By Sha’de Ray
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Christon Jones and Jahkil Jackson, adolescents whose peers favor sports and video games, recently spent time discussing the stock market, investment strategies and a self-published book on a Raising Entrepreneurs Podcast.
“It was great especially since they were making me the focus,” said 12-year-old Jahkil Jackson, explaining his experience with the Podcast. “It was one of those times where I am joyful because my organization is being noticed and getting the word out.”
Jahkil Jackson is the CEO and founder of Project I AM, an organization that delivers toiletries and other personal items in “Blessing Bags” to the homeless and people in need. Christon “The Truth” Jones, 13, is an international Les Brown certified speaker, international best-selling author and day trader.
The two young entrepreneurs exemplify the purpose of Raising Entrepreneurs: A Parent’s Guide to Fostering an Entrepreneurial Mindset. Tameka Montgomery said on the website that she and her husband launched the podcast “so that I can learn from others and share those insights with parents interested in taking this journey.”
https://raisingentrepreneurspodcast.com/
Jonathan Montgomery, 51, is a self-employed real estate appraiser and president of The Real Estate Appraisal Group, Inc. He and his wife said that the idea for the Podcast stemmed from their three sons: Silas, 13, Daniel, 10 and Isaiah, 12, who each created their own businesses.
The couple said they realized their children were already empowered at an early age. Tameka Montgomery spoke on her podcast about Silas finding ways to make money to pay for his own plane ticket when he was 8 years old. This inspired his siblings to find their own ways to make money. The Montgomery parents capitalized on this by steering the boys to think entrepreneurially.
The Montgomery couple also launched the Montgomery County Children’s Fair before creating the podcast, which also sparked the creation of Raising Entrepreneurs. Tameka Montgomery said the creation of the fair came from her experience implementing policies and programs for small businesses. The fair paved a way for children to have fun, make money, and showcase their own businesses, said Jonathan Montgomery.
Research by the entrepreneurial youth program Junior Achievement and Ernst & Young LLP found that children as young as elementary school are interested in earning money and creating businesses. They found that 41 percent of teens consider entrepreneurship as a career.
“There’s so much opportunity and access to information these days,” said Jonathan Montgomery as he explained the importance of entrepreneurial thinking and how easy it is to learn a craft. “Now you can self-educate yourself on YouTube.”
Raising Entrepreneurs offers a toolkit for sale called “Beyond the Lemonade Stand,” he said. This is a workbook with downloadable audio that helps young entrepreneurs and their parents develop problem-solving thinking as well as ideas to launch businesses. The course also is reusable to develop different approaches and ideas, he said.
Raising Entrepreneurs Podcast also hosts guests who talk about their own experiences to give insight for others. When Christon and Jahkil were featured, listeners were taught how to trade and invest in the stock market. Christon said he made more than $5,000 in less than 90 days when his book, “The Win Within,” was released.
Christon said the book is about looking deep inside of oneself to overcome bullying and harsh experiences. He added that he enjoyed his interview with the Raising Entrepreneur Podcast because he was inspired to grow, work harder, and move further in his entrepreneurship.
To Christon, Raising Entrepreneur stands for “raising someone to change [his or her] mindset from a traditional one to an entrepreneurial mindset.” Becoming an entrepreneur allows someone to be free of working certain hours and to generate his or her own income, he said.
Jahkil said he has distributed more than 35,000 “Blessing Bags” so far after starting his organization and has received more donations after appearing on the Raising Entrepreneur Podcast.
Raising Entrepreneurs Podcast has more than 100 episodes, said the Montgomery couple, adding that they now are working on episodes for season two. The goals are to start incorporating video formats such as YouTube, change the layout of their website and work on the opportunity to have “Beyond the Lemonade Stand” possibly accessible to schools, said Jonathan Montgomery.