Hey guys. Jenn here. I wanted to pull back the curtain and share a little about what goes on behind the scenes. While you see the fun events, the pop-ups, and the classes, what you don’t always see is the hours of research, grant writing, emails, and planning that go into making these opportunities happen. It takes a lot of work, but seeing the students grow in confidence and skill makes it worth it.
As one of the co-founders of For the Culture, I spend a lot of hours digging through grant opportunities, filling out endless applications, submitting forms, and crossing my fingers that something will come through. Last month, I found the Awesome SA grant, filled out the grant application and we were selected as finalists for $1,000 to support our Youth Entrepreneur Pop-Up Market!
I put together a pitch deck showing off our past Youth Entrepreneur Pop-Up Markets and our plans for the future. Ashley took the lead in delivering the pitch at their monthly virtual pitch party, and she nailed it. She told our story so well, highlighting the growth and achievements of our young entrepreneurs. We’re always learning, growing, and evolving on this nonprofit journey. There was another local organization pitching, so we were definitely nervous. The trustees went into a virtual breakout room to discuss the pitches, and we anxiously waited. When they came back a few minutes later, they announced that we WON! We’re beyond excited for what this means for our entrepreneurship program and can’t wait to see it all come to life. Here is a peek at our pitch deck:
How This Grant Will Help Our Young Entrepreneurs
Last spring, I developed and taught an entrepreneurship class to our co-op. We started with the basics: creating a business plan, pricing products, designing logos and signs using Canva (huge shoutout to Canva for the free nonprofit account which was another application. LOL), and learning best practices for markets. We even worked on elevator speeches, helping students introduce their businesses to potential customers.
With the Awesome SA grant, we will be able to level up:
Instead of printed worksheets, we’ll now have full workbooks to guide students step-by-step.
We’re launching a 6-week class series this fall to prepare students for the next pop-up.
We will be able to provide business startup kits to some of our young entrepreneurs, including:
Custom business and pricing signs
Branded t-shirts
Money boxes for managing sales
Taking the Entrepreneur Incubator to the Next Level
I've already started the planning and designing for the new incubator program to give students even more skills and real-world experience. Here’s what’s new:
More Canva Training – Students will learn how to create brand kits, explore color theory, and design graphics that make their business stand out.
Shark Tank Day – A fun, peer-feedback session where students pitch their business ideas and receive constructive insights to refine their approach.
Real-World Practice – We’re giving them more face-to-face opportunities to practice talking to potential customers before market day.
Video Marketing – We’ll teach students how to create and edit short videos to promote their businesses on social media. In this digital age, learning how to market online is a must for any entrepreneur.
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the ability to offer innovative, real-world education. This entrepreneur class will give our kids the tools to build confidence, think creatively, and turn their ideas into reality. Here is a little peek at last year's class slides:
Entrepreneur Incubator Class Enrollment
This 6-week class will open to any student in our main For the Culture Homeschool Group Facebook community. If you’re interested in joining, you can join HERE.
We can’t wait to see these young entrepreneurs level up their businesses and gain the confidence to take on the world.
-Jenn
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