If these guys have taught us anything, it’s that we can do anything (at any age) by just following our passion. Check out some of the greatest and most innovative entrepreneurs today.

 

1) Maria Rodriguez

 

Miss Rodriguez launched BioEarth which helps women in developing countries create their own source of food and income – using worms. That’s right, these wriggly little squirmy things are going to help people all over the world become self-sufficient. Rodriguez did the research, read the studies and found that if you want to change the world, you have to start with helping women. Because women are influential and important to a community, if you invest in them, you’re really investing in the community. Way to go, Rodriguez.

 

2) Sebastian Lindstrom

 

Lindstrom does good deeds. Do you know how he does good deeds? He does it by filming good deeds. If you listen to the cynics in the world, there is no good news. The media is filled with nothing but bad news. Whenever something good happens, it gets overshadowed by all of the traumatic, horrible things that are happening throughout the world.

 

Well, Lindstrom doesn’t think that way. In fact, he travels the world and films videos of people doing good deeds. What a wonderful job. Not only does he get to witness acts of kindness and good deeds, and spend time with some wonderful people; he also gets paid for it.

 

3, 4, & 5) Nik Bauman, Rob LaFave, and Emily Olson

 

These guys are fantastic. If you know me, you know that I absolutely love farmer’s markets. What these guys have done is create an online farmer’s market. At foodzie.com you can buy organic vegetables, artisanal baked goods, cheeses, and other products. The “local farmer” loving side of me swells with pride whenever I go to foodzie.com.

 

6) Sean Kelly

 

You probably don’t know Sean Kelly, but you’re going to love him. Kelly has developed vending machines that offer healthy alternatives to the normal candy bar/potato chip varieties. We’ve all thought about it before but Kelly went for the gusto. He’s actually doing it. The vending machine industry has been pretty quiet lately but it’s about to get rocked.

 

7 & 8) Nikhil Arora and Alejandro Velez

 

These two fabulous guys have brought education, food, and self-sustainability together into an awesome and friendly looking package. These two started out as urban farmers, growing oyster mushrooms when they realized that they could help other people (kids and families, even) do this as well. Their company is called “Back to the Roots” and they offer packages to families that allow for them to grow their own mushrooms and build their own Aqua farm.

 

Image by: Rachel Voorhees