Young and Ambitious: A Talk With Nevaeh King on the Importance of Entrepreneurship

By Amir Muhammad | June 24, 2024

Some people wait their whole lives to follow their dreams and start a business, Nevaeh King, on the other hand, is getting a head start.

King, a sophomore at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, works at Youth In Business where they are taught entrepreneurship and how to start their own business, a clothing brand. She also braids hair as another form of income.

As an entrepreneur, King has traded in a 9 to 5 for a 24/7. She also balances work, school, and her social life. The average age of a successful entrepreneur is 45, with success strongly correlating with the years of work experience, according to research by the Harvard Business Review. King is getting that experience earlier than most and was willing to impart some of that knowledge to our Charm readers.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity

Amir Muhammad: What’s your favorite part of working with Youth In Business?

Nevaeh King: My favorite part is collaborating with different artists that are my age and who live in the same community as me. As well as being able to give me opportunities to become an entrepreneur, which would help me in the future because I do want to own a business one day.

AM: What is the most important thing that you've learned from working with Youth in Business?

NK: The most important thing I've learned is that it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of hard work to own a business. And to own a functioning business it takes a lot of teamwork. So what you want to happen, it's not gonna happen overnight and it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and patience.  

AM: What advice would you give young entrepreneurs thinking about starting a business?

NK: I would say to start now. A lot of people have ideas or have amazing ideas, but they tend to wait because they don't have the right amount of money or they don't think they have all the resources they need. So I will say, start now because it's better to start now than later. And that's also something that I had to learn, although you may think you have to wait to be a certain age but you can start now and get your business out there. So when you do get older, you always have something to you know, fall back on.