About Julie Ann Wood
When she had the opportunity to work at the UW-Madison Small Business Development Center she was so excited since she could use her education and entrepreneurial experiences to help others. What was even more exciting was helping with center’s Youth Entrepreneur camp. The kids were the same age as when she started her plant business, but when funding was cut in 2008 the camp was in jeopardy of being cancelled. She proposed to rewrite the curriculum so that it could be taught with existing staff and it has been a huge success ever since and has a wait list that gets longer each year. She saw the need to help others implement youth entrepreneurship and that is why the E-Seedling, “More Than a Lemonade Stand” youth entrepreneur camps, curriculum and training started. She hopes to cultivate tomorrow’s entrepreneurs and help others to do the same.
WHERE DID THE E-Seedling NAME COME FROM?
We were already dreaming of what we were going to spend the money on. Once the seedlings appeared we thought it would only be days until we could start selling the plants and making money. Then one day, I rode my bike down the road to check on the plants and to my dismay, they had all dried up and died.
I was devastated; my first real business had failed!
I kept thinking how could my friend let this happen, after all the plants were at her house.
At the time I didn’t realize it, but I had learned two very valuable lessons about starting a business.
- Make sure you have a partnership agreement that includes who is going to do what when.
- Sprouting the seeds is the easy part; it’s cultivating the seedlings that takes time, care and attention.
E-seedling was sprouted to prepare our youth for success in life and business and take some of the pain out of learning the hard way!
~ Julie Ann Wood
Julie has presented on entrepreneurship education, youth entrepreneurship, business operations, productivity and technology at local, regional and national conferences including: National Association of Small Business Development Centers, Chamber of Commerce events, Midwest Entrepreneurship Conference, WI State Training Conference, WI Transition Improvement Grant Conference. She has been hired to teach youth entrepreneur camps for kids ages 9-15 and has trained numerous teachers in basic entrepreneurship skills and the Biz Ops Game. Julie Ann Wood is the author of More Than a Lemonade Stand published in 2015.
Listen to Julie’s interviews on the podcast The Entrepreneur Way as she shares her passion for empowering youth through entrepreneurship and the Wealth Academy Podcast where she discusses her current views on empowering youth through entrepreneurship. Watch Julie on Oregon Life where she discusses her current project for youth entrepreneurship.
Creating a Movement that Encourages and Empowers Young Entrepreneurs with Julie Wood
Entrepreneurship Excellence with Julie Ann Wood
by Wealth Academy Podcast
Watch Julie Ann Wood discussing Entrepreneurship on Oregon Life.
by Oregon Community Access Channel
Julie is a Social Entrepreneur that believes giving back is important!
In addition to being the past director for the Youth Entrepreneur Camp at University of Wisconsin-Madison Small Business Developement Center, Julie shares her passion for youth entrepreneurship as a volunteer educational coordinator for the Stoughton Children’s Business Fair. She has also been a judge for Future Business Leaders of America National Competition, the Skills USA State Competition and the UW-Madison School of Business Emerging Leaders program. She has been a frequent guest instructor of the Biz-Ops Game for middle school and high school aged groups and has trained Wisconsin teachers on how to teach entrepreneurship and use the Biz Ops Game in their classrooms.
She has volunteered for the Boys Scouts of America and has served as a den leader, cubmaster, camp leader, committee chair, troop treasurer and merit badge counselor for entrepreneurship and inventing. She also shares her talents as a choreographer, director and performer for a local community theater group and served on the board. She is a current professional member of the National Speaker’s Association and serves on the Wisconsin Chapter as Treasurer.
Julie strongly believes that entrepreneurship is key in empowering kids to believe in their selves, in realizing their potential and that they can make a difference in the world by solving problems and making the world better. She also believes in giving back and 10% of all online sales to scholarships for her youth entrepreneur camps.
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E-seedling, founded by Julie Ann Wood in Madison Wisconsin, helps parents, teachers, organizations, communities, students and youth discover possibilities and reach their potential by growing business-building skills and attitudes.
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