"This Gives Me the Confidence to Keep Going”
“Helping kids go from screen time to green time.”
When Harleen recorded those words she had no idea what would happen. All she knew was she was taking her shot at a business pitch competition with nearly 400 other high school entrepreneurs across the United States.?
Among those hundreds of young entrepreneurs was a high school senior from Salt Lake City, Utah, named Harleen Saini.
Harleen has always been interested in business, so it seemed like a natural fit when she applied, and was accepted, to her community’s entrepreneurship program called CEO.
"I've taken a lot of business classes in high school. A lot of times with these programs, they say they aren't a traditional learning experience, but with CEO it really was true. It was so amazing not to be confined to a classroom.
...There really is a difference, I learned, between what you learn in a business class and what actually works in these businesses that we're visiting."
But CEO didn't just open Harleen's eyes to real-life implementation of important business skills.
Through her visits with the local community and business leaders in the CEO Program, Harleen was able to uncover a passion for an idea that would later become her business venture: STEM for Seedlings.
When she heard about the opportunity to showcase her business in the national pitch competition, Harleen knew she couldn't pass it up. So, she joined the ranks of hundreds of other CEO students and young business owners across the country who submitted a 30-second business pitch into the competition.
These students waited expectantly as CEO stakeholders across the nation - including board members, alumni, local business owners and mentors - joined forces to review and rank all submitted pitches into 18 top winners.
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And here is the best part…Harleen won.?
"I love my company, so I wanted to apply. But I knew I was going up against a lot of competition. I'm so grateful for everyone who supported and helped me along the way and for the amazing opportunities this win has given me. It really gives me the confidence to keep going.”
Today, because of her win, Harleen has $1,000 more to invest in her business, the opportunity to participate in a leadership conference later this year, and the knowledge that passion combined with hard work can lead to pretty amazing things.
And she doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon.
Though Harleen intends to pursue her degree this fall, she is also eager to take her business as far as it can go. She is even in conversations with a local toy store to discuss bringing her product into one of their locations.
The truth is, when you give young people the space to try new things, you can show them, not only the value of thinking big, but open their eyes to just how much they are capable of.
We look forward to what's next for Harleen, the thousands of other young entrepreneurs who have participated in CEO and the hundreds more beginning their CEO journey this year. They have and will build a powerful network supporting them and valuable tools that will serve as a launchpad for their future success.
To learn more about CEO which powers on the entrepreneurial spirit, visit: DiscoverCEO.com
Granite UT CEO and CEO programs alike are supported by the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship , the standard for entrepreneurship education in the United States.