What would our country and our community look like without the freedom to build a business? Without people willing to take a risk, bring an idea to life and create opportunities for others?
Think about the businesses we rely on, the people they employ and the problems they solve. Behind each one is someone who saw a need and decided to do something about it.
For me, entrepreneurship brings back memories of my uncle’s pizza place in Brooklyn.
After serving with the NYPD, he took a different path and opened a business. As a young person, I didn’t understand everything that went into being an entrepreneur, but I vividly remember watching him with his customers. He wanted people to feel welcome and enjoy their food and experience.
I remember seeing how hard he worked to keep the business going well and how he would try new ideas for the menu. I also remember walking around the neighborhood with him and my cousins, handing out flyers at people’s doors to get the word out. There was no social media back then!
Looking back, I was learning lessons without realizing it. Focus on your customers. Be willing to try something new. Take pride in what you offer. Put in the work to succeed.
Those lessons have stayed with me. While I didn’t start Junior Achievement of South Florida, I think it’s critical for every CEO to bring an entrepreneurial mindset to a business. Creating a vision, building a team, finding resources and trying new approaches are all part of moving our mission forward.
November is National Entrepreneurship Month, and it reminds me why these early experiences matter. Young people need opportunities to see how an idea becomes a business and what it takes to keep it going.
JA’s history is rooted in that belief. Beginning with the JA Company Program in 1919, students learned by starting and running real businesses. Today, that learning continues here through JA Fellows, where students develop, source, market and sell a product or service, manage finances and work as a team to create a successful business.
They learn that a good idea needs a plan. That customers have choices. That setbacks require adjustments. And that their talents, passions and skills can create something of value.
At JA, we are working to accelerate economic mobility and build economic prosperity. Entrepreneurship education helps young people see business ownership as a possibility and gives them skills they can use wherever their careers take them.
My uncle’s pizza place was like a classroom for me. Through JA, we can give more young people that same chance to learn, try and discover what they’re capable of building. Our country’s next chapter of innovation and opportunity depends on young people who are prepared to help write it.
You can help. Become a mentor in JA Fellows, our entrepreneurship program, and share your experience as students build businesses of their own. Your guidance, questions and encouragement can make a difference. Contact our team to learn how to get involved – https://jasouthflorida.org/volunteer
Togeher, lets help young people bring the ideas that move us forward to life.
