July 13, 2013

by Jay Tribby

Earlier today, Kashi Sehgal, Co-Founder and CEO of Gigabark, shared her experiences as a startup business owner with teens from the Operation P.E.A.C.E. summer camp. As part of the Year of Boulevard, the teens attend a Saturday School that introduces them to entrepreneurs from metro Atlanta. During the week, they participate in entrepreneurship training through a curriculum developed by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE).

The Saturday School is organized by two adult volunteers who are passionate about the Year of Boulevard and the families of the Bedford-Pine community: Adam Harrell of Nebo, a web design company, and Terri Lewis of Kimberly-Clark. This is the second year that Adam and Terri have organized the program. We are so grateful to them for their commitment to the teens of the Boulevard corridor!

Among Kashi’s words of advice to the teens:

• “It doesn’t matter what kind of business you want to create, but you have to be passionate about it.”
• “A business plan is important… but be open to changing your plan along the way.”
• “When pricing your product or service, think about how valuable you are to your prospective client.”
• “Network, network, network.”

The students were all ears–and very quiet–during Kashi’s presentation. As soon as she asked them about the products and services that they have been working on this summer, she was peppered with questions about product pricing, social media marketing, and finding clients.