Launch a business together
POP mentors young people with their caring adults in support
Make something people want. Make the first sale. Learn how to do it again
Do it in just Eight sessions
entrepreneurship is a team sport
Entrepreneurship is practical independence for 2025. Young people build judgment, problem-solving, communication, money literacy, and a repeatable build–test–improve cycle that creates income options in a volatile and uncertain economy. The POP Mentorship Project sparks family entrepreneurship so know-how and confidence pass forward.
If there is one thing I know...
Why Self-Employment?
My name is Aaron, and after 25 years working with young people in career development and self-employment, I have come to believe in the value of entrepreneurship.
Self-employment is the best way for a young person to build the essential skills demanded by the economy today. The future of work is fluid, task based, and will involve entrepreneurial skills. Automation is shrinking entry level jobs in retail, warehousing, and quick service, and no longer sets new workers up for success. Entrepreneurship empowers people to seek information, solve complex problems, take risks, make judgment calls and decisions, collaborate and innovate, communicate, and develop digital and financial literacy. These skills transfer across careers and impact them forever. Entrepreneurship builds perspective about failure and value in pushing outside of their comfort zone. Young people develop real autonomy and the confidence to reach their potential.
Behind every name, there is inspiration
Why "POP"?
POP stands for Product, Operations, and Promotions – the three essential things every business needs to succeed. But POP is more than an acronym. It’s what happens when ideas, skills, and confidence come together and something clicks.
A business that POPs acts with purpose. It knows what it offers, how to deliver it, and how to reach people. And when all three are popping together, the business is ready to spot realistic opportunities to succeed and capitalize on them effectively.
That same spark happens for people, too. Young Entrepreneurs POP into self-employment. Households POP with shared purpose. Families POP into confidence, independence, and forward motion. It’s the excitement and energy that comes from the empowerment of entrepreneurship.
The POP Mentorship Project is built to create those moments. Through mentorship and action, people learn by doing – turning ideas into real microbusinesses and discovering what they’re capable of together.
POP is a framework for business – and a symbol of transformation and agency. it’s about the moment things come to life. When everything starts working together, and you realize: we can actually do this – we actually ARE doing this!