Latest news with #YoungEntrepreneuroftheYear
Calgary Herald
18-07-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Kids use Lemonade Day to whet their appetite for branding and selling
Article content What do the kids get for selling the most lemonade? Article content The prize question. Article content During the day, the children will participate in two contests, one nationally and the other a local venture. Article content Nationally, children can vie for the 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year' award, wherein winners are selected based on a number of criteria — their business plan, profits, personal stories and take-aways. Article content 'Some children have super unique stories and experiences of how their stand came to be,' Romain said. Article content The other is a venture initiated by Tiller Digital, in which children can win on their choice of branding. Article content 'Branding is a super huge part of our work in a day, so it's something we really pay especially close attention to,' Romain said. Children would be judged on the experience, the look and feel of the stands, the choice of colours, design, decorations, naming — 'all the elements that go into branding,' he added. Article content Article content They will also be asked to submit answers to questions about their story and how they invested in their brand, and how it affected their lemonade stand. Article content What do the kids have to say about it? Article content 'They love being able to make some money,' he said. Article content And their mentors, often parents and caregivers, have echoed similar thoughts, he added, on what it's like to see their children work together, get creative and follow through on a goal. Article content Kristin Mason said all four of her children will participate this year for the second time. Article content 'We're pretty much repeating (the strategy for) last year,' she said, when the children honed their family's business in beekeeping to make a homemade lemonade sweetened with honey and turned into a slushy for customers. Article content 'Then it could be sponsored by our family business, so we could provide the honey and our logo goes on the stand,' she said. The kids call it the 'McBain Honey Freeze,' as an ode to the family surname. Article content Article content Her oldest, Russell, who is 10 years old, tended to spearhead and manage the stand's logistics, she said. Last year, he set up an option for customers to pay electronically, via the Square app — 'It was all him,' she said — and managed the payments while the others, eight-year-old twins Alden and Ethan, and the youngest, six-year-old Lily, talked to customers and ran back-and-forth with fresh supplies to keep the product icy. Article content 'We're all in the conversations,' she said. 'We all did the recipe, tasting and testing.' Article content Last year, the kids did especially well as their stand coincided with a community cleanup event taking place the same day. While the two events don't coincide this year, it has sparked an idea to do two lemonade days — one on Lemonade Day and another on the same day as the community cleanup event.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
RiskVal Financial Solutions CEO Jordan Hu Named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Hu, a 1989 graduate of NJIT, earned the New Jersey Region award for his ambitious, entrepreneurial leadership. Jordan Hu Newark, N.J., June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jordan Hu '89, CEO of RiskVal Financial Solutions, and a distinguished alumnus of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), has been named the 2025 New Jersey winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. The honor celebrates entrepreneurs who are building and leading high-growth, innovative companies that are transforming industries and creating positive impact. Founded in 2001, RiskVal is a global software-as-a-service provider specializing in pre-trade fixed income analytics and portfolio risk management. Its flagship solutions — RVFI and RVPortfolio — deliver real-time insights using decades of historical and market data and serve more than 1,000 portfolio managers across banks, asset managers and hedge funds. Hu earned his M.S. in computer science from NJIT and has remained closely connected to the university, having served on NJIT's Board of Trustees and championing initiatives that expand STEM opportunities for future generations. Hu's journey embodies the American dream. From his initial move to the United States from Taiwan with limited resources, his dedication propelled him to launch RiskVal Financial Solutions, a multimillion-dollar global enterprise. 'To receive this award is both humbling and energizing,' said Jordan Hu. 'It's a recognition not just of RiskVal's success, but of the journey behind it — from starting with little more than an idea to building a company that serves global financial institutions. I'm proud to be part of a community that continues to fuel innovation.' In April, Hu was selected as one of 25 finalists in New Jersey, chosen for entrepreneurial leadership, sustained growth and significant community engagement. His selection as the New Jersey regional winner was announced in June and now advances to the national Entrepreneur of the Year competition, which culminates in November at the Strategic Growth Forum in Palm Springs, California. The Entrepreneur of the Year National overall award winner will then represent the U.S. as they compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year award in June 2026. 'Jordan Hu exemplifies the kind of visionary leadership NJIT is proud to cultivate,' said NJIT President Teik C. Lim. 'He took a bold idea and built a company that has reshaped how financial markets approach risk and analytics. His entrepreneurial success, paired with his commitment to giving back, reflects the core values of NJIT and the transformative power of a STEM education.' Hu's recognition is the latest milestone in a career defined by innovation and resilience. After emigrating from Taiwan, he founded RiskVal without outside funding and steadily grew it into a leading force in financial analytics. In 2024, NJIT renamed its College of Science and Liberal Arts in Hu's honor to recognize his leadership and philanthropic support. Further insights into his journey and impact can be found in 'Making a Difference in Real Time.' Attachment Jordan Hu CONTACT: Deric Raymond New Jersey Institute of Technology 973-642-7042 draymond@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Wales Online
22-04-2025
- Health
- Wales Online
'I thought I was dying until doctors told me exactly what was going on'
'I thought I was dying until doctors told me exactly what was going on' Louis Watkins, 24, from Newport, was convinced he was suffering a heart attack and became a 'shell of myself' After struggling with his mental health, Louis wanted to help other men who are feeling the same (Image: Louis Watkins ) The first time Louis remembers experiencing anxiety he thought he was having a heart attack and during his first panic attack he thought he was dying. His misunderstanding of his symptoms comes from never having open conversations about emotions and mental health being a young man. Now after years of struggling with anxiety, Louis has worked towards changing the stigma men face when talking about such topics and showing that expressing emotion does not make you weak but instead takes strength. His men's self-care brand has created a community of men learning to talk about how they feel and take time to take care of themselves not just physically but mentally. Like many people in Wales, Louis noticed the significant negative impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on his mental health. Stay informed on the latest health news by signing up to our newsletter here Louis was a finalist for Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Image: Louis Watkins ) Louis Watkins, 24, grew up in Newport with his two brothers. Only starting to really care about his education during his GCSE's, he put pressure on himself to get the grades he needed to study his A-levels. Then whilst in sixth form "nothing else mattered" to him. Article continues below He said: "In sixth form, nothing else mattered other than getting my A-levels and it put a lot of strain on so many aspects of my life. Then when I didn't get the results I wanted to, I thought my life was over." Whilst the results he received were not what he had hoped for, Louis got an apprenticeship working with a railway company in design engineering in 2019. It wasn't long before the nationwide lockdown was announced and Louis became a "shell" of himself, being frightened by the virus and isolated at home. He said: "I need to feel like I'm doing something actively, otherwise my mind just goes crazy. "It was the first time I started to feel like a shell of myself. I think Covid really knocked me for six, I wanted it to be eased so bad that I was scared to go outside because I just wanted it to end but I also couldn't deal with the social isolation aspect of it." Whilst restrictions eased, Louis' anxiety and struggles with his mental health only got worse. In 2020, he became so anxious that he felt as if he was having a heart attack, not understanding the physical symptoms of anxiety. Physical symptoms of anxiety Anxiety can cause different symptoms and can affect people in different ways. It can affect the way you feel physically, mentally and cause behavioural changes. The NHS states the physical symptoms as: Faster, irregular or more noticeable heartbeat Feeling lightheaded and dizzy Headaches Chest pains Loss of appetite Sweating Breathlessness Feeling hot Shaking On an average day at his grandparents house, during a typical conversation, Louis began to feel lightheaded. He said: "I had this massive lightheaded rush. I felt like I was going to pass out and thought to myself 'what is going on?' "I'm just staring at my bamp thinking 'what do I say?' We were in the middle of a conversation and it just happened. I didn't feel good, I felt awful and I didn't say anything about it. I think it was probably the first time I've experienced it." Louis began to feel anxious more often but to him he thought he was dying as he still did not feel like he could open up to anyone about the way he was feeling and the symptoms that he was experiencing. He remembers walking down the street and thinking he was having a heart attack, saying: "I was walking down the street and I just needed to sit down and my head was just going crazy. Then I had a time where my chest was really tight. and my arms started tingling and I thought I was having a heart attack. "I went to the hospital, and they told me I was fine, that nothing's wrong. Looking back on it now, I think it was probably the first ever panic attack I've had but because I'd never experienced it I was freaking out, I didn't know what it was. I thought I was dying." Along with his anxiety, Louis felt bouts of "numbness" where he was neither happy nor sad but instead didn't feel anything. Louis said: "I felt numb, I wasn't happy and I wasn't unhappy, it was just nothing. I just couldn't show any emotion. It felt weird, I didn't know why I was feeling that way. I think I was just so hard on myself and like I wasn't being nice to myself. I couldn't pinpoint exactly why that was. "I think because I didn't know how to channel what I was feeling mentally and my anxiety. I didn't know who to turn to or how to speak about it, so I felt almost weak really. And it made me feel more isolated." It wasn't until he started to struggle with his mental health that he realised just how closed off he was with his friends and family about the way he was feeling. He'd noticed that he had never spoken on an "emotional level" with his friends and that the way they were truly feeling had never been a topic of conversation. He said: "It was only when I got older that I realised that, because I actually messaged my mates in a group chat saying that I was really struggling. "It was the first time I reached out and they said 'it will get better, bro' and I knew that they probably felt as uncomfortable receiving that message as I did sending it because it is the first time we spoke about it. Because they probably feel the same, we just don't know how to communicate it." He began to question why he couldn't talk to the people closest to him and sought to change that not just for himself but for all men. Whilst still doing his apprenticeship in 2021, he started working on his skincare brand Clear For Men that aims to empower men in feeling more confident as well as normalising conversations around mental health. Clear For Men was officially launched in August 2022 and Louis juggled both the business and his apprenticeship for two years until he was made redundant in December 2024, allowing him to take the leap and focus on the brand full time. Louis runs his business on his own, from a spare room at his mother's house (Image: Louis Watkins ) The Take Five cleanser from Louis' brand encourages men to take the time to prioritise selfcare which can often be a "taboo" subject for men. As well as promoting men taking care of their skin, Louis uses his brand and platforms on social media to generate conversations amongst men about mental health, encouraging them to talk to others about the way they are feeling and when they are struggling. Content cannot be displayed without consent Through Clear For Men, the men in Louis' life have been more comfortable talking openly and honestly about their emotions. He said: "A lot of my mates now say to me that they feel more comfortable talking about their mental health than they ever have before. "My brothers are more open about anxiety. I don't think the words anxious or anxiety, I ever heard my brothers say before I started the business so now I can see that it's more normalised. "I feel 10 times more comfortable speaking about it now. I want to show people that it's not weak to talk about it, it's important to." Louis has received multiple messages from customers and followers of his about how he has helped them with their mental health. He said: "The response from men that I have helped keeps me going, especially when times get tough. Someone commented on one of my videos 'you saved my life without even realising it' and it sent shivers down my spine." With each product bought from Clear For Men, 15% of the profits go to mental health charities, CALM and Mind which Louis has recently become an ambassador for. Article continues below
