Introducing the 2023 Teens in Business Awards Finalists!
Firstly we want to thank all of you who entered or nominated someone for, the Teens in Business Awards this year. We were so impressed by the entries we received and are so inspired by what young people, educators and mentors like you are doing to shape the future.
We are also immensely proud to announce the finalists of the Teens in Business Awards for 2023 below. We were blown away by the calibre and diversity of ideas and entrants this year and were inspired by the stories shared by young people.
Check out and follow us on Instagram to find out more about the finalists listed below!
To view our 2023 Winners, please visit here.
Teenpreneur of the Year Finalists
Design by Thea: Passionate about solving customer problems and providing locally-made products, Thea now supplies her jewellery, wheat bags, bags, accessories and homewares to 12 stockists in Adelaide including Dymocks. Thea started the business in 2018 at the age of 12 with scrunchies and at aged 17 is now a seasoned teenpreneur!
DJ Lewko by Dean: DJ Lewko offers entertainment packages with a custom client booking portal. High end sound, lighting and equipment is provided, and lighting is programmed per event to tailor the venue, vibe, theme and energy of an event using computer software. Dean has DJ’ed at 300+ events over the past 4 years including for major brands like Bunnings, F45, Novotel, Coca Cola, City2Surf and Westfield.
Khloe Creates by Khloe: Khloe is on a mission to spread positivity through positive, fun, unique and personalised items. Starting her business 2 years ago at the age of just 11, Khloe creates a wide variety of products including: keychains, glass tumblers, mirror stickers, and personalised portraits. Her message of positivity is also inspiring audiences on TikTok and Instagram
Jessica Clair Active by Jessica: Jessica Clair Active, is committed to addressing the significant gap in suitable activewear options for Australian tweens. The designs empower the growing tween, encouraging them to embrace a happy and healthy lifestyle. Jessica’s collection includes shorts, sports bras, tops, and hoodies tailored to fit perfectly and suit tweens and teens active lifestyles. Her designs also boosts teens confidence and aims to make them feel fantastic during physical activities.
Ben’s Curb Painting by Ben: Ben paints peoples house number on their curb in reflective paint so that emergency/delivery services can find their house anytime. The 13-year-old started out by knocking on doors in the local area to find jobs, but eventually started making people aware of his business on community Facebook pages. He has since been featured on 7 news, 3aw, New York Post, Daily Mail, and news.com.au, creating a lucrative and important business within his community.
Hydrovore by Chloe, Ronnie & Ash: Hydrovore is an innovation that seamlessly combines misting technology with the precision of design software such as Rhino Grasshopper, AutoCAD Inventor, and various coding technologies. Drawing inspiration from the efficiency seen in aquariums and terrariums, the team have harnessed these technologies in-house to create a self-sustaining vertical farm capable of revolutionising urban agriculture.
Tweenpreneur of the Year Finalists
Girls Can Fly Anything by Amy: Girls Can Fly Anything magazine has had 4 editions since April 2023! Girls Can Fly Anything is showing girls what is possible now through the digital magazine editions on Amy’s website. Amy is also now producing a small merchandise range to get the message out there further and help more girls to discover that Aviation as a career is a love for life- and is for all genders!
School Beanies by Matilda & Teammate: Matilda and her teammate realised that her school needed a beanie for the cold weather, and wanted to provide something that included her school brand and was affordable for the families within the school community. She ordered 50 beanies and they sold out within 2 weeks. Definitely an example of great product-market fit!
The Bin Chickens by Luke, Lochlan, Sonny & Mitchell: The Bin Chickens identified a need for a weekly bin cleaning service. Their town is renowned for hot dry weather and this means that a closed wheelie bin is the perfect dark, dank breeding ground for bacteria and their smelly emissions. The Bin Chickens service includes cleaning and disinfection, and has become a booming business for these tweens!
Intrapreneur of the Year Finalists
Abrolhos Media by Harry: Abrolhos is a marketing agency, which provides local businesses with the tools they need to get more business. Harry manages their social media sites and their advertising campaigns, to allow for more online exposure to potential clients. He also creates TV Commercial Content to further promote their business throughout the state.
Design Led Ventures Program: Design Led Ventures (DLV) enable learners and organisations to grow as innovative thinkers through developing innovative functional solutions that enhance how we live. 20 students from St Pauls School joined the 16-week DLV program, and the young intrapreneurs worked through the Design Thinking process- which also involved identifying the need and growth opportunity through interviewing their client
Indigenous Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists
Wangkurra (Sugar Bag) Jingulu by Nalarni & Virginia (Ibe): Nalarni and Virginia decided to make and sell bush medicine products at their school market day. Bush medicine has been made by people in their family for a long time, and their auntie taught them about the plants and how to make the first prototype. They had a really successful market and sold out of all products. The original product sold was a lemongrass rub for aches and pains and sickness.
Team Caffine by Kiara & Seraiah: Team Caffine helps to solve the problem of food insecurity. The canteen prices at school can be too expensive and many students cannot afford food/ do not have food at home. They aim to collect the food that is leftover at Coles, Woolworths, or other food outlets- and deliver it to school for students to eat either for free or for a low price.
Most Impactful Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists
The Snow Den by Josie: The Snow Den is a snow cone business run by 15 yr old Josie which has run regularly at markets & events over 1the last 14 months. Josie has employed four teen boys from her school to help them develop confidence, communication skills and problem-solving skills via this first job. As well as providing youth employment opportunities, she donates a portion of sales to charities like Emma’s Warriors!
Shenton Animal Helpers by Oliver,Jamal, Sam, Daisy, Yousra, Nakeita, Mack, Chey & Emerson: The students at Shenton College Deaf Education Centre are helping orphaned, injured and rescued animals at the Kanyana Wildlife Centre via their entrepreneurial endeavours! The Shenton Animal Helpers have created products such as gift cards and additionally sell second-hand products. They also create educational information for their community.
Sam’s Popcorn by Sam: Sam decided to make his own popcorn using real sugar and without added flavours or colourings which was very popular! However, what makes “Sam’s Popcorn” business impactful is that he now has a fundraising option, Kids4Kids, which gives other kids his age an avenue to raise money by using his popcorn. So far, this fundraising program has raised over $25,000 dollars for charities like the Childhood Cancer Association!
Regional or Rural Entrepreneur of the Year Finalists
Choo Choo Designs by Kira: Kira has been the owner and operator of Choo-Choo Designs for 17 months, and now offers items likes bags and pouches, earrings, school and office supplies, hair accessories, and home décor. Her designs incorporate beautiful Indigenous artwork with her products now shipped worldwide!
Positive Change Markets by Nina, Ysa, Max, Sophie, Teal, Oscar, Daniela & Milarnie: Positive Change Markets organises Clothing Markets for members of the community to sell repurposed, pre-loved and secondhand clothing. People can purchase 3m x 3m sites for $35 including insurance. The team are now looking to set up the markets as a Social Enterprise where funds can be reinvested after each market and new students can continue to run the markets once the current group move on.
Sweet Tooth Marshmallows by Patrick: Sweet Tooth Marshmallows, introduces consumers to 16 flavours of delicious marshmallows! Patrick was awarded a Gold Medal and two Silver Medals at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards 2023. Profits from his business have now allowed Patrick to purchase a food trailer at $22,000!
Pickle Contracting by Dylan: Dylan’s community has an aging population who are struggling to maintain their lawns and gardens. Pickle Contracting is a labour hire business that provides lawn and garden detailing, which includes ride on mowing, slashing, weeding, push mowing and waste removal for people who cannot do it themselves. Dylan has now reinvested $30K of his profits into additional equipment as well as using some of his profits for town graffiti removal.
Pivoting Pioneer of the Year Finalists
Edible Pro by Dan: Edible Pro addresses the pressing market need for sustainable alternatives to plastic and paper waste in the hospitality industry. Dan’s flagship product, the edible straws is vegan, long-lasting, and biodegradable.
Hydrovore by Chloe, Ronnie & Ash: Hydrovore is an innovation that seamlessly combines misting technology with the precision of design software such as Rhino Grasshopper, AutoCAD Inventor, and various coding technologies. Originally conceived as a self-sustainable plant pot for windowsills, the idea took a monumental shift with the realization that larger quantities of food could be grown in smaller spaces.
Youth Entrepreneurship Mentor of the Year Finalists
Chloe Alley: Not only is Chloe a young entrepreneur herself with “By Chloe”, but she is also a youth mentor that has established a “Youngpreneur Market” which currently have 30+ stall holders attending, ranging from those who will be attending their first market at the age of 8 to those who have been running their small business for a period of time. She shares her passion with other young entrepreneurs and provide them with an avenue to share their products with the community.
Justin Macdonald: Justin is inspiring the next generation of change-makers! He is great at offering students places to go to do further research and to understand their problem further to encourage them to better understand the issue they are passionate about. Justin embodies a true mentor, as he not only helps equip students with the practical skills to succeed- but he also helps students believe that anything is possible with guidance, research, and passion.
Jodie Imam: Jodie is a volunteer mentor in the Year 8 entrepreneurship program, “Haileybury Startup.” Over the last 3 years Jodie has been described as a fantastic role model and mentor to the students offering her time online and in-person to provide who wealth of expertise in the startup space. Jodie has regularly zoomed into the classrooms to provide her mentorship, and more recently she has even started coming into the classrooms to sit with groups of students one on one to hear about their startup ideas and provide her advice.
Entrepreneurial Educator of the Year Finalists
Stacey Boyd, Dane Oman & Debbie Whittle from Saint Stephen's College: Stacey, Dane, and Debbie, together as a nominated team, combine strengths to create diverse business courses for students in grades 7-12. They have introduced initiatives like career evenings to connect local entrepreneurs with students in Years 7-10, integrating 10BAE—a subject exploring Social Enterprises and many more local and global opportunities that provide dynamic and practical learning experiences.
Gaile Racey from Hale School: Gaile is an innovative teacher who is a strong advocate for Entrepreneurial/ Enterprise learning to occur in all levels of schooling. Currently, she is the Curriculum Coordinator and teacher for Year 7 Humanities at Hale School. Gaile’s passion lies in the fusion of entrepreneurial education and service learning, a dynamic approach that equips students with the skills to thrive in the business world while fostering compassion and social consciousness.
Olivia Williams from Hobart College: Olivia is an experienced teacher at Hobart College where she teaches the Business Studies Level 2 course. Olivia teaches through a real-world business enterprise way, culminating in multiple “trading days” where students design and develop their business, undertaking market research, product design and development, financial management and promotion. She also builds capacity in other teachers to have the confidence to provide exciting learning opportunities for all students.
Kristin Clulow from St Philip's Christian College Cessnock: Kristin is passionate about Entrepreneurial education. She has worked for the last two years in the Young Entrepreneurial Scheme (YES), a program for Stage 6 students at SPCC Cessnock. Kristin has championed entrepreneurial education at SPCC through a range of projects, and uses a variety of different teaching strategies to extend students skill strengths, develop new skills, and have them excel.
Chris Hall, Dr Steven Middleton, Sabrina Li, Kristine Niven from Casey Communuty of Entrepreneurial Educators: The members in the Casey Community Entrepreneurial Educators is compromised of 4 distinctive individuals, each contributing a unique prowess and vision, unified by a collective passion for entrepreneurial education.All bringing their strengths together, their collaboration constantly aims to strengthen entrepreneurial education in Australia, offering students unparalleled opportunities to engage, innovate, and make a lasting impact on the global stage.
Barbara Mossman from Cannon Hill Anglican College: Barbara is the Head of Gifted and Enterprise Education at CHAC, and in her role position has been responsible for building both programs to support Entrepreneurial education at the school. In 2017 she designed a collaborative problem-solving elective for Year 9 called Changing Tomorrow: Real World Problem Solving. In 2019 she also introduced a new elective subject called “The Project” in Y10 aimed at giving students with an area of emerging expertise or intense interest the chance to nurture and extend those skills and talents.
Aisha Dani from Banyule Nillumbik Tech School: Aisha is the Entrepreneurship Program Manager at Banyule Nillumbik Tech School. Aisha developed a course at the school called “Student Start Up”, which is designed to be a stepping stone for teenagers into the world of business. She helps students at school formulate a business idea, design their business model and determine their target customers. Over the last year she also started a started is a youth accelerator program to help students start, prototype and grow their businesses.