Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Stories » Veale Entrepreneurs

ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM STORIES

Our website features articles on local entrepreneurs, student entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial organizations through their journey highlighting key takeaways.

Zöe Nechvatal, Noah Allen and Sam Honkomp won the grand prize in the Innovation track of the 2023 thinkBIG! Challenge with their company, Mendz, creating a new prototype for casting broken bones. We interviewed the team to learn more about their product and their future plans in entrepreneurship.

Mendz

Mendz developed a prototype for casting broken bones.Read More
Ishita Kopparapu recently created stEMPOWERher, a local non-profit STEM camp for young girls, while attending school at Hathaway Brown. She is the Small Business track winner of the 2023 thinkBIG! Challenge. We interviewed Ishita to learn more about how stEMPOWERher has evolved and how she became an entrepreneur.

stEMPOWERher

stEMPOWERher is a a local non-profit STEM camp for young girls.Read More
Maddie's Little Ballers (MLB) During the pandemic in 2020, Maddie Norman created a safe way for kids to have fun during summer break. Maddie’s Little Ballers (MLB) is a camp made to develop children’s fundamental basketball skills for the future. In our interview, Maddie told us more about her journey as an entrepreneur and managing her business while attending Magnificat High School.

Maddie’s Little Ballers (MLB)

MLB is a small business basketball camp. Read More
At the 2022 thinkBIG! Summit, Maggie Chen won the grand prize in the small business track of the thinkBIG! Challenge with her business El Puente; a Spanish-English language exchange program. In our interview, Maggie told us more about her journey as an entrepreneur and managing her business while attending Laurel School.

El Puente

El Puente is a Spanish-English language exchange program.Read More
Over the past two and a half years, Marykate Kessinger has pursued her passions of baking and helping others create memories and celebrate through her custom cakes and cookies business, Marycakes Delights. In our interview, Marykate told us more about her journey as an entrepreneur and managing her business while attending Beaumont School.

Marycakes Delights

Marycakes Delights is a custom cakes and cookies business.Read More
Taking initiative, thinking creatively, and recognizing business opportunities are just a few of the skills that the students are developing through Beaumont’s Business Scholars Program. The girls are gaining hands-on, real-world experiences through the school’s student run Smoothie Shack in addition to creating and developing their own businesses. We spoke with Tara Limestoll, one of the club moderators, about the program and the incredible impact it is having on the students.

Beaumont’s Business Scholars

Students at Beaumont run a Smoothie Shack and participate in an entrepreneurial club as part of the school’s Business Scholars Program.Read More
With financial literacy rates on the decline, a group of students from Hoover High School came together with a mission to instill financial literacy in every child and empower them with the skills needed for a successful future. They developed their product Budget or Bust, an interactive and engaging board game designed to teach kids budgeting, saving, and investing.

Finlit

Finlit developed Budget or Bust, an interactive and engaging board game designed to teach kids budgeting, saving, and investing.Read More
A group of hard-working young women have learned to tackle challenging problems, think creatively, and turn mistakes into growth opportunities through running their school’s café. The executive team of Hathaway Brown’s HathCaff continues to innovate and challenge themselves to provide high quality service to their community. We spoke with Madeleine Williams, CEO of the HathCaff, about her experience as the head of the executive team and her growth in entrepreneurship.

Hathaway Brown’s HathCaff

HathCaff is a student run café at Hathaway Brown School.Read More
After noticing the lack of food delivery services available in Lakeside Ohio, a vacation community along Lake Erie, Daniel McNamara and his friends decided to fill the need with Porchside Deliveries. As a student at St. Edward High School, Daniel worked throughout the school year to develop his business plan and on Memorial Day of 2021, the team launched Porchside!

Porchside Deliveries

Porchside Deliveries is a food delivery service available in Lakeside Ohio.Read More
Lucy Bogen’s passion for the environment drove her to learn a new skill and launch a business with a mission to create positive change in the fashion industry. She goes beyond providing upcycled clothing alternatives and utilizes her platform to educate individuals on the dangers of supporting a fast fashion lifestyle. We spoke with Lucy about her experience as a young entrepreneur and the future of her business, Sustainable Stitches.

Sustainable Stitches

Sustainable Stitches provides upcycled clothing alternatives and educates individuals on the dangers of supporting a fast fashion lifestyle.Read More
Jonathan Pacheco, a student at Thomas W. Harvey High School, was on the hunt for a way to express his creativity and develop a new skill when he discovered resin. He soon perfected his designs and Cozy Coasters was born! With the help of dedicated mentors, Jonathan further developed his business plan and crafted the pitch that would ultimately win him first place at Harvey High School’s 2021 Business Plan Competition. Learn more about Jonathan’s start-up journey and the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset in his interview!

Cozy Coasters

Cozy Coasters is a company that designs customizable coasters out of resin and decorative materials.Read More
The Veale Youth Entrepreneurship Forum has partnered with the Young Entrepreneur Institute at University School since 2012 to further the education of entrepreneurship to students across Northeast Ohio. Their variety of programs for students K-12, educators, and the entrepreneurship ecosystem has impacted the lives of thousands in the community. We spoke with Jessica Dragar, the Program Manager for K-8 Relationships at YEI, about her experience with the organization and the importance of their work.

Young Entrepreneur Institute

Young Entrepreneur Institute at University School furthers the education of entrepreneurship to students K-12, educators, and others in the entrepreneurship ecosystem across Northeast Ohio.Read More
Kaden Ullom and Cooper Lyons, seniors at Bay High School, competed on March 2, 2021 at the thinkBIG! Summit where they pitched, Scaper, their innovative solution which connects homeowners to high school and college landscapers. Individually, they own and operate their own landscaping companies, giving them firsthand knowledge of the struggles many homeowners face when managing a landscaping project. We spoke with both Kaden and Cooper about their experiences being founders and what they have learned from being young entrepreneurs.

From Lemonade to Landscaping

Kaden Ullom and Cooper Lyons created Scaper, their innovative solution which connects homeowners to high school and college landscapers.Read More
We were first introduced to Bethany when she submitted 31:25 Dresses into the 2017 Veale Venture Challenge, now the thinkBIG! Challenge, where she pitched her custom, handmade dress company to a group of over 600 students, educators, and entrepreneurs. Today she is a full-time student at Belmont University and her business has evolved into a custom sorority letter shirt company. In our interview, Bethany told us more about what it is like being a young entrepreneur and the experiences she has learned from it in the past five years.

31:25

31:25 is a custom sorority letter shirt company.Read More
On March 3, 2020 Michael Snelling, Matty Benisek, and Vinny Bandwen from Gilmour Academy won the small business track competition of the thinkBIG! Challenge with their business Cutting Edge Landscaping and took home the grand prize of $3,000.

Cutting Edge Landscaping

Michael Snelling, Matty Benisek, and Vinny Bandwen from Gilmour Academy won the small business track competition of the thinkBIG! Challenge with their business Cutting Edge Landscaping.Read More
The Veale Youth Entrepreneurship Forum has partnered for the past several years with Upcycle Parts Shop, a leader in sustainable arts and crafts supplies. In 2020 we created a new program called Upcycle: Enterprise, to present a unique, engaging hybrid mini-hackathon model. Students have the opportunity to participate whether they are learning from home or at school. We followed-up with Nicole McGee, Co-founder and Executive Director at Upcycle, to learn more about their social entrepreneurship model and Upcycle programs.

Upcycle Parts Shop

Upcycle Parts Shop, is a leader in sustainable arts and crafts supplies through social entrepreneurship. Together we created Upcycle: Enterprise which features engaging hybrid mini-hackathon programs.Read More
At the age of 15, Shaker Heights native Ethan Holmes launched Holmes Made Foods LLC with his grandfather’s applesauce recipe and ambitious dreams of entrepreneurial success. Today, Holmes Mouthwatering Applesauce is available in hundreds of retail locations throughout the midwest, including Kroger, Heinen’s, Whole Foods, Marc’s, Giant Eagle Market District and sold online through his website.

Ethan Holmes

At the age of 15, Shaker Heights native Ethan Holmes launched Holmes Made Foods LLC with his grandfather’s applesauce recipe.Read More