11 Aug Celebrating International Youth Day 2026
Why investing in young entrepreneurs is an investment in our future
There is no single picture of a young entrepreneur.
One is building custom furniture. Another is developing a fitness and nutrition platform. One runs a publishing and consulting company while still working a conventional job. Another wants to build video games that carry Caribbean culture to the world. There is a business helping families and small companies simplify everyday tasks, a growing event-decoration brand, and a cosmetics business with ambitions to expand across the Caribbean and beyond.
Their businesses are different. Their circumstances are different. Even their reasons for beginning are different.
But listen closely to what they are trying to build and a common aspiration begins to emerge: greater independence, stronger families, meaningful impact, sustainable businesses, new jobs, and the chance to create something that can grow beyond them.
As Trinidad and Tobago marks International Youth Day, seven entrepreneurs from the Youth Business Trinidad and Tobago community offer a useful reminder: young people are not short on ambition. The question is whether we are creating the environment that allows that ambition to become sustainable enterprise.
There is no one path into entrepreneurship
As part of developing this article, the YBTT team connected with our alumni.
For Marielle Gordon-Theodore, founder of The Rustik Connection, entrepreneurship grew out of something deeply personal. Growing up in Laventille, she had been around family members creating wooden items for use around the home. Years later, after losing a loved one, she enrolled in a joinery course as a distraction. What began as a source of comfort developed into a business creating custom furniture, storage solutions, closets, kitchens and other wooden pieces.
Eventually, pursuing the business required a difficult decision.
I had to give up my corporate job.
For Kelva Caesar, the path has looked very different. Kay 360 Support Services began as a back-to-school shopping concierge and has expanded into textbook sourcing, online and personal shopping, business registration and procurement services. Kelva continues to work full-time while building the business.
Entrepreneurship wasn't about replacing my conventional job—I still work full-time. It was about creating something of my own and building a better future for my family.
Nikki Williams, founder of Willow Reads Publishing Ltd, is also deliberately building both a career and a business. Willow Reads provides publishing, administrative and business-support services to individuals, entrepreneurs and organisations.
I do both, conventional job and entrepreneurship, i do not believe both have to be mutually exclusive. It's not easy, but it is possible.
Entrepreneurship is sometimes presented as a dramatic leap: leave the job, bet everything and never look back. Real life is rarely so tidy. Some leap. Some transition slowly. Some build at night after work. Some stop and restart. What connects them is not one route, but the desire to create value and greater possibility.
The reality of building
Entrepreneurship is often celebrated for its ambition, creativity and independence, but the reality is less polished.
Young entrepreneurs navigate limited capital, demanding jobs, family responsibilities, rejection, uncertainty and the pressure of building something before others can see its potential.
For Vinita Katwaroo, founder of Vin Natural Cosmetics, that journey included stepping away from her business for three years before eventually returning.
I took their advice and stopped the business for 3 years. It's my biggest regret to date. Thank God I started back my business after.
Others have taken different routes. Chantell Barry has pushed through uncertainty while developing Flaere. Khachielle Farmer moved through several career paths before returning to entrepreneurship. Kelva Caesar continues to build Kay 360 Support Services while working full-time.
Their experiences point to something important:
Ambition is not the missing ingredient.
What helps ambition become sustainable
Young entrepreneurs are routinely told to network, find funding, build teams and seize opportunities. But knowing where to find those opportunities and having the right people around you can make all the difference.
As Jordan Smith, founder of Accent Computer Entertainment Studios LTD, explains:
“People often say that entrepreneurs need to find opportunities and build connections, but they rarely tell you where to look or who to approach.”
Entrepreneurs need access to knowledge, mentors, finance, markets, networks and people who can help them make better decisions earlier.
That support also comes from families, customers, friends and communities. Kelva’s family supported her business journey. Marielle speaks about encouragement from those closest to her. Nikki points to returning clients and referrals. Khachielle remembers an aunt who gave her opportunities when she had no clients.
Entrepreneurship may begin with an individual, but sustainable businesses are rarely built alone.
If we want more young people to turn ambition into sustainable businesses, we have to strengthen the ecosystem around them.
What they are building toward
The most compelling reason to invest in youth entrepreneurship is not the difficulty entrepreneurs face.
It is the possibility of what they can create.
Marielle wants The Rustik Connection to become a household name across furniture, upholstery, reupholstery and education.
Kelva sees Kay 360 serving Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean.
Chantell wants Flaere to grow into a powerful fitness and nutrition application tailored to users wherever they are in the world.
Nikki wants Willow Reads to scale, employ more people and serve more clients.
Khachielle sees Chielle’s Design Experience becoming a complete event-decoration brand while also creating opportunities for her to educate others.
Vinita wants Vin Natural Cosmetics to export across the Caribbean and internationally while opening additional store and spa locations.
Jordan wants Accent Games to secure a publishing deal, expand its team and bring Trinidad and Tobago-made games to players around the world.
After confronting rejection and even moments when he questioned whether others saw his work as a legitimate career, he reached a conclusion worth remembering:
“I cannot control how quickly other people understand what I am trying to build, but I can keep making it harder for them to dismiss.”
That is ambition worth paying attention to.
Different Contexts, Common Aspirations
