Entrepreneur Profiles

Third-year OCAD graphic design student Julia Prajza designs headbands and sells them online using Facebook.

Vanessa Seneriches is a young entrepreneur who made the leap from 9-5 to full-time entrepreneur. Vanessa is currently working on her spa, body and bath line, The Sages Ayurveda, writing her blog, The Love Collage, and running a jewelery business, Rosetta Stone.

Launched late last year, Damn Heels offers stylish, fold-up black flats that come in a sleek reusable bag designed to hold your high heels.

Before Greig Perantinos was 20, he opened his first Cool Moose Creamery store in Tottenham, Ont. Since then he has expanded his business to neighbouring Alliston and will be opening a new store this year in Cookstown.

Asia Nelson is a certified advanced yoga instructor, yoga teacher trainer and director of her own company, Pranalife Yoga, based in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.

Jen Stirk, a self-professed foodie and owner of Pastry DC, creates elaborate works of art out baked goods. She learned the necessary techniques to make yummy pieces of art through Georgian College’s culinary skills diploma and a confectionery arts certificate, but they are piece of cake.

Jing Liu is the visionary lead designer and mastermind behind JUZD, a street wear collection, made exclusively from bamboo fibre. He began the line in April 2007, with no prior background in the world of fashion.

Andrea Belvedere, a fourth-year student at Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management, is technically not an entrepreneur, but she is being featured because she may have done more for youth entrepreneurship than any other student or recent grad in Canada.

Entrepreneurs put more than money on the line when choosing self-employment, but knowing they’re not alone can help make the most of their company’s potential. Connecting the masses at Sprouter is Sarah Prevette, a young web entrepreneur committed to revolutionizing how entrepreneurs use social media.

By working with students from across Canada over the last five years, Greg Overholt has used Students Offering Support (SOS) to champion student engagement, active citizenship, and the promotion of education to fight child poverty.

Leading the helm at NotableTV is young entrepreneur Julian Brass, who was able to turn a teenage passion into a business and career that matched his interests. His experiences as a young entrepreneur are shared here and provide a glimpse into how he to got started with his own company.

While the support is already in place for those small companies, how does a young, self-starting grad get started on their own venture? The best advice I can give is start small, focus on a target and work towards your goals with passion. Take the first step and read up about how to get started.