The Road to TeenVision - PlanetGiggle.com

The wait is almost over...

Our new book, NOW Titled
The Road to TeenVision,
hits bookstores April 1st.

Click here to learn more
about the book and how
to get a discount by
pre-ordering your signed
copy now.

Meet the Kids of Teen Vision

Evan and Elise Macmillan

Ages 16 and 13
CEO's of chocolatefarm.com
www.chocolatefarm.com
"Having faith in yourself and a dream and the endurance to
follow through on an idea can lead to so much success."
Inspired by a one-day marketing event at a local organization geared
toward young entrepreneurs three years ago, Elise and Evan created
The Chocolate Farm. The Chocolate Farm is a delightful conception of
chocolate goodies with a farm animal theme. Making chocolate with
her grandmother since she was 3, Elise makes the chocolate creations
while Evan creates and maintains the amazing website. Together the
two continue to soar to new heights including securing an exclusive
contract with The Mile High Stadium in Denver to sell their
Chocolates at Bronco home games. Check out their imaginative
Chocolate creations as well as recipes to try on your own...you can
even buy your very own Chocolate Farm Cookbook...at their website.
By the way, their chocolate is fantastic!!

Jeremy Valdes

Age 15
Founder of R.E.A.C.T.
"Anything is possible!"
Motivated by events that have happened in his community, Jeremy
formed a group called R.E.A.C.T., Reforming Education Around Our
Communities Troubles. His group identified issues within the community
and brought awareness and training concerning those issues to his
peers at school. Jeremy was honored for his efforts with the
University of South Florida's Peacemaker Award in October, 2001.
Jeremy hopes to implement the program in his new school (High
School) this year with the dreams of continuing to create awareness
and change throughout his community. GO JEREMY!

Leon Little

Age 11
Founder of Young Kids Against Violence
www.expage.com/ykav
"Self Respect is the Ultimate Form of Self Defense!"
At an early age, Leon lost 2 members of his family in random acts of
violence. At the age of 9 he started an organization called Young Kids
Against Violence. This organization is devoted to helping kids learn
alternatives to violence. Leon devotes his spare time to being a
mentor to 8 kids (the youngest one being 3) to show them alternative
activities to violent video games, TV, or peer violence. Leon has
lobbied in congress, met former President Clinton, and has been seen
on several national talk shows such as Oprah promoting his
anti-violence message. LEON, YOU ROCK!

B.J. Pinchbeck

Age 15
Website Designer of Homework Helper
www.bjpinchbeck.com
"Be determined. Don't stop."
In 1996, B.J. Recognized a lack of homework help sites on the internet
and started a website with his dad. His site is dedicated to providing
links to different homework help sites throughout the internet. Now
with over 700 links and partnered with discoveryschool.com, B.J.
Receives an average of 10,000 hits per month. During the summer
months, B.J. Teaches a computer course to help other young people
create their own websites. If you need some help or have any
homework questions, drop by his site! B.J. Is THE MAN
of Homework Help!

Precious Thomas

Age 10
Motivational Speaker
"Stay Strong!"
Since the age of 2, Precious has been wowing audiences with her
messages. Now, as highly sought after speaker, Precious speaks to
groups worldwide about HIV awareness. Born with the virus, Precious
communicates awareness, hope and kindness. "To know me is to love
me," she says. Currently attending the 7th grade (2 grades ahead
of most kids her age), she is already taking college prep courses
between her busy speaking schedule. When you meet her, you'll know
why they call her Precious! By the way, Precious was just featured in
September's issue of Rosie Magazine!

Justin Miller

Age 12
World's Youngest Chef
www.chefjustin.com
"Just go for it! It's a lot of fun!"
This young chef has known he has wanted to be a chef since the age
of 18 months when he rolled his first cabbage roll with his mother-
from his high chair! Touted as "The World's Youngest Chef, Justin
continues to grow in skill and talent to the amazement of those around
him. Justin spends time creating new recipes on his own and now
attends culinary classes during the summer. For years, his specialty
has been mini cheesecakes and he is now adding "Mushroom Mountain"
(a dish that includes a variety of mushrooms and looks really yummy)
to that list. Justin has served as a spokesperson for Heinz Ketchup,
Hidden Valley Ranch and has been a chef host at an Academy Awards
Dinner benefiting underprivileged kids in L.A. (Just to name a few).
To try out some of his delicious recipes for yourself, check out
Justin's 1st cookbook, Cooking With Justin (published when he was 7)
and his 2nd cookbook, Break An Egg, to be available soon.
WOW! We can't wait! (And no, he didn't cook anything for us, but maybe someday...)

Amanda Dunbar

Age 19
Painter
www.AmandaDunbar.com
"You can't mess up art. That's what's so amazing about it!
There's just no wrong way to do it."
After taking an after school art class at the age of 13, Amanda
discovered her passion of painting. At 16, she had her first gallery
show where all but 2 of her paintings sold. (Unheard of!) Currently,
Amanda juggles her busy career as an artist while attending college
and working with local schools to develop workshops for kids to
encourage them to find their own creativity through painting. Look
for Amanda in the upcoming Barbie DVD to be released in October
of this year. The animated DVD will feature real photography of
Amanda’s amazing artwork and a documentary of Amanda's life as an
artist. Amanda attributes her great success to the guidance of her
angels. Visit her site or check out her book, "Guided By Angels", and
you will understand why!

Ryan Patterson

Age 18
Inventor of the American Sign Language Translator
"If you're into it, (what you are working on)
you'll always do well!"
Ever since he can remember, Ryan has been into electronics and
discovering how things work. In fact, he jokes that as a young
child, instead of a blanket, he carried around an electrical cord.
Now, Ryan has developed a glove that interprets the movements of
the hand when performing Sign Language and translates it into
English on an attached LCD display (that he also developed).
This way, non-speaking individuals can speak to people who don't
know Sign Language. (Simply Amazing!) Just getting ready for his
first year of college, Ryan is excited to learn more in the areas of
electronic and computer engineering. Meanwhile, he continues to
improve the ASL Translator along with working on other projects.
For inventing the ASL Translator, Ryan has won over $250K in
scholarships plus numerous other awards! RIGHT ON RYAN!

Keisha McDaniel

Age 15
Clothing Designer - Pretty Tomboy Clothing
www.PrettyTomboyClothing.com
"Be yourself, or please everyone else."
At the age of 9, Keisha was creating a revolution in women's clothing
and didn't even know it. All she wanted was clothes that she felt
comfortable in and still looked pretty enough for a girl to wear. With
the support and encouragement of her mom, she sat down and designed
clothes that fit her style and her comfort. Viola' Pretty Tomboy
Clothing was born. Mainly designing these clothes for her own self
esteem, Keisha didn't realize that this need would speak to women of
all ages, everywhere. Pretty Tomboy Clothing is currently in a
redevelopment stage and is looking to launch new products along with
their current selection soon. All this and keeping up with her team
sports, right now soccer, and getting ready to start the 10th grade,
Keisha is a very busy young lady. Keisha even recorded a rap song
about her clothing line. There is nothing she can't do!

Laura Lockwood

Age 19
CEO - Manateens (Volunteer Group)
www.manateens.org
"I had dyslexia and I was an A.D.D. Child and I wanted to show people
that I could do something really great!"
Starting with only 22 people, Manateens is the largest teen volunteer
group in the nation, now over 11,000 members strong! With traditional
community service programs having adults as participants, Laura
(at age 12), her sister, and a few of their friends set out to start a
program that they could be a part of. Proving to the community that
teens have a lot to offer, Manateens continues to support its members
to explore new volunteer ideas and receive training for their numerous
volunteer programs which range from hurricane shelters to baby-sitting
services, to elderly home safety assistance. Junior Manateens has even
recently sprouted to help younger kids get involved. Laura's big message
for kids interested in going to college is the many scholarships available
based on community service. Interested in setting up your own local
community group? Manateens will help you all the way down to replicating
their amazing program! WOW! WHAT A GREAT IDEA!
GO MANATEENS!

Rachael Scdoris

Age 17
Professional Dog Sled Racer
www.gorachaelgo.com
www.rachaelmushing.com
"Keep at it, even when it gets hard, cause once you get past all the hard
points, it's all down hill from there!"
Rachael is not your typical 17 year old girl. She loves to get dirty. “The
dirtier the better,” she says. That’s an easy thing to do when you are caring
for 100 dogs! At Rachael's home, her and her father's day can start as early
as 4:30AM to get the dirt roads watered down for their morning dog runs.
They prepare their dogs for competition during the dry months by rotating
the dogs through a 3 mile running course. As the season draws closer, the
dogs go for longer and longer runs. Rachael is a top competitor in the world
of dog sled racing. This year, she hopes to be placed within the top 20 in the
world, maybe even the top 10! This alone you might think impressive, but
Rachael is also legally blind. She says, "it would be silly," to let her
impaired vision stop her from doing anything. Along with dog sled racing,
Rachael is a spokesperson for Atta Boy Dog Food (also Rachael's sponsor),
a distant runner on her high school track team, and is set to compete in the
2004 Paralympics (Olympic games for people who have assorted physical
challenges). One of Rachael's goals is to win the Iditarod in her rookie year.
With her passion and her love for her dogs, Rachael is well on her way!
WHAT AN INSPIRATION!!!

Matthew Balick and Justin Lewis

Ages 14 and 13
Inventors of Flip-Itz (toy and game)
"If you have an idea, don't just keep it in the dust. Try to expand it,
take chances, and never settle for good!"
What started out as a boring night at a banquet ceremony, turned into a
night of fun when Matthew and Justin, both 8 at the time, created games
from the 3-prong plastic doohickees designed to keep the top of a pizza
box from hitting the pizza. It was so fun, not only were they playing with
them, so were the adults! The next day, Justin and Matthew's fathers
knew the boys had something! From there, they have created fun, colorful,
3-prong characters and games that include honing your skill to flip your
Flip-Itz into a desired location or position. What's the name of the
company they started? Two Bored Boys. This just goes to show you that
fun can be created anywhere! And any idea, big or small, is worth looking
into. Remember: Kids of all ages not only have the ability to dream, but
also have the power to make their dreams come true! WAY TO GO MATTHEW AND JUSTIN!! To buy your Flip-Itz, keep a look out for an upcoming website from the boys.