Can an entrepreneurial mindset / be nurtured? // Absolutely. // In fact, / as I started specializing in this area, / I realized very early on that not only can it be nurtured, / but it's important to start young. // So / I created a program, / and it's an entrepreneur project / for elementary kids. // And for students between the ages of nine and 12 to start their businesses. // And they actually develop an entrepreneurial mindset by launching / a business venture. // So they have to create business plans, / they develop products and marketing materials, / and at the end, they participate in a real-life event called the Young Entrepreneur Show. // It's like a trade show. // They get to interact with customers, and they earn real money. // The program is facilitated, which I think is the most powerful piece, / is that it's facilitated by the classroom teacher. // And it makes topics like / math, and English language, arts, and social studies / more meaningful and relevant for kids. // It's already reached about 40,000 kids, and I'm really excited to be able to share / some of their stories with you here today. // Now, / the idea of coming up with a product / to sell for real to customers / is incredibly exciting for kids. // And in fact, they take it very, very seriously. // Sometimes the students will create products that people enjoy. // Other times they go a little bit / deeper, / and they think, you know, / what can I... how can I solve a problem? Or / how can I make a difference in the world by / creating a product? // Mimi / is one of our students that decided to come up with this / cat toy, / and a toy that looked like a cat, I should say. // And she took this, / two materials, a mock suede and a mock fur, she cut strips, / sewed them together, / and had a cat face at the front and a tail. // And she really wanted to have a fun name for this. // So she called them / Roadkill Kitties. // And if that wasn't enough, / she took a big branch that had fallen from a tree in her garden, / she mounted it on top of the table, / and then she had all the products hanging up here. // So / as you walk by, / all you could see are these feline creatures looking down at you. // And then she'd take them down, she was all about showmanship, so she'd take them down and lay one on the arm as customers would come up. // And the customers would smooth it down, / and it would roll up, / and Mimi's product came alive. // The Roadkill Kitty / came alive. // Mimi's business / came alive. // And Mimi / came alive. // You see, Mimi wasn't strong. // She wasn't a strong academic student, / and yet / had perhaps the most successful business in her class. // And what was so exciting was that she was able to achieve that success / by showcasing her entrepreneurial / and her artistic flair. //