For generations, kids flexed their entrepreneurial muscles by mowing yards, selling lemonade, or digging their neighbors’ cars out of the snow. An extra $100 at the end of a successful season was the well-earned prize for their hard work.
Kids today, however, have the global marketplace in their pockets, thanks to the internet. They can market their wares far and wide in minutes, often earning much more than a C-note.
We caught up with five young Eastside entrepreneurs and philanthropists who balance work, school, and teenagerhood in the digital age.
Liem Kaplan, 15
Founder of The GivingHope Project
Fifteen-year-old Liem Kaplan has been passionate about community service and helping the unhoused population since he was 6 years old. When COVID-19 hit, Liem — then 13 — knew he had to help those experiencing homelessness. So he started The GivingHope Project from his Sammamish home.
“I knew that (the unhoused) would be in trouble. It seemed that everyone forgot about them,” Liem said. “I felt like I had to do something.”
With the help of family, community members, schools, youth groups, local organizations, and others, Liem received thousands of donated supplies.
He was able to distribute up to 200 hygiene kits to local encampments per week. The kits included masks, hand sanitizer, hand wipes, toothbrushes, socks, blankets, clothing, and other supplies. Food bags filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, high-protein snacks, drinks, and love notes also were distributed.
“The streets were quiet and abandoned. I was excited and anxious and didn’t know if people would want masks,” Kaplan recalled of his first drop-off. “(But) seeing how grateful everyone was and how excited they were to see us made me realize how important it was for me to figure out how to get enough supplies to everyone (in need).”
More than 20,000 masks, thousands of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and as much love and hope as Liem could give were distributed since the project began in fall 2020.
These days, Liem and his team continue to directly support the unhoused population and organizations that help serve them. The GivingHope Project has provided several nonprofits with winter and summer survival, hygiene, and food kits.
As for the future of his project, Liem said he hopes to widen the project’s reach to serve even more vulnerable populations. — SQ
Subha Vadlamannati, 16
Founder of Linguistics Justice League
Sixteen-year-old Mercer Islander Subha Vadlamannati became acutely aware of a need for a resource like Linguistics Justice League in the ninth grade. After starting an unrelated nonprofit partnering with refugee and immigrant-assistance organizations to provide tutoring to refugee students in math and science, a problem recurred. Most students were hungry to learn, but unfamiliarity with English made following along difficult.
“I felt like everyone should have equitable access to this, and they should be able to learn about this,” Subha said. “That’s when I kind of looked at the root problem, which was really the lack of English resources for them to learn.”
Subha, who had experience coding, launched LJL in February 2020. The organization aims to create bilingual educational content and apps for language learners, with an emphasis on low-resource languages.
Recently, LJL debuted EduLang, an app where users can read storybooks in English and 108 low-resource languages, with automatic and manual book translation options also available. Since its founding, LJL’s volunteer base has swelled to about 30 people and the organization was accepted into the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.
In the long term, Subha said she would like to offer additional apps and further standardize LJL’s services. Asked what advice she would give to other young people considering starting their own business or organization, Subha noted the importance of combining dedication with skill.
“Choose something that you’re passionate about, and then mash it with a skill that you have or that you want to develop,” she said. “I’m passionate about serving the refugee and immigrant community, coming from an immigrant household myself and seeing the impact it had on our lives … and the skill that I already had was computer science. … Smashing things that (you’re) motivated toward with the things (you’ve) experienced provides the best recipe.” — BP
Zahira Amarsi, 15
Founder of Zz’s Bakery
Zahira Amarsi made her first cake at 9 years old. She never imagined it would lead her to achieve two of her greatest dreams: owning a baking business and competing in Disney’s Magic Bake-Off on the Disney Channel.
Now 15 years old, the self-taught baker and entrepreneur runs Zz’s Bakery from her Bellevue home, where she creates a variety of desserts including cakes, cupcakes, macarons, fruit tarts, and more.
Like any expert, Zahira has spent a lot of time perfecting her skill. She recalls watching countless cake videos and looking at cake pictures for inspiration. Family, friends, and even her then-middle school teacher had the delicious privilege of tasting Zahira’s early creations as she became more confident.
“I love being able to be creative and come up with different designs and different ways of decorating,” Zahira said. “It’s kind of cool to look back on pictures of cakes from when I started to now and see all the (growth).”
Zahira’s persistence and confidence eventually led her to compete in Disney’s Magic Bake-Off in September 2021, when she and her teammate, Amar Deshpande, won the Frozen-themed competition in episode seven.
“I was pretty nervous, but it was really exciting. I was so happy and smiley the whole time,” Zahira recalled of her experience. “I was just in my element, and that kitchen — let me tell you, that kitchen was amazing.”
After the competition, Zahira said she became even more passionate and is now focused on growing her business through Instagram, where she photographs and creates reels of her creations by herself.
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop baking. I think it’s a part of who I am now. The feeling I get when I’m making a dessert — I just feel so accomplished and happy,” Zahira said. — SQ
Olivia Kovach, 14
Owner of XO by Olivia
Fourteen-year-old Olivia Kovach has made it her mission to help spread kindness around the world through her handmade crafts. Olivia’s creativity took root when she spent her early days crafting with her mother, Teresa. It soon transitioned into a passion as she simultaneously grew more conscious of global inequality.
“I live in a nice community,” Olivia explained. “When I’m seeing the world and how it is, I think we really need to choose kindness.”
Olivia used this ethos to launch her philanthropically minded business, XO by Olivia, with her mother. The shop sells high-quality, handcrafted gifts ranging from wooden ornaments to aprons. In addition to an online store, retailers such as Nordstrom and Chasing Fireflies have sold Olivia’s wares.
“I started selling and creating products to give to charity,” Olivia explained. “I never intended to make stuff for a profit.”
Profits go directly to Olivia’s charity organization, aptly named Hugs and Crayons by Olivia. Initially, the organization funded only the Seattle Children’s Hospital art program, as the mother-daughter pair wanted to start small in their philanthropic endeavors.
The charity has since expanded and flourished into other fields.
“(During) different times of the year, we’ll do different things,” Olivia said. “Two years ago, when we were doing online school, we donated 25 new laptops to kids … so they can learn and have the best ability to learn.”
The young entrepreneur also hosts a yearly donation to provide children with winter coats of their choice. Around 75 coats were donated this year through her organization.
In keeping with her mission, kindness coins are Olivia’s most popular product. The engraved wooden coins were designed to be passed around by people when they notice an act of kindness, such as holding a door for someone.
“I love my kindness coins,” Olivia said. “They’re being handed out all over the world. They just tell people, ‘Hey, be kind.’”
The 14-year-old isn’t just expressing her creativity through her business. Olivia also is an actress who often travels to Los Angeles for work. While balancing her business, charity, and acting career might seem difficult, Olivia said seeing her customers happy is worth the effort. “It’s very stressful, but I wouldn’t miss (spreading kindness) for the world,” she said. — KQ
Antony Schmidt, 14
Owner of Anthony Schmidt Photography
A genuine love of vehicles goes back pretty much as far as Anthony Schmidt can remember.
“My first memory of cars was being pushed in a car-shaped buggy at 3 years old at Redmond Town Center,” the now-14-year-old recalled in an email to 425 Business. “I already knew every make and model of car, and I was naming them off as we went.”
Anthony is autistic and has an almost-encyclopedic knowledge of his special interest. As he grew, he developed other interests, including a talent for photography. It wasn’t long until he married his two specialties to create vivid photos with model cars in real-world surroundings.
“He started taking photos of his cars outside when he was 6 years old,” Anthony’s mother, Ramona, recalled. “I remember how excited he was to show me how real they looked.”
When Anthony was 11, Ramona uploaded some of his photos to Facebook to share with family and friends. The response was overwhelming. Later, the proud mother started a Facebook group that launched Anthony Schmidt Photography.
Today, the Woodinville teenager has more than 129,000 followers on Instagram and more than 680,000 followers on TikTok. He also self-publishes coffee table books, sells prints and calendars online, and owns more than 3,500 model cars.
Anthony takes meticulous care of his car subjects, even going as far as handling them with gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints.
“I have them organized by year, and I keep an Excel spreadsheet of all of them and their current values (that) I update every evening,” he said.
While the business is wholly Anthony’s, his mother and grandmother work behind the scenes managing social media, shipping, and transportation to shoot locations.
“It’s definitely a family business,” Ramona said.
After high school, Schmidt said he has “big plans to maybe have multiple different kinds of businesses.” He also plans on taking car-repair and business classes and hopes to one day have a “huge collection of cars from every decade and a huge property of (his) own to house them all.”
He already is well on his way, with his recent purchase of a black 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk that he bought with funds raised from calendar sales.
“It’s a funny story about how I was going around to different car dealerships, and they weren’t really taking me seriously — I guess they don’t see too many 14-year-old (kids) come in and buy a car,” he said. “I finally came to Panther Road Classics in Edmonds, and they treated me like an adult. I bought the car that day.” — JK
