Jaylen Bledsoe, 21, was always somebody who looked at the bigger picture, especially when it came to making money. “When I was in third grade, I wanted to mow yards, but I was fat. So I teamed up people who could cut the grass with people who wanted their grass cut. I made thousands that year,” Bledsoe said. Bledsoe, born to teenage parents in St. Louis, has had his own business by the time he was 12. “That first business grew out of this idea of reading books. So, I read books on programming and taught myself how to build websites and apps,” he said. At age 13, he founded his own tech company, which specializes in web design and other IT services. In just over two years the tech titan managed to expand his small business — run by two people — into a global venture worth US$3.5 million, employing 150 contracted workers. He became a millionaire as a high school student. Later Bledsoe re-branded his company to The Jaylen Bledsoe Global Group, and his passion for inspiring and educating other teens prompted him to create The Young Entrepreneur University — a set of interactive digital programs and camps designed to educate minority students on entrepreneurship. “I want others to know it’s possible,” Bledsoe said. In one of his programs, the young man teams up with Omaha’s Empowerment Network. “We wanted to show students that they don’t have to wait until they’re in college or even the their 20s or 30s to start a businesses. They can actually start a business while they’re in high school,” Empowerment Network President Willie Barney said. Seventy-five students who are involved with the Empowerment Network’s career building program, called Step Up, got a rare chance to spend a week with Bledsoe. “The biggest thing that I want students to take away is that it’s possible,” he said. The teens are required to come up with a business plan, develop it and pitch it. The student groups are judged and the winners walk away with a cash prize. Bledsoe also will continue working with the students to help develop their plan, potentially into a profitable business. His advice to other young entrepreneurs? “Take risks. As a minor, there’s nothing you can do that will shoot you down for too long. You can always jump back up and keep going,” he said. Along with managing his education and his own business, the young business guru has a hand in philanthropy and humanitarian efforts as well. He serves on the board of director for the National Youth Rights Association in Washington, D.C., which is the largest youth-led civil rights organization in the U.S. He’s a junior board member of Independent Youth, board member of Multitasking Hearts Corp., and he is also the director of business development for Jordan Sparks’ Charity, The M.A.D. Girls Inc. There are four principles that Bledsoe lives by: “Dream and think big. Control your future. Own self-validation. Don’t seek validation.” (SD-Agencies) | 