Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs of 2015 | SMALL BUSINESS
Christian Leonard | High School Recipient
Christian Leonard is an Independent Contractor for Social Media Promotions and has worked extensively with social media group, GrapeStory out of New York. Christian has cultivated an impressive list of companies in which he has completed contracted work. Companies including Coca-Cola, Nickelodeon, Microsoft and Virgin Mobile have sought him out to create campaigns that align with their products. His work has been featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Good Morning America and numerous online publications. He also just completed high school at Bishop Hendricken! Christian’s work involves creating short, 6-second videos on the popular social media platform, Vine. He has coined the term “vine magic” and creates videos that will encaptivate you for hours. What began as a passion, eventually turned into a career. Companies hire Christian because his Vine videos are clean and family friendly, yet are truly captivating.
The biggest startup challenge for Christian was growing his social media base. He began as we all do, at zero, and in one year gained 10,000 followers. At 150,000 followers he gained his first contract with Aquafina. He describes his first experience as an independent contractor and the process behind video shoots, “This was all new to me. I was told to send over three storyboards but at this point I was naïve – I didn’t even know what they meant by storyboards. I soon found out that this meant illustrative concepts for my promotional videos. I had to go through rigorous approval and shooting process. Shooting a video is an extremely stressful task because it can take hours and I refuse to stop until the video is perfectly shot.”
Education has always been in the forefront for Christian, when asked about the impact education has had on him, he explains, “People need to study for the sake of learning. Some of the principles that I have learned are to do things completely with maximum effort.” In the fall, Christian will attend Duke University where he will undoubtedly expand his skillset and continue to pursue his high-standard for learning. Christian plans to continue his success with social media by growing his Instagram and twitter accounts.
Sean Fay-Wolfe | High School Recipient
Sean Fay-Wolfe is an 18-year old entrepreneur who recently graduated from South Kingstown High School. He is a game programmer of self-published online games and creator of self-published Minecraft fan-fiction trilogy, The Elementia Chronicles. Sean was recently contracted by HarperCollins, one of the largest publishing companies in the world and is scheduled to appear at Comicon in San Diego where he will sit in on a panel among the bestselling middle-grade authors in the industry. His publishing deal allowed him to officially incorporate Diamond Axe Studios, a multi-faceted media company that will produce books, video games, online video games, and other creative products. Sean was first introduce to programming in seventh grade. He always had an interest in coding his own games and after seeing a presentation by someone who was comparing different coding languages, one of which was Scratch, he went home, downloaded the program and began his programming career. At the age of 13, Sean crafted his own video games and created Diamond Axe Studios to
establish his professional identity. At the age of 16, he finished writing Quest for Justice, the first book of the Elementia Chronicles trilogy that was later contracted by HarperCollins. At 17, he completed the second book of the chronicles and currently, he is finishing the last book. To gain the attention of one of the largest publishing companies, Sean self-marketed his first book via social media, community presentations and other media outlets. After selling thousands of copies of Quest for Justice, he peaked interest of HarperCollins. Now, he has contracts from other countries to translate and publish the trilogy abroad.
In the fall, Sean will attend the University of Rhode Island where he was awarded a prestigious Centennial Scholarship to pursue a major in English, second major in Elementary Education and a minor in Computer Science. He will continue to build Diamond Axe Studios and recruit more creative, like-minded individuals and understands that the true challenge in moving his business forward is finding the right talent. The truly impressive thing about Sean is that not only is he a creator and author, but that at such a young age his focus is to continue to be involved in education. DAS is working on an educational guide for teachers on how his books can be used in the classroom. He foresees himself to continue to give presentations at schools, libraries, and museums across Rhode Island to inspire kids to want to challenge their minds through reading and writing.
www.risbj.com | volume four issue seven
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