The past year saw countless businesses falter and struggle to turn a profit, as the world was gripped by an unprecedented pandemic. In light of such harsh circumstances, a select few entrepreneurs stood out from the crowd and made a name for themselves by not only surviving the past year, but thriving in it. In doing so these entrepreneurs established themselves as experts in their fields and top business talents, setting them up for even more explosive growth in 2021. From digital marketing to consumer manufacturing, each of these individuals surpassed their competition and were able to succeed in even the most inauspicious global economy and environment. Here are the top 13 entrepreneurs to watch in 2021:
1- Gavyn Rogers
Age: 17
Social Media: @fearsome
Gavyn Rogers is a media chemist and social media marketing entrepreneur. Born and raised in Michigan, Gavyn recognized from a young age the power of social media in the promotion and advertising of brands. Gavyn first honed his expertise by promoting his own content, growing several accounts to over 200,000 followers in less than two weeks. He also learned to manage content on accounts with even greater follower counts, which he continues to do as owner of the page @blunt. While most focused on how to make advertisements as broad as possible, Gavyn thought differently, realizing the potential for advertising niche products and growing niche brands through social platforms. This inspired him to found the “Canopy Agency”, a social media marketing firm which specializes in target growth for brands in every niche, as well as offering media buying services to help them target the right buyer in their niche. Despite being only 17 years of age, Gavyn has already made a name for himself in the social media and marketing world, and continues to grow both his own brands and those of his clients through innovative targeted campaigns.
2- AJ Hazzi
Age: 38
Social Media: @vwacademy, LinkedIn — @ajhazzi
AJ Hazzi is an investor, business coach and real estate entrepreneur. As the founder of the Vantage West Academy, AJ has revolutionized the way real estate agents are taught, and how technology is leveraged in the real estate market. AJ recognized that the way the real estate profession has been assembled for over a century was fundamentally flawed. The existing model failed both the clients and the agents, resulting in a no-win situation. This inspired AJ to create Vantage West Realty, which sought to create the real estate office of the future by aligning incentives and creating a cohesive real estate environment. AJ’s expertise includes Lead generation, lead conversion, attracting talent and building culture. He specializes in re training real estate agents to compete in 2021 and beyond, by sharing his personal experience and hard-earned skills after spending 20 years in the trenches himself. His emphasis on using technology while supplementing it with critical human skills like negotiations, allows for unparalleled success in real estate, combining the best of both the “old school” and “new school” ways of doing business to constantly remain relevant and on top.
Vantagewestacademy.com
3- Sebastian Duarte Griego
Social Media: @Scar
Sebastian Duarte Griego is a digital marketing entrepreneur specializing in social media and online advertising. Sebastian was always determined to set his own path, vowing not to conform to the 9-to-5 standard for work that so many others do. To that end, Sebastian identified Instagram as one of the best advertising methods and began his digital marketing journey on the platform in 2017, known as StriveMedia. Through trial and error he found the fundamental principles key to success, and through them quickly grew his accounts. Sebastian came to recognize the underlying patterns in social media platforms and applied them to his existing knowledge of content creation to produce even more specialized material. Utilizing such unique techniques and creative concepts that were new to the industry, Sebastian soon amassed an audience surpassing 3.5 Million followers eagerly awaiting each of his posts. He leveraged this following to strike promotional deals with internationally acclaimed brands under his
agency, Strive Media. Through his variety of hard-learned tricks and practices, Sebastian has made a name for himself at the top of the marketing game and continues to work hard to achieve his goal of financial freedom. He continues to push the boundaries of digital marketing in new and exciting ways, using a mix of established ideas and novel concepts to stay ahead of the competition.
4- Lana Rodriguez
Age: 35
Social Media: Instagram — @thelanarodriguez, TikTok — @thelanarodriguez, Facebook — @The PCS Colorado-Lana Rodriguez Group
Lana Rodriguez is a top real estate entrepreneur in Colorado. Over the past several years, Lana Rodriguez’s name has become synonymous with the Colorado Springs Real Estate game, where her well-established reputation and unmatched market knowledge has made her a front-runner in the industry. Lana embodies the classic American rags to riches story, working her way up to now serve as the Leader of PCS Colorado – The Lana Rodriguez Group (LRG) with Keller Williams Premier Realty, LLC. Lana prides herself on Listening, Consistency, and Caring, three fundamental principles which have led her to an enormous base of referrals, repeat clients and a community that trusts her. After her meteoric rise from 31 transactions in 2015 to 119 transactions in 2016 as a solo agent, Lana founded LRG in 2017. Since 2017, Lana has earned the Top 10 Ranking in her entire MLS which is saturated with close to 5,000 Real Estate Entities. LRG closed 189 transactions in 2017, 204 transactions in 2018, and 230 transactions in 2019. Despite the challenges that 2020 brought, Lana’s team still closed over 200 transactions, outperforming thousands of other real estate entities. Lana’s classic Russian wit, hard-earned wisdom and energetic style make her a dynamic leader & speaker, adept at helping people tap into their full potential and achieve their dreams.
5- Dakota Sheets
Social Media: @daksheets
Dakota Sheets is a consumer products entrepreneur and social media expert. When Dakota was a 20 year old junior studying at Colorado State University in 2014, he recognized the lack of consumer products for efficient and effective cleaning of
glassware. With just $300 and an idea, Dakota founded Resolution in Denver, Colorado. Since its inception Resolution has sought to change the way people think about cleanliness, and has created an entire culture of cleaning glassware without harmful abrasive materials or ineffective mediocre solutions. Dakota went to work creating his own new formula, now known as Res Gel, which has catapulted the company to success by changing the way consumers think about their glass. Resolution found customers in both niche glass experts who understood the need for better cleaning supplies and in a broader base of consumers who came to recognize the inefficiency of traditional glass cleaning. Dakota continues to lead Resolution toward its goal of creating beautiful and efficient products that shakeup and lead the future of cleaning technologies. Over the last six years, Resolution has grown into an omnichannel brand that now reaches thousands of stores and thousands of direct consumers each month.
6- Ali Rehman
Age: 20
Social Media: Instagram — @alirehman_, Twitter — @aliirehman_
Ali Rehman is a social media and digital marketing entrepreneur. As one of the first early adopters of social media, Ali quickly got a foothold on the scene in 2011 when he began learning how its algorithms promote content to users. He was one of the first to master the platform, amassing 1 million followers on Instagram for the first time in early 2012. Where most would have stopped, Ali kept working to grow his social media presence, becoming an even more influential figure over multiple platforms and several accounts. Each year he acquired more experience and perfected his skills. By 2018, Ali had amassed a net following of over 10 million across Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. It was at that point that Ali realized his passion was in more than just growing his own social media, but rather in helping other clients by applying the lessons he spent nearly a decade learning. This led him to found Rehman Media, a digital marketing agency offering a wide range of services including brand development, increased exposure, ecommerce acceleration, and more. Ali continues to use the same tried and tested methods that earned him his own millions of followers to dominate the social media space year after year.
Rehmanmedia.com
7- Bryan Farida
Age: 18
Social Media: Instagram — @bryanfarida, LinkedIn — @bryanfarida
Bryan Farida is a digital marketing and technology entrepreneur. Bryan has been in the marketing business since he was 12 years old, first learning the keys to digital marketing by growing multiple Instagram accounts from nothing to 50,000+ followers. Following this success, Bryan dived into the business world by founding Pro Hockey Co., a dropshipping store that sold hockey merchandise. At just 17 years old, Bryan closed just short of $60,000 in revenue through Pro Hockey Co. all while simultaneously attending one of the most prestigious high schools in Michigan — Detroit Catholic Central. Always looking ahead, Farida went on to found Farida Design Group in March 2020 which he rebranded to Mutarex Digital last November. Mutarex has quickly become one of Michigan’s top marketing and technology agencies, specializing in branding, graphic design, web design & web development, SEO, and public relations. The company has worked with over 30 clients worldwide and is on track to have over $50,000 in cash by 2022 with notable clientele including Michigan Outpatient Cardiovascular Institute, Platinum Medical Center, Motor City Cannabites, and HockeyBenders. Bryan Farida divides his time between serving as the CEO of Mutarex for a consistent cash flow and pursuing other ventures that interest him including machine learning, tech startups, and philosophy. At the same time, Bryan is earning a degree in Information Technology with a double minor in Computer Science and Business Administration from Wayne State University, where despite working 80-100 hours a week on his many endeavors he still maintains a 3.7 GPA.
8- Josh Roman
Age: 18
Social Media: @joshroman72
Josh Roman is a social media influencer, manager, specialist, and entrepreneur. He understood the power of social media at a very young age, and recognized that it could be used to generate a profit. Ever since the release of Instagram in 2010, Josh has been hard at work building, growing, and scaling brands. He began with his personal passion for hockey, building his own hockey brand on Instagram to over 45,000 followers. This allowed him to form connections with other big brands and
companies to strengthen his social media influence even further. Building on this success, Josh has spent the last decade perfecting his skills to amass over 250,000 followers and millions of impressions, leading him to be dubbed the expert of social media. Josh is currently earning a degree in business, specializing in marketing. Also, while studying and furthering his knowledge he looks to continue to build his investment portfolio which will allow him to build passive wealth. Josh maintains that the key to his success is hard work and determination he lives by the phrase “winners will always find a way”. He understands that success takes time, and that despite short-term challenges or a difficult situation, he never wavers in his determination to find a way to succeed where others might give up, making him one of 2021’s top entrepreneurs to watch.
9- Will Silva
Age: 21
Social Media: @silvawill3 @thejungleu
Will Silva is a sales expert, real estate investor and business coaching entrepreneur. At the age of 18, Will began making a name for himself in the sales industry as a chart-busting top salesman for a billion-dollar tech company, Vivint Smart Home. After selling over multiple 6 figures in home security systems, he became part of the first door-to-door sales team for another billion-dollar tech company, Sun Run Solar. Continuing to work just as hard, Will and his identical twin brother Victor now run one of the top 3 leading sales teams in the entire company, and expects to bring in over one million dollars again this year in revenue from solar sales alone. Rather than keep the secrets to his success all to himself, Will is passionate about teaching other young and motivated people to accomplish similar achievements. This led him and his brother to found The Jungle University, a business dedicated to teaching others how to make money with multiple revenue streams. Here, Will imparts the wisdom and knowledge he spent years acquiring, emphasizing the keys to business growth, mental toughness, and elite sales skills. As The Jungle University takes off in popularity, Will continues to grow his real estate and stock investments across multiple continents. Will is determined to grow his net worth beyond one million dollars by the year’s end, a goal he is well-poised to achieve.
10- Victor Silva
Age: 21
Social Media: @vicvsilva, @thejungleu
Victor Silva is a sales expert, real estate investor and business coaching entrepreneur. Just two years ago, Victor dropped out of his college classes and began his journey in sales. During that time he garnered multiple awards, including Number 1 Rookie of 2019 (making Victor the youngest sales representative ever to win that award) and Number 1 Sophomore in Florida, both awarded by the multi-billion dollar tech company Vivint Smart Home. This personal success has afforded Victor both the experience and capital to pursue his own sales ventures, which led him and his twin brother Will to create the multiple-six-figure sales force The Jungle U, short for The Jungle University. This business is dedicated to teaching others how to make money with multiple revenue streams, skipping the arduous trial-and-error that Victor worked so hard to overcome in his own business success. Alongside his sales work, Victor dedicates time to growing his knowledge of real estate, leveraging two markets (Brazil and the US) to achieve a seven-figure real estate portfolio. Committed since childhood to become millionaires by the age of 22, Victor and his brother Will are entering the coming year concentrated on impact over income by scaling brand awareness for The Jungle U. Victor hopes to provide his expertise and wisdom to entrepreneurially-driven individuals looking for opportunities to bring out their true potential, or what he called their “inner alpha”
11- Josh Wintermantel
Age: 28
Social Media: @wintermantel, @hypesocks
Josh Wintermantel is a clothing and athletic wear entrepreneur. Josh got his start in business while he was still in elementary school, opening his first eBay store and learning the keys to successful e-commerce. Since then, Josh has remained dedicated to growing businesses, founding a variety of successful entities each of which contributed to his experience and expertise. After many years learning lessons from his many businesses, Josh founded his most recent venture: Hype Socks. A
former college athlete himself, Josh noticed many players struggled to match socks with their uniforms. Socks that did match in color or size were often of poor quality and unsuitable for athletic use. Years of research and development led to the creation of a durable, well-fitting, and fully customizable sock specifically designed for athletes and sports teams. Boasting the fastest custom sock manufacturer turnaround time in the world at just 1-4 weeks, Hype Socks has rapidly grown and become a major player in the industry. Despite the challenges COVID-19 have brought for most manufacturers in 2020, Hype Socks excelled and continued to deliver consistently. Josh continues to grow the company while looking onward to launching new ventures. www.hypesocks.com.
12- Paul Guarino
Age: 28
Social Media: @PGSports
Paul Guarino is a sports marketing expert and athletic management entrepreneur. Paul has always held a passion for both sports and business, driving him to learn everything he could about the business that drives competitive athletic leagues. But it wasn’t until 2011 that Paul finally turned his passion for sports and skill in business into a career by founding PG Sports. Paul built PG Sports from the ground up into a well-known apparel brand, featuring merchandise worn by athletes and sports fans all over the country. Always pushing the boundary, Paul continued working hard to turn PG Sports into a top-tier sports marketing company, helping athletes build their brand off the field so they can focus their attention on performing on the field. Utilizing the experience he gained building an apparel brand, Paul applied his expertise through PG Sports to create the same hype, brand image, and public perception for each of his clients. Paul works directly with athletes as their business manager, helping them establish a presence through social media, branding, public relations, sponsorships, and more. Currently, PG Sports works with 12 athletes from the UFC to the WNBA, and his roster continues to grow year after year.
https://www.pg-sports.com
13- Jake Matos
Age: 23
Social Media: @jakematos.tv
Jake Matos is a video director and social media marketing entrepreneur. Jake recognized the amount of photography and videography talent on social media, but found that so many of them failed to attract an audience or build a brand, ultimately wasting their skills. This pushed Jake to be different, and he spent years perfecting not only his video directing skills but also the business side of branding and marketing. It is this combination of skills that has propelled Jake to the top of the social media space, quickly amassing an audience for himself with his original directing and photography but also mastering the art of building a brand on social media. Following on his own success, Jake specializes in developing elite brand and creative sales teams which are capable of both producing creative content and marketing it on social media. He continues to use his hard-earned skills in video production to market his clients to a wider social media audience in new and creative ways. Jake plans to keep on developing top strategic game plans, and along with his team is poised to take over the social media space throughout 2021.
(Syndicated press content is neither written, edited or endorsed by ED Times)
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