Raising Entrepreneurial Kids Through Real Life Learning
Mindset, Confidence & Leadership
Stories and lessons about confidence, resilience, leadership, personal growth, self-belief, and helping children think differently about life and possibility.
Kids mindset for success begins with helping children turn their dreams, ideas and intentions into a clear plan they can actually follow.
During my career-path conversation with my son Jai, he was able to visualise himself, his surroundings and the companions he wanted in his adult future. The final step was to solidify the pathway that would take him to his version of a successful life: a plan, Natalie Cook’s fifth P.
Natalie Cook stood on a chair for this photo!
Kids Mindset for Success Starts With a Plan
It is always a good idea to sit down and plot out short-term and long-term goals, especially for entrepreneurial kids who are cultivating a kids mindset for success.
On an adult level, well-made plans should be a natural component of what you perceive as your life’s purpose — your “Why” in life. Of course, children who are entrepreneurial may not have solidified their life purpose to this extent yet. But they can still begin learning how to set meaningful goals, create intentions and take practical steps forward.
A plan helps children move from vague wishing into purposeful action.
Write an intention on a small piece of paper, but do not use the future tense.
For instance, an adult might write:
“I have attracted a healthy, motivated business person to my business this month.”
That is much stronger than writing:
“I will attract…”
A child might write:
“I have kicked two goals at this Saturday’s soccer match.”
Place the written intention under your pillow, in your wallet, or somewhere you will view it regularly. The idea is to set a specific and realistic goal, then see it, believe it and feel it.
People who practise this mindset for success technique can go on to set bigger and grander intentions over time.
For children, this is not about pressure. It is about learning to direct their thoughts, language and energy toward something positive and achievable.
Having a Defined Goal Builds a Kids Mindset for Success
My friend Michael Clouse says that not having a clearly defined plan is like an archer who aims at a target with a blindfold on.
There is no chance of hitting the bullseye if you are unable to see it.
That image is a wonderful one for children. If they cannot see what they are aiming for, how can they know which direction to move? A clearly defined goal helps children understand what they are working toward and why their daily actions matter.
This is especially important for entrepreneurial kids, because business ideas can easily remain just ideas unless they are supported by a plan.
Vision Boards and a Kids Mindset for Success
Another technique is visualising goals using a vision board.
Select the experiences, goals and things that you would like to have in your life. Then make a poster board using images, words and graphics. Place the vision board somewhere you will see it daily.
The important part is not just making the board. The important part is seeing it often, visualising the items on the board, and imagining them as if they were real and already present in your life.
Facing your fears! Walking on broken glass!
A vision board can help children begin to connect their imagination with action. It gives them a visual reminder of what they care about and where they are heading.
For some kids, this might include sport, travel, family, creativity, business ideas, friendships, learning goals or ways they want to contribute to the world.
Positive Affirmations Lead to a Success Mindset in Kids
Speaking positive affirmations aloud two or three times a day is another way of setting your intention and belief. Again, these should be in the present tense.
Natalie Cook likes to declare her intentions and plans before a public audience, making herself accountable to a lot of people for achieving her aims. Her Olympic journey is a strong example of discipline, planning and follow-through. You can read more about her work and speaking through Natalie Cook’s official website.
So be bold.
Change your way of thinking.
Get rid of the negatives.
Affirm the positives.
Make sure that your plans are well aligned with your life vision. Set grand goals and follow your plan. This is a kids mindset for success.
Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series
This article is Part 4 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.
How do you help your children set goals and follow a plan? Leave a comment and share one strategy that has helped build a mindset for success in your family.
Teaching perseverance to kids is one of the most important parts of helping them develop a mindset for success, because every child will face setbacks, rejection and moments when things feel too hard.
A baby learns to walk by falling over many times. An entrepreneur learns to succeed after stumbling along the way. In this third part of Natalie Cook’s Five Ps series, we look at her fourth P: Perseverance — perseverance on our children’s part, and perseverance on ours as parents too.
Perseverance grows when children work through challenges, solve problems together and keep going when learning gets difficult.
Teaching Perseverance to Kids Through Real-Life Setbacks
One of the best ways to teach children perseverance is to let them see adults handle setbacks in a healthy way.
For example, Cathy and I have learned that in the business of referring people to an opportunity, many people will simply not be interested. With enterprising teens watching, how do parents set an example to persevere when people say “No”?
The mindset for success is to celebrate the “No.”
After enough “No” responses, a “Yes” will inevitably follow. One of my mentors, David Wood, says to do the Happy Dance whenever you get a “No,” because the rejection has only moved you one step closer to the “Yes.”
Perseverance for Kids Means Learning to Handle Rejection
Your kids, whether entrepreneurial or not, are going to like seeing that Happy Dance.
It becomes a practical, memorable way to help seal the behavioural pattern of success in their mindsets. Being able to overcome rejection in business, rejection from friends and even rejection from family is paramount when teaching perseverance to kids.
The lesson is simple but powerful: rejection is not the end of the road. It is part of the road.
For entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens, this matters. A child who can hear “No” and still keep going has a much stronger foundation than a child who believes every “No” means they have failed.
Changing the Language Children Use About Perseverance
Our vocabulary also plays a huge part in our ability to persevere.
In our family, “Can’t” is a swear word and is not allowed to be used at any time. “Can” is encouraged.
Many people, including kids, are quick to give up when the going gets tough. They say, “I can’t,” rather than “I can.” The little kids in my family actually believe “can’t” is a swear word, right up there with the other big four-letter words!
This might sound funny, but it is also a powerful family rule.
When children repeatedly say “I can’t,” they begin training themselves to stop. When they learn to say “I can try,” “I can learn,” or “I can have another go,” they begin building the internal language of perseverance.
Teaching Perseverance to Kids With “That Was Easy”
Another phrase to abandon is, “It’s too hard.”
Natalie Cook showed us a little trick she used to change her perception of what is hard. She bought a toy button that calls out, “That was easy!” when you press it. Natalie would strap this toy button to her volleyball net pole.
Whenever she did something very well that was also very difficult, she would run up to press the button:
“That was easy!”
Try it for yourself. Press the button below.
Being the best in the world at your sport certainly has its challenges, and my kids would love to try out one of those buttons.
But whether or not you have the button, the point is not to keep telling yourself, “That was hard.”
A child’s brain listens carefully to repeated language. If the phrase is always “too hard,” the child begins to expect defeat. If the phrase becomes “I can try,” “I can learn,” or even “that was easy,” the child begins to rehearse a different identity.
Natalie Cook’s Example of Perseverance
Natalie Cook’s Olympic journey is a strong example of perseverance in action. Her official Olympic profile describes her as a five-time Olympian and Olympic gold and bronze medallist in beach volleyball, which makes her a powerful role model when teaching children about commitment, setbacks and long-term success. Read more about Natalie Cook’s Olympic journey here.
Children often see the medal, the success or the final moment of victory.
What they do not always see are the early mornings, the missed shots, the injuries, the disappointments, the training sessions and the moments when an athlete has to choose whether to keep going.
That is why perseverance is such an important lesson for kids. It teaches them that success is not just about talent. It is also about what they do after things become difficult.
Why Perseverance Belongs in the Mindset for Success
These tactics — celebrating the “No,” changing our language, and reframing hard things as achievable — can all increase the level of perseverance in kids and help keep them on a successful track.
But perseverance becomes easier when children also have direction.
That is where the next P comes in: Plan.
A plan gives perseverance somewhere to go. It helps children understand the next step, not just the final dream. Without a plan, perseverance can feel like pushing in the dark. With a plan, children can see that each effort is moving them forward.
Make sure you have a look at the short video above that we made of Natalie Cook giving a special message to our kids. Can you spot the blooper?
Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series
This article is Part 3 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.
Entrepreneurship activities for students do not always look like business plans and market stalls. Sometimes they look like leadership camps, team challenges, goal setting, confidence building and learning how to step out of your comfort zone.
Amber’s Green SuperCamp reflection shows how real-world learning experiences can help children grow in confidence, courage, communication and initiative.
Amber and new friends.
Entrepreneurship Activities for Students at Green SuperCamp
For our readers who were expecting Part 3 to our “Teaching Your Kids To Achieve Success” series of articles, I’d like to let you know that will be up very soon and it will be well worth the read.
Flynn and Amber Howitt have just returned from a Young Leaders Camp in Bali. As it is so fresh and exciting, I thought we would interrupt our five-part series and share some snippets of Amber’s experience whilst on camp.
Before I hand you over to Amber, I would like to give our readers a little background about Green SuperCamp, which was held at Green School Bali.
In 2012, three of our children — Kaitlin, Jai and Flynn — attended the camp and returned full of experience and wisdom. The camp is designed to create young leaders who care for our future world.
It does this by building their confidence, encouraging them to think big, and giving them the skills to learn, interact and step out of their comfort zones. In this way, it becomes one of those powerful entrepreneurship activities for students that teaches far more than a normal classroom lesson.
Leadership and learning activities:
Amber participating in a team performance.Flynn learning to trust.
This year Amber was old enough to go along too. She was very excited because she had heard all the awesome stories and learning from her siblings’ camp experiences the year before.
Also, a bunch of friends from Western Australia were coming along as well — Maddi Barrett, Macy Hobson, Georgia Dewar and Lachlan McRoberts.
So enough from me… here is Amber Howitt’s Green SuperCamp reflection.
Green SuperCamp, for me, was an amazing experience! Everyone there is treated evenly and kindly. No one is excluded or mistreated, so everyone is happy.
Your phones and valuables are given in, but you can reunite with your valuables almost every night to contact your parents.
Learning through real activities:
Grinding grain.Flynn and his SuperCamp team.
The Green SuperCamp itself is built mainly out of bamboo. It is nurtured and cared for by the people within it.
They use water from their lake and purify it. People from the world outside Green School can come and collect the water for free and use it in their homes.
Green School is meant so people around the community can be involved with the school. They make their own power using solar energy and grow their own food in food gardens.
Goal Setting as Entrepreneurship Activities for Students
The camp has inspired me to do more with my life, rather than just sit around and be… normal.
It has inspired me to take challenges, adventures and think of the things I could be doing. Writing books and travelling around the world are two of my crazy ideas. Those things might be a little hard for someone at the age of eleven though, but I can try to work up to that goal.
The steps for goal making are:
Design it
Outline it
In your face — tackle barriers
Take action!
Because of this, goal setting is one of the most practical entrepreneurship activities for students. It helps children imagine a future, break it into steps and take responsibility for moving forward.
Facing challenges and building trust:
High ropes course. Facing fears!Flynn floating on hands.
Learning Strategies and Student Confidence
We were taught Quantum Reading and Writing. I improved my reading speed with the same comprehension by over 100%.
I concentrated by using the Alpha State. Alpha State is a technique to relax and concentrate better.
The steps to Alpha State are:
Sit up
Breathe in and out
Close eyes
Think of a peaceful place
Roll eyes up and down
Open eyes
Concentrate
These strategies are useful because they help students understand how they learn. For entrepreneurial kids, focus, confidence and self-awareness are just as important as having a business idea.
Camp life and friendships:
Maddi preparing the home grown food.Macy and Georgia
Communication as Entrepreneurship Activities for Students
The friendships you can make at Green SuperCamp are really special. I made friends with both team leaders and kids from all over the world.
It is really easy to do so because everyone wants to make friends. Sometimes your relationships can last forever.
Green SuperCamp teaches you how to have the courage to become friends. No one is alone at Green School or Green SuperCamp.
I also learnt techniques to help me learn. These help me improve my relationship with my teachers. We call this “SLANT”.
Here are the “Tips for Learning” or “SLANT”:
Sit up
Lean forward
Ask questions
Nod your head
Talk to your teacher
Communication skills are an important part of entrepreneurship activities for students. Students need to ask questions, listen well, speak clearly and build trust with people around them.
Thanking and Apologising
Flynn saying goodbye to new friends!
We also learnt the importance of thanking people and apologising. We were taught how to do this properly.
We call the steps to thanking “OTFD” or “Open The Front Door”.
Observation, Think, Feel, Desire
We call the steps to apologise “AAMR”, pronounced “A Mr!”
Acknowledge, Apologise, Make it Right, Recommit
Eight Keys of Success
Lastly, we were taught the “Eight Keys of Success”. These are the keys that keep you on course for success.
For each of these keys, we learn a different hand movement. This helps us remember them.
Here they are:
Integrity
Failure Leads to Success
Speak With Good Purpose
This Is It
Commitment
Ownership
Flexibility
Balance
Altogether, these keys are another example of entrepreneurship activities for students because they build the habits children need for leadership, responsibility and future enterprise.
Why These Experiences Matter
If you read this and think, “Nah… my child wouldn’t want to go to that camp!” think again.
Any child, from any place, no matter what, will want to go to GreenSuperCamp.
Thank you to my parents and camp sponsors for making it possible for me to attend Green SuperCamp. Thank you to my friends and new friends that supported me on camp.
Also, thank you to all the team leaders and facilitators who taught me all the tools I need for life. Lastly, thank you my team. GO TEAM H!
Our “Teaching Your Kids To Achieve Success” series will continue with Part 3. You can also read Part 1 and Part 2.
Key takeaway: Entrepreneurship activities for students can include leadership camps, goal setting, teamwork, confidence building, communication skills and real-world challenges. Amber’s Green SuperCamp reflection shows how these experiences help children grow.
Where to Next?
If you enjoyed Amber’s Green SuperCamp reflection, you may also like:
Raise Entrepreneurial Kids — practical ideas for building confidence, initiative and real-world thinking.
Entrepreneurial kids need more than a good idea or a burst of enthusiasm — they need a strong sense of purpose that helps them keep going when the path becomes difficult.
This lesson became very clear to me after hearing Olympic gold medallist Natalie Cook speak in Perth. Natalie is a five-time Olympian and one of Australia’s most inspiring beach volleyball champions. Her message about success, purpose and the mindset of high achievers was powerful not only for athletes, but also for parents raising entrepreneurial kids.
Natalie Cook, Olympic gold medallist, shared powerful lessons about purpose and success.
Why Entrepreneurial Kids Need a Strong Purpose
Natalie Cook is a wonderful example of the connection between sport, business and personal success. She won Olympic gold with Kerri Pottharst at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and went on to become a respected speaker, leader and businesswoman. You can read more about her Olympic journey on the Australian Olympic Committee’s Natalie Cook profile.
When Natalie spoke in Perth, she explained that professional athletes and successful business owners have many things in common. Both need discipline, courage, focus and the ability to keep moving towards a goal, even when the obstacles are real.
Her message was captivating, humorous and very useful for cultivating a mindset for success in entrepreneurial kids — and, just as importantly, in their adult counterparts.
Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for Success
Natalie built her talk around what she called the Five Ps. These were principles that could apply to children, athletes, families and business owners alike.
Over a series of posts, I wanted to share these Five Ps and connect them to the way we raise enterprising, confident and purpose-driven children. I will also be adding one extra “P” of my own at the end. After hearing Natalie’s five, I wonder if you can guess what mine might be.
For this first part, we begin with one of the most important foundations of all.
Entrepreneurial Kids and the Power of Purpose
A person who truly reaches for success has a mindset that carries with it a very strong “Why,” or purpose.
Your “Why” must be stronger than your “Why not?”
If it is not, you may not have enough purpose to muster up the will to make your goals happen when barriers appear. A strong purpose gives children something deeper to hold onto. It turns a vague wish into a reason to keep trying.
Your “Why” has to be specific and close to the heart. It does not need to be complicated.
A friend of mine is driven to succeed because she desperately wants her mum to be happy and not have to work anymore. Another wants to buy a villa in Tuscany so that she can reconnect with her Italian family roots and create a sense of belonging.
These “Whys” are very different from saying, “Why not?” They are clear purposes, not poor explanations.
Teaching Purpose to Kids Through Real Conversations
Your “Why” will often come from one of two emotions: pain or pleasure. Usually, pain is the stronger of the two.
Think about the rags-to-riches stories we often hear about well-known success mentors and creators such as JK Rowling, Colonel Sanders, Sylvester Stallone, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Susan Boyle and Richard Branson. Their difficult experiences helped shape a strong “Why,” and that purpose became part of what carried them forward.
For entrepreneurial kids, this does not mean they need to experience hardship before they can succeed. It means they need to understand what matters to them. They need to begin asking deeper questions about contribution, growth, family, freedom, creativity and the kind of life they want to build.
Amy, Cathy, Natalie, Tracey, Kym and Trevor after Natalie Cook’s inspiring talk.
I recently carried out a “Why” exercise with my son, Jai.
We had just returned from a career pathway meeting for his upcoming senior class. Every pathway the school presented seemed to end in landing a j-o-b — just-over-broke. Whether the route was through university, technical school or straight into the average 40-year career, the end result sounded much the same.
Worse still, because the students were nearing the end of high school, the pressure was on to make a choice. It felt like a limited choice, based on hastily presented ideas rather than a deeply considered purpose.
The result was confusion. Jai seemed torn between going to university with his mates because it sounded like fun, or leaving school with his cousin and going to make money in the mines.
This inconsistency told me that Jai’s “Whys” for both of these career paths were too vague.
Questions That Help Entrepreneurial Kids Find Their Why
So, we got to work.
We discussed why these two ideas sounded interesting to him. We talked about the difference between a strong “Why” and a casual “Why not?” We also explored why “Why not?” is unlikely to carry a person through the hard parts of either choice.
Then I asked Jai to ponder three questions:
How do you want to contribute to this world?
How do you want to grow as a person?
How do you want to be remembered when you pass?
These are big questions for a teenager. In fact, they are big questions for adults too.
But they matter.
If we want to raise entrepreneurial kids who can think for themselves, create opportunities and build meaningful lives, we need to help them move beyond surface-level choices. We need to help them understand what drives them.
Purpose Comes Before the Plan
Many children are asked what job they want before they are asked what kind of life they want.
They are asked what subjects they will choose before they are asked what they care about.
They are asked which pathway they will follow before they have had time to discover the purpose behind the pathway.
This is why purpose matters so much. A plan without purpose can become a list of tasks. Purpose gives the plan energy, direction and meaning.
For entrepreneurial kids, purpose is not just about making money. It is about knowing why they want to create, serve, solve, build, lead or contribute in the first place.
Next, we continue the journey in Part 2: People and Passion, where we explore how the right people and passions can help shape entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens.
Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series
This article is Part 1 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.
We are always looking for feedback on our entrepreneurial kids articles. What is your “Why”? Leave a comment and share the purpose that keeps you moving forward.
Enterprising teens need more than a career pathway or a good business idea — they need the right people around them and a passion strong enough to keep them moving forward.
After my son Jai and I discussed the first of Natalie Cook’s Five Ps, Purpose, I asked him to make a timeline of his life. I wanted him to focus on his surroundings, but more importantly, on the people who would be with him.
Jai thinking about the people and passions that could help shape his enterprising teen journey.
Why Enterprising Teens Need the Right People
Natalie Cook’s second P is People.
Attracting the right people in life is key to building a successful young entrepreneur. But whether Jai chose to be an enterprising teen or follow a different path, what mattered most to me was his mindset for success in whatever direction he chose.
So, I asked him to imagine where he would like to be sitting five years from now — and with whom.
Then ten years from now.
Then forty years from now.
I asked him to picture what was around him, who his associates were, and what made those people so valuable to him that their presence would still be visible in his future decades later.
What Natalie Cook Taught About People and Success
Natalie Cook’s career is a powerful example of what the right people, passion and support can help create. Her official Olympic profile describes her as a five-time Olympian and Olympic gold and bronze medallist in beach volleyball, making her a strong real-world role model for enterprising teens. Read more about Natalie Cook’s Olympic journey here.
Natalie discussed the value of surrounding herself with the right people while training to become an Olympic gold medallist. Around her were coaches, mindset mentors, professionals and peers whose encouragement lifted her up rather than criticism that tore her down.
This is a powerful lesson for enterprising teens.
The people around our children influence how they think, what they believe is possible, and the standards they quietly begin to accept for themselves. Friends, mentors, coaches, teachers, family members and business role models can all shape a child’s confidence and direction.
As parents, we cannot choose every influence our children will meet. But we can help them become more conscious of the people they allow close to them.
It is important for enterprising teens to spend time with the sort of people they would like to learn from, grow with and, in some ways, emulate.
This goes beyond simple peer pressure. Children and teenagers absorb attitudes, habits, language, confidence and expectations from the people around them. If they are constantly surrounded by people who complain, criticise or limit possibility, that can become their normal.
But if they are surrounded by people who encourage, create, question, build, serve and keep learning, that can also become their normal.
This does not mean they need to abandon old friends or judge others harshly. It simply means they can learn to ask better questions:
Who encourages me to become better?
Who helps me believe more is possible?
Who lives with values I respect?
Who makes me feel more confident, creative and capable?
Who would I love to learn from?
These are not just business questions. They are life questions.
Enterprising Teens Learn Success by Helping People
One of the things I love about business and enterprise is that, at its heart, it is about people.
It does not matter whether the enterprise is large or small. It could be a child’s first market stall, a family business, a service project, a creative idea, or a future company. When young people learn to be genuinely helpful to others, their chances of success increase.
Helping people gives enterprising teens and adults an energy that attracts the right people into their lives. It teaches them that business is not only about making money. It is also about solving problems, creating value and building relationships.
This is a lesson children can begin learning very early.
Why Passion Matters for Enterprising Teens
Natalie Cook’s third P is Passion.
People are naturally attracted to those who have passion for what they do. Passion gives energy to an idea. It helps a young person keep going when the excitement wears off and the work begins.
Natalie has spoken about the importance of loving the process, not just the outcome. That is a valuable message for enterprising teens, because the process is where most of the growth happens.
Success is not only found in the final result. It is found in the practice, the learning, the mistakes, the conversations, the courage and the small daily decisions that eventually become a life.
Jai wanted something he could stick with for the long term.
Having him visualise himself, his surroundings and his companions far into the future helped him reach a place that felt more connected to his own passion. It was something apart from what others were expecting of him. It was a desire that felt less likely to fade with time.
His spirit was guiding him, rather than the social conditioning of school, friends and family.
People and Passion Come Before the Pathway
This is one of the problems I see with the way many teenagers are asked to make career decisions.
They are often asked to choose a pathway before they have deeply considered the people they want around them, the kind of contribution they want to make, and the passions that might sustain them over time.
For enterprising teens, this matters.
A pathway without people can feel lonely.
A pathway without passion can become heavy.
But when a young person begins to understand who inspires them, who strengthens them, and what lights them up from the inside, their decisions become clearer.
That does not mean every choice becomes easy. It means the choices begin to come from a deeper place.
Natalie Cook’s Five Ps Series
This article is Part 2 in our series on Natalie Cook’s Five Ps for helping entrepreneurial kids and enterprising teens develop purpose, people, passion, perseverance, planning and a mindset for success.
If you could enlist three people in the world to personally be your friend and mentor, who would they be? Mine would be Richard Branson, Robert Kiyosaki and Michael Clouse. Leave us a comment and share who would be on your list.
Justin Herald has the kind of entrepreneur story that can really capture kids’ attention. It is bold, unusual, funny and full of lessons about attitude, confidence, persistence and giving an idea a crack.
This story impressed our kids because it shows that success does not always come from perfect school results or following the expected path. Sometimes, the spark is attitude, action and the courage to try something different.
Justin Herald with his toys!
Justin Herald: A Story That Will Impress Your Kids
This story will impress your kids. It certainly impressed ours.
There is also a little lesson in it for them.
It demonstrates that it is not necessarily only what children learn at school that brings future success. Sometimes, attitude, initiative, confidence and the willingness to take action can become powerful ingredients in a person’s life.
That is why stories like this are useful when we are trying to raise entrepreneurial kids. They help children see that business is not just about money. It is also about ideas, people, problem-solving and courage.
The Entrepreneur X Factor Event
Last week my friend Gary and I attended an unusual business event in Fremantle called Entrepreneur X Factor. We really did not know what to expect.
On arriving, it was immediately apparent that there was tremendous energy in the room. People were friendly, engaging and full of ideas. Successful entrepreneurs Mike Handcock and Dave Rogers ran the show, along with multi-millionaire guest speakers.
People from the event:
Mike HandcockDave RogersDr Joe
Why the Event Was So Unusual
There were two parts to the event.
The first sessions were all about Quantum Business, which was definitely not your normal run-of-the-mill business focus. After lunch, there was an exciting competition where participants stood up in front of the audience and publicly presented their business idea or concept.
The audience judged the event. Budding entrepreneurs, seeking big business support, were scored on their one-minute presentations. The competition was similar to the TV show The Lion’s Den. Investors were in the room looking to partner with the winner and help them grow their idea.
It was exciting and a little tense. The winner was a guy called Dr Joe.
I could share more about the Entrepreneur X Factor competition and the insights around Quantum Business, but the main purpose of this post is to share a story that will impress your kids.
The First Impression of Justin Herald
So here goes.
There was this tattooed guy in the room dressed in a checked shirt and jeans. He had a goatee and shaven head, wore a black choker necklace and earrings, and described himself as a self-proclaimed bogan who loved hotted-up cars.
This unusual character was introduced as Justin Herald. I had heard the name before, but could not quite remember where I had heard it.
Justin was one of the guest speakers. He came to the front to share his experience and offer some valued advice to us all. He told us the story of how he built a multimillion-dollar business from literally nothing.
There were no airs or graces about Justin Herald. He was an everyday bloke who really did not care too much about what people thought of him. He spoke his mind, he had charisma, and he certainly had attitude.
How Justin Herald Started with an Attitude
Justin Herald’s dad was a church minister, and Justin grew up within a church community. It was in a church that his first business idea evolved.
During one particular church service, an elderly lady spoke to Justin and pointed out that he had an attitude problem and should mind his manners.
Justin did not take well to being told off about his attitude, especially at 25 years old. However, that moment ignited an idea.
At the time, Justin had only $1.25 in the bank and needed some cash to put his idea into action. So he asked his brother for $50. He then bought some cheap shirts, took them to a printer, and had “Attitude” slogans printed on them.
He enlisted the support of his brother and mates. Each of them put on one of the freshly printed shirts and attended the Sunday service, making sure they all stood in full view of the opinionated lady.
She was not happy when she saw the blatant prank Justin had pulled. The shirts had served their purpose very well, and Justin was delighted.
However, something unexpected happened after the service. A number of people took an interest in the “Attitude” shirts. In fact, some people asked if they could buy one from Justin.
That was the beginning of something much bigger.
The Attitude Brand Begins
Justin Herald thought it might be worth a few dollars, so he used the money from selling the first six shirts to his mates and organised for more shirts to be printed with “Attitude” slogans.
Word got out, and his little business began to emerge.
He decided to try selling his shirts at the Sydney Markets. He had never done this before and had no idea how it would go. So he asked one of his mates if he would lend a hand.
His mate said, “No.”
So Justin asked if he would lend a hand for one hundred bucks, and his mate said, “I’d love to help!”
They arrived at the markets and were allocated a table. Justin tipped his box of shirts onto the table all jumbled up. The shirts were a novelty, and people were interested.
Justin Herald Sold Out in Two Hours
To his complete surprise, Justin Herald sold out in the first two hours.
Justin and I.
His excitement and business grew from there. He printed more and more shirts and was soon selling $10,000 worth of shirts every weekend at the markets.
Next, he tried retail stores. The owners moved him on because they had never heard of “Attitude” branded shirts. They also said their customers were not asking for “Attitude” shirts.
Justin had an idea. He asked his mates to call all the retail stores in the area and ask if they had “Attitude” shirts in stock.
He gave it a few weeks and then paid a visit to these same stores with a sample of his shirts. This time, they were pleased to see him and could not wait to get his shirts up on display.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of calls we’ve had with people inquiring about Attitude shirts.”
Justin’s response was simple:
“Oh really?!”
Business Lessons Kids Can Learn from Justin Herald
Todd Hutchison, known as the Corporate Mechanic.
Justin Herald’s business continued to grow with the introduction of other lines of clothing. He received an invitation to be interviewed on The Morning Show, where he told his story.
He claimed that within thirty minutes of the interview, the phone rang hot with retail stores placing orders for his shirts.
Justin said he never needed to advertise his product because he was regularly being interviewed by television shows, business magazines and newspapers. He always made for a great story because he did not look like the regular businessman.
Justin Herald has a real sense of humour and loves to rib the people around him. He admits that he has plenty of attitude himself and believes that is why his brand worked.
He is also very easy to talk to and says that one of the secrets to a successful business is connecting with people.
That is a valuable lesson for children. Business is not just about selling a product. It is about understanding people, solving a problem, creating interest and building relationships. These same skills are often developed through simple family enterprise stories and real-world projects.
The Deal That Changed Everything
This chapter in Justin Herald’s story drew to an end when a very large company approached him to do a deal.
He was called to a board meeting. Justin rocked up in his jeans and checked shirt to confront a line of suited lawyers and business leaders. First came the formalities, and eventually they passed over the official offer for him to read.
Justin read the dollar number on the page in disbelief. He asked the lawyers if the comma was actually a comma or whether it was a dot.
They said it was a comma.
He then said, “Do I get a TV with that?”
They looked at one another and said, “Of course!”
So he took the deal, which he described as being worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He also took the TV from their wall. They wanted to get him a new one, but he said he did not want to muck around trying to rip up the box and packaging to fit it into his recycling bin.
From $1.25 to a Multimillion-Dollar Business
From having only $1.25 in his bank at the age of 25, Justin Herald grew his business in a relatively short time into a major brand.
Today, Justin Herald has had his fingers in different pies, including launching new brands and owning other successful businesses.
Justin Herald’s Four Business Lessons
Justin left us with four excellent “Aha!” moments.
You need a switch. You need something that gives you the purpose, focus and drive required to start a business. His was the opinionated lady at church. Justin is very grateful for her.
Say “Next!” Justin explained that you will face barriers, setbacks and naysayers as you try to move ahead with your business. He says “Next!” and moves on. Many people would fall back to their comfort zone and give up, but not Justin.
Networking matters. He says business is about the way you relate to your customers. Word of mouth can bring you greater business.
Give it a crack. This was his biggest tip. Stop waiting for everything to be perfect and take action.
After the presentation, Gary and I had the privilege of chatting to Justin Herald one-on-one. We found him to be a genuinely nice bloke.
He told us that his mates today are the same bunch of blokes he hung out with when he was twenty. He never made the grades at school, and his attitude had him in trouble many times during those years. However, it was also his attitude that helped make him what he is today.
Let’s hope that Justin Herald’s success story inspires your kids like it did mine. Children do not have to fit every expected credential to become successful. They need confidence, courage, persistence and the willingness to learn through real-world action.
Here is the blurb about Justin Herald from his website at the time this original article was written.
Justin Herald became one of the rising stars in the fields of business and personal development. At the age of 25, with only $50 to his name, Justin set about changing the course of his life. He created Attitude Inc, a clothing brand that became an international licensing success.
Justin’s success was widely recognised, and he was named International Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005. He also received the Future Leaders Award, recognising him as one of the influential leaders of the next generation in Australia.
He has had columns in magazines and newspapers in Australia and overseas, and he is also the author of multiple bestselling books.
Key takeaway: Justin Herald’s story is a powerful reminder for kids that success can begin with a simple idea, a bit of attitude and the courage to take action. It is not enough to just think about an idea. At some point, you have to give it a crack.
Where to Next?
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