Many young people who haven’t even graduated from high school are taking the entrepreneurial path. Unlike most of their peers, they won’t be relaxing over their summer vacation. Instead, they will be working on their business ventures.
Warren Cassell Jr., who was profiled by theroot.com along with 16-year-old Harlem, N.Y., native Chase Reed and 14-year-old Atlanta native Maya Penn, is a 15-year-old entrepreneur, investor and graphic designer from Montserrat, an island in the Caribbean. The teenager’s first business was a greeting card company (for which he did all the graphic designs) that he started at the age of 8 with a capital investment from his parents. By the time Warren turned 13, he was making investments in hedge funds, private equity and real estate for close to 50 to 60 clients worldwide with his company, The Abella Group.
One of the first lessons Warren learned came from nature. That was to embrace the sun. “That also means to embrace the positives,” the teen said.
“If you look at plants — I think when I was in sixth grade, when I learned photosynthesis, and that is how plants actually make their food — if you block sunlight from a plant, it’s going to move around and try to find a source of energy and a source of light to grow.”
Growing up on an island has given Warren much inspiration, and he has written two books, The Farm of Wisdom: 25 Unforgettable Tales That Will Ignite a Wiser You! and Swim or Drown: Business and Life Lessons I’ve Learned From the Ocean.
The Montserrat Department of Youth Affairs recognized Warren as a Youth on the Rise, and he was named Caribbean Journal’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2013. Warren is also a member of the Leaders Investment Club and is a first-degree black belt in taekwondo.
He is currently filming the first season of his Web series, Teen Tycoon, which will show what he has learned as a young person in business with hopes to inspire the next generation of tycoons. In August, Warren will begin an internship with the Montserrat Development Corp.
Learn more about Warren Cassell Jr. at www.warrencasselljr.com.
