BATON ROUGE — The Young Entrepreneurs Academy of Baton Rouge has been turning high school students into CEOs for years. From new healthcare start ups to innovative baking businesses, the program has helped over 120 teenagers get the skills they need to be future business leaders.
The goal of the program, led by the LSU E.J. Orso College of Business, is to teach high school students how to launch their own businesses. Students generate ideas for their own companies based on their interests, write business plans, and file those plans with the Secretary of State’s Office. At the end of the nine-month program, teens pitch their ideas to a panel of judges in a “Shark Tank” style competition to compete for start-up funding. On top of getting real-world feedback, they’re also earning college credit at LSU.
“They really give you every single resource that you need, from the mentors to the graphic designers to connections. I’ve made so many connections through YEA.” Amelia Sindelar told UWK.
Sindelar is a YEA alum, and won the program’s top seed funding prize when she was a high school sophomore. She is also now the owner and CEO of her own company, ClearRX, which is an app designed to help people with prescription medications. The app scans the label, reads the description, warnings, and instructions out loud, and allows you to set reminders to take your medication.
“They set us up to solve a real-world problem.”
“You’re trying to solve a real-world problem,” Sindelar explained. “So, when you start thinking that way, it led me to how most people take medication, and I came up with an idea to try to solve the issue around people mistaking their medication.”
Sindelar told UWK that she did not expect to win going into the program. “I think I’ve always had the CEO personality, and I’ve always wanted to own my own company. So, when this opportunity came, the deadline was a week away, and I was like, ‘I need to do this, this would be so awesome.’ I didn’t think I would get in because there’s a lot of people that applied but then I went through it, and I didn’t expect to win, but I won.”
YEA BR alum Haden Vidrine is the owner and CEO of Wonder Clothing, a clothing company with the goal of catching eyes and sparking conversation. Vidrine, who completed the program in his senior year of high school, told UWK that the program “hit the nail on the head” with its approach to teaching business as a whole.
“They taught us how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Vidrine said.
Vidrine recalls not being sure what he was going to do after graduation, but a flyer for the YEA BR program changed that.
“I’ll never forget, I was in high school, I was a senior, and they passed out papers for the program. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I applied and I did it,” said Vidrine. He is now a student at LSU where he has taken businesses classes.
Sindelar and Vidrine said that they did not have a business or product idea when the program started, but their mentors helped guide them, and prepare them with the correct mindset. Those mentors are still helping the alumni with the flow of their businesses, and both ClearRX and Wonder Clothing are doing well today.
For more information on the YEA BR program or to apply for the 2025-2026 school year visit Young Entrepreneurs Academy of Baton Rouge.
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