How I Started: Lessons from Entrepreneurs to the Next Generation

Kids Markets
  • 4.9 (53)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

The Kids Markets team brings you inspiring ideas from entrepreneurs to help children explore, innovate, and become a builder in their own right. How I Started features conversations with founders and young entrepreneurs about building businesses from the ground up. Hosted by Connor Boyack, the show explores the lessons, pivots, and mentorship behind successful companies. Episodes include long-form founder interviews and Startup Standouts, short spotlights on teens launching their first ventures through Kids Markets.

  1. 6d ago

    Jeff Burningham on Product Market Fit, Entrepreneurship, and Staying Human in the Age of AI

    At 13 years old, Jeff Burningham convinced his mom to buy him a carpet cleaner so he could pay for basketball tournaments. That scrappy side hustle became the foundation of a career that would go on to include founding Peak Capital Partners, investing in over 200 startups, running for governor of Utah, and writing a bestselling book on humanity in the age of AI. In this episode of How I Started, Jeff joins Connor Boyack to unpack what real entrepreneurship looks like when you strip away the bells and whistles: presence, hard work, product market fit, and knowing what magic you personally bring to the table. He shares the mindset that shaped his founder journey, what he actually looks for as an investor after seeing 20,000+ companies, and why the future belongs to the young entrepreneurs who stay most connected to their humanity, even as AI reshapes every industry around them. Things You Will Learn: Why the nuts and bolts matter more than any flashy business idea.How to find product market fit as a young entrepreneur by treating every customer interaction as data.What Jeff looks for when deciding whether to invest in a founder and why over 50% of the decision has nothing to do with the product.Tools & Frameworks Covered Product Market Fit through Data Gathering: the practical method Jeff teaches young entrepreneurs for testing whether the market actually wants what they're sellingThe Special Magic Test: Jeff's investor lens for identifying what a founder uniquely brings that no one else can replicateWise AI Engagement: a daily practice for using AI as a thought partner without outsourcing your thinking to it #FounderJourney #YouthEntrepreneurship #Entrepreneurship #StartABusiness #ThoughtLeadership

    Jeff Burningham on Product Market Fit, Entrepreneurship, and Staying Human in the Age of AI

  2. Oct 14

    The Beauty of a “Pay What You Can” Model: Tide and Trinket by Addy

    Addy is a young entrepreneur selling her decoupaged artwork out of Connecticut. She has a heart for inspiring smiles and joy in her customers, and accomplishes this in part by implementing a strategic “Pay What You Can” model. She sources her art supplies from low-cost places like thrift stores and the beach, and turns a profit that she reinvests back into her business. You won’t want to miss this episode! Guest Links: https://www.instagram.com/tideandtrinketbyaddy/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581617614450 Key topics: “Pay What You Can” pricing model Affordable sourcing Young business owners Business growth Decoupage artwork Confidence through entrepreneurship Building community in business Navigating business expenses #SmallBusiness #YoungEntrepreneurs #CraftBusiness #YouthEntrepreneurship #YoungArtist

    The Beauty of a “Pay What You Can” Model: Tide and Trinket by Addy

  3. Oct 7

    Jeff Danley on How to Start a Business, When to Raise Capital, and Why Service Beats Almost Everything

    What does it take to go from mowing lawns as a teenager to managing a $5 billion investment portfolio? Jeff Danley, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Peak Capital, joins How I Started to walk through the full founder journey, from his first lawn-mowing business at 13 to building one of the early credit card review websites in the 1990s to becoming a seasoned investor backing entrepreneurs across Utah. Jeff shares why most of the best businesses start from a personal need, when it actually makes sense to raise funding, and why service-based side hustles are quietly among the strongest opportunities for young entrepreneurs right now. He also opens up about what investors really look for, why knowing your own goals matters more than chasing growth, and how creating jobs is one of the most meaningful outcomes of entrepreneurship. Things You Will Learn How to recognize a real business idea from your own life, and why the best founders start by solving a problem they personally have.When raising funding support helps your business grow, and when it can actually slow you down.Why service-based side hustles are one of the most overlooked opportunities for young entrepreneurs today.Tools & Frameworks Covered The Business Idea Book: Jeff's lifelong practice of writing down problems and ideas as he notices them, then researching which ones could become real businesses.The Default-No Funding Approach: a way of thinking about whether to raise capital, anchored in the principle that “70% of a big pie is better than 100% of a small pie.”the Service-Based Side Hustle Lens: a practical filter young entrepreneurs can use to spot underserved local needs and start a business with low competition. #FounderJourney #YouthEntrepreneurship #StartABusiness #SideHustles #Entrepreneurship

    Jeff Danley on How to Start a Business, When to Raise Capital, and Why Service Beats Almost Everything

  4. Sep 30

    Perfecting Your Product: Hilom Candles

    Samantha White talks with Noa Schlosschberg, a 14-year-old candle maker in the Atlanta area, about how a candle-making class turned into a real business. Noa shares her early trial-and-error process, how Kids Markets helped her go from testing ideas to selling consistently, and what she’s learned about confidence, pricing, and standing out as a small business. Guest Links: https://www.instagram.com/hilomcandles/ Key topics: Building and growing a candle business Building Inventory Investing in your business Advise for young entrepreneurs Creating a cozy brand #YoungEntrepreneur #TeenBusinessOwner #CandleMaking #SmallBusiness #SoyCandles #KidsMarkets #AtlantaEntrepreneur

    Perfecting Your Product: Hilom Candles

  5. Sep 23

    How Bill Reynolds Started in Real Estate and Built a Property Empire Across the Front Range

    What happens when you walk away from a steady job with no income, no plan, and no safety net? Bill Reynolds did exactly that in his twenties and spent the next six decades building one of the most enduring commercial real estate portfolios along Colorado's Front Range. In this episode of How I Started, Bill, a longtime real estate developer and philanthropist funding the next generation of entrepreneurs, shares the real founder journey behind millions of square feet of offices, shops, and warehouses. From shoveling snow for a quarter to personally signing on every loan to build his first buildings, Bill walks through the mountains he had to climb, the partnerships that shaped his path, and the failure that knocked him off his “cocky perch” early on. Things You Will Learn Why taking calculated risk is essential to entrepreneurship, and how Bill's higher tolerance for risk shaped six decades of real estate success.How to choose a business partner by looking at their values first, not just their resources or skills.Why a single major failure can become the most valuable lesson of your entire career, and how to use it to grow stronger.Tools & Frameworks Covered The Contribution Mindset: reframing work and jobs as contributing to family, community, and country to build the foundation for future success.Burn-the-Boats Decision Making: removing your safety net to force focus and urgency, used by Bill when he left his father's business to start his own.Values-First Partnership Selection: evaluating partners on aligned values rather than liquidity, since shared values carry partnerships through the inevitable hard decisions. #FounderJourney #Entrepreneurship #YouthEntrepreneurship #StartABusiness #MentoringTheNextGeneration

    How Bill Reynolds Started in Real Estate and Built a Property Empire Across the Front Range

  6. Sep 16

    Turning Moldy Inventory into Financial Success: Elisheba Sam

    This week, Samantha gets to talk to Elisheba Sam, an incredibly talented crochet artist with a unique range of products and amazing storytelling skills. She shares how she got into crochet, her experiences selling her more unusual products, and how she overcame unexpected setbacks to have success. You won’t want to miss this enthralling episode! Guest Links: https://www.instagram.com/freedomfam.us?stkn=aGZrZGhwYjI4Yjht Key Topics Youth entrepreneurshipStarting a handmade business as a childCrochet entrepreneurshipSelling at children’s entrepreneur marketsCreating unique productsProduct experimentation and innovationBuilding confidence through salesOvercoming fear and self-doubtHandling slow markets and bad weatherLearning from business setbacksProduct presentation and booth displaysUnderstanding customer behaviorFinding a target audienceSelling plushies and crocheted weaponsCustom orders and online sellingPersistence and not giving upTurning a hobby into a businessCreative problem-solvingThe importance of customer feedback #KidEntrepreneur #YoungEntrepreneur #CrochetBusiness #HandmadeBusiness #SmallBusiness #YoungCreators #EntrepreneurialMindset #CrochetMarket #OrlandoMarkets

    Turning Moldy Inventory into Financial Success: Elisheba Sam

  7. Sep 9

    How Mary Crafts Started a Catering Business from Her Kitchen and Built a Multimillion-Dollar Company

    What does it take to go from door-to-door card sales at age eight to building a multimillion-dollar catering company? Mary Crafts, Founder of Mary Crafts Inc. and one of Utah's most recognized culinary entrepreneurs, joins host Connor Boyack to share the real founder journey behind decades of growth. In this episode of How I Started, Mary walks us through her earliest entrepreneurial experience in a small Iowa town of 250 people, how watching her father identify community needs sparked her own instinct to create value, and how she turned home cooking and a red wagon into a thriving catering empire. Things You Will Learn How to identify a real need in your community and turn it into a business idea the same way Mary did at age eight and again when she launched her catering companyWhy rejection of your product is never a rejection of you and how understanding that difference unlocks the confidence to start sellingHow to discover what you're truly passionate about by noticing what makes people stop and listen when you speakTools & Frameworks Covered The Need-First Business Model: spotting what a community is missing before building the product, used by both Mary and her father to find their marketsThe Passion Discovery Method: identifying your entrepreneurial niche by asking what topics make others lean in and keep listeningThe Value-First Selling Approach: leading with service and customer experience over profit, which Mary credits as the foundation of long-term business growth #YouthEntrepreneurship #FounderJourney #StartABusiness #Entrepreneurship #MentoringTheNextGeneration

    How Mary Crafts Started a Catering Business from Her Kitchen and Built a Multimillion-Dollar Company

  8. Sep 2

    How Simplifying Your Business Can Help You Grow Faster: Happy Face Creations

    This week we get to speak with Wilfred Bailey, a 13-year-old entrepreneur behind Happy Face Creations, about turning a love of reading into a business selling custom bookmarks and stickers. Wilfred shares how he improved product quality, organized inventory with a POS system, and kept growing through market feedback, weather challenges, and constant iteration. Guest Links: www.happyfacecreations.comhttps://www.instagram.com/happyfacecreations24/https://www.etsy.com/shop/HappyFaceCreationKey topics: Building a bookmark business Focusing on quality Overcoming operational challenges #bookmarkbusiness #youngentrepreneur #kidsmarkets #orlandomarkets #smallbusiness #operationaladvice #customorders #inventorytracking #POS #overcomingweatherchallenges #familysupport

    How Simplifying Your Business Can Help You Grow Faster: Happy Face Creations
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About

The Kids Markets team brings you inspiring ideas from entrepreneurs to help children explore, innovate, and become a builder in their own right. How I Started features conversations with founders and young entrepreneurs about building businesses from the ground up. Hosted by Connor Boyack, the show explores the lessons, pivots, and mentorship behind successful companies. Episodes include long-form founder interviews and Startup Standouts, short spotlights on teens launching their first ventures through Kids Markets.

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