspirational leaders who have supported Youth Entrepreneurs for the past few years.  This year, Cliff Illig, co-founder of Cerner, will be the speaker with moderating by Eric Morgenstern of Morningstar Communications.  The Emcee for the day is Betsy Johnson, a Youth Entrepreneurs alum and founder of SwimZip.

If you're looking to get connected, get inspired and get help, the Business for Breakfast event by Youth Entrepreneurs is a great way to get involved in the Kansas City community.  Tickets are on sale now for just $75.00 (a table of 7 is $600.00).

Business for Breakfast could not come at a better time either.  The event will take place smack dab in the middle of Kansas City's Global Entrepreneurship Week (November 8-November 16, 2012).  There's no better time to start celebrating entrepreneurship than with young, passionate minds during GEW.

Reserve your spot at Business for Breakfast today and get connected with the KC startup community!

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"When the fans speak, people listen." - Bill Rasmussen of ESPN

The Youth Entrepreneurs Business Breakfast at
The College Basketball Experience in Kansas City.

WRITTEN BY ALLISON WAY, SENIOR COPYWRITER & CHIEF EDITOR


This morning, I had the opportunity to join Youth Entrepreneurs as they welcomed Bill Rasmussen, Founder of ESPN to talk at their business breakfast.  The breakfast opened with Eric Morgenstern, President and CEO of Morningstar Communications.  He proclaimed that the goal of the breakfast was to "awaken your entrepreneur and inspire youth to do the same."


Kyle Stupka, Executive Director of Youth Entrepreneurs, was next to take the stage.  After thanking sponsors like Lockton and Tradebot, Stupka mentioned that 22% of the alumni from Youth Entrepreneurs have started a business and 85% of alumni have changed their career goals because of YEK.


Next, Madyson Smith, a YEK alum, took the mic and told the crowd about her participation in competitions for YEK and told the story of her dream to start an indoor golf center in Missouri.  Following her was Tiffany Jasper, teacher for the YEK program.


Finally, to finish up the event, Bruce Haertl and Founder of ESPN Bill Rasmussen took the stage in an interview-style format.  Rasmussen talked about where ESPN came from (a $9000 credit card advance, money from family, a small-time investor and a lot of passion).


Bill Rasmussen iterated many times that you don't have to start "ahead of the curve" in order to become a success.  In fact, he boldly stated during the live interview that, "you don't have to know everything when you start.  We knew zero!"


Rasmussen also talked about focusing on the customers first.  For ESPN, those customers are the fans.  ESPN had to sell, primarily, to the fans first.  Bill was sure to mention that "When the fans speak, people listen."


The breakfast ended with a hilarious video--ESPN's first promotional video ever, which had a happy-go-lucky jingle and footage from sports games from pole vault to rugby.


Congratulations to Youth Entrepreneurs for putting on a great Kansas City event at the College Basketball Experience.  And congratulations to those young entrepreneurs who are going out there and learning, dreaming and doing.


Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig

Bill Rasmussen of ESPN Inspires Kansas City's Young Entrepreneurs

Ask any high school student what they want to be when they are older and they will proudly boast about their goals of being an NBA superstar, a chef, a broadcaster, or a famous photographer.  High school students have no problem telling you exactly what they want to do when they graduate from college.  But how many of them want to be entrepreneurs?  Quite a few.  

Which is why Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas has been created.  Youth Entrepreneurs is a nonprofit organization that teaches business and entrepreneurial skills in high school classrooms and offers hands-on experiences to help students succeed as business owners or employees.  

Place an entrepreneurial-minded high school student in Youth Entrepreneurs and he is sure to succeed.  But put an entrepreneurial-minded high school student in front of the founder of ESPN and he is sure to succeed, listen and be inspired even further. 

Youth Entrepreneurs is doing just that.  On November 18, Youth Entrepreneurs is hosting its inaugural Business for Breakfast benefit in Kansas City with life-long entrepreneur and founder of ESPN, Bill Rasmussen.

Attendees of the benefit, moderated by Bruce Haertl, Eyewitness Sports, will gain business insights from Rasmussen as he shares his entrepreneurial success story.  Rasmussen undoubtedly changed the face of sports and television by brainstorming a network that has become the Worldwide Leader in Sports, ESPN.   

The Business for Breakfast will be presented by Lockton and will be held at the College Basketball Experience at the Sprint Center from 7:30-9:00am on November 18th.  The cost is $75 per person and all proceeds will benefit Youth Entrepreneurs.

Reserve your ticket today: http://www.yeks.org.

Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig

Economic Empowerment Summit

Are you an entrepreneur looking to start a business?  A small business looking for ways to better market your product or service?  Or are you interested in entrepreneurship and looking to network with entrepreneurs in the community?  The 2011 Economic Empowerment Summit promises to help do just that & more. 

The Economic Empowerment Summit is hosted by the Joseph Business School, an entrepreneurial institution dedicated to helping Christians educate themselves and advance in entrepreneurial business. The focus of this years event will be “Business in Demand: Leading in the Community, Your Organization, and the Marketplace.” 

The inspiring line up of speakers include Bishop I.V. Hilliard, Dr. Steve Houpe and Hajj Flemings.  All of whom possess a diverse entrepreneurial background and are sure to provide insightful business advice. The even will feature workshop such as, Starting a Business 101, Marketing the Small Business, Technology and Social Media and a special youth session for young aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Economic Empowerment Summit will take place Spetember 16^th and 17^th at the Harvest Church and is free to the public.  All ages are welcome to attend.  Register now to reserve your place.   Be sure to check out the Kanasas City businesses on display & network with local entrepreneurs! 

Written By Laura Goede

@LauraGThinkBig

Big Business at Age 15: Youth Entrepreneurs

It's the volunteer opportunity for any entrepreneur: help a high schooler start a business!

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why didn’t I start this business earlier?” 

Of course you have.  Every entrepreneur wishes that they would have started just a little bit earlier.  But as many of you know, the hardest part of entrepreneurship is the first step.  The plunge.  The launch.  It’s a scary time.  And maybe you could have been more prepared for it.

Youth Entrepreneurs is now giving you the opportunity to help future entrepreneurs start earlier.  This organization teaches free enterprise fundamentals through hands-on experiences and encourages students to start their own businesses, enhance their business skills for future career opportunities and continue into higher education.  And now you can be a part of the experience.

Youth Entrepreneurs is seeking business professionals in Kansas and Missouri to become business plan advisors for local high school students. In this economy, donating money may be difficult, but donating a few hours of your time is a great alternative. Mentoring can make a huge difference in inspiring a student to succeed in their future business career. As a business plan advisor, your guidance can help shape the future generation of entrepreneurs.

In order to learn more about Youth Entrepreneurs and the incredible mentors that have joined the organization, I talked to Emily Morrow, a Youth Entrepreneurs business plan advisor and HR generalist at CommunityAmerica Credit Union. 

“[Youth Entrepreneurs] is a routine mentorship opportunity that lets me touch the lives of kids,” she says.  “[This organization] gives them hope.”

At CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Emily has plenty of volunteer opportunities.  In fact, CommunityAmerica Credit Union donated over 3,500 hours of volunteer work last year alone.  But when it came to choosing her volunteer path, Morrow decided to work with Youth Entrepreneurs because it allowed her to provide students with innovation and forward-thinking strategies. 

“These kids have a passion for their plans,” Morrow says.  “I want to help them think outside of the box.  The kids have great ideas and I want to help them expand on them because it could turn into a real-life future business for them.”

Are you doing your part in the Kansas/Missouri community this year?  If not, this is your opportunity to get out there and enhance the lives of children and the world of startups.  Get involved today! 

Written by Allison Way.  Allison is a writer for Think Big Partners.  To read more of Allison’s work, check out the Kansas City Entrepreneurship Examiner and her articles on Helium, eZine and BrooWaha.  Follow Allison! @AllisonThinkBig