By Sahr Ngegba
There are thousands of successful entrepreneurs scattered all over the world, even if you’ve never heard of them. You likely think of a few select names when you think of entrepreneurship. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs. These are some of the most famous entrepreneurs out there, and understandably the first ones that come to mind. There are so many others that the average person doesn’t know or think of though. Here are a few of the greatest entrepreneurs out there today.
Naveen Jain – Viome
An entrepreneur who is passionate about pushing humanity forward, Naveen Jain is the author of Moonshots, which was an award-winning book about creating a world of abundance. He currently runs two companies: Viome and Moon Express. He previously founded three companies: Intelius, InfoSpace, and TalentWise. The goal of Viome is to make illness optional. Through an AI-based platform, it has developed a way to analyze the interactions between our bodies and food, in order to develop personalized nutrition for chronic diseases. Moon Express, on the other hand, is the only business on the planet that has permission to harvest the resources from the moon. This is very important, as it will help push humanity toward a multi-planetary society.
Darwin Enriquez – Inknation
Inknation was founded in 2021 in New York City by Darwin Enriquez and Zhimpa Moreno. The shop was established on the idea that ink unites. This concept is a nod to the brotherhood that the two founders have created. The shop is dedicated to providing a safe and clean environment for tattoo artists to work. It is also fueled by the work of Darwin, who started out as a young artist in Venezuela. After working in a professional studio, he would eventually attend conventions and receive critical acclaim for his work. Through his journey, he was able to develop a deeper style of tattoo that he is known for today. He can be reached through the Inknation platform to discuss his work.
Keith Zivalich – Magic Weighted Blanket
According to the CDC, around 40 million adults in the US are diagnosed with anxiety every year. The Magic Weighted Blanket was invented by Keith Zivalich in 1997 as a way to help people manage their anxiety. The concept was inspired by his daughter placing a beanie baby on his shoulder. Zivalich utilized deep pressure stimulation therapy to create the blanket, which was designed to help people get better sleep and manage their stress. Though Zivalich put his idea into the world back in 97′, his blankets didn’t become popular until 2016. As an entrepreneur, Zivalich values the importance of passion and patience. He also believes that the success of his concepts can be attributed to his past.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: SAHR NGEGBA
Sahr Ngegba was born to be an entrepreneur. His mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother were all business owners, so it was only a matter of time before he felt the desire to launch a venture of his own.
He relocated to Sierra Leone in 2000 to start a freight forwarders business. To date, his company has secured significant contracts with multiple countries in Africa, including Kenya, Guinea, and Liberia. Currently, they’re preparing for a major cargo tracking note contract. With his company, he has the perfect opportunity to give back to his country. They’re helping to generate revenue for the country of Sierra Leone and providing jobs for its citizens. He also adopted a school feeding program for less privileged students. He wants others to be able to benefit from the success he has achieved.
Sahr Ngegba attended university to study aeronautical engineering. During his time in uni, he was sponsored by IBM to complete a project during his second year. He spent that year working with them in one of their offices. It was during his time here that he learned how to negotiate contracts. Even though he was an extremely successful student, he didn’t love being in school. While still enrolled, he decided to take a semester off and go back home to focus on business. However, the head of the aeronautics department came to his parents and asked him to re-enroll. This was enough to motivate him to finish his degree.
After graduation, IBM approached him to continue working with them, but he knew that he didn’t want to work for someone else, and instead wanted to have his own business. After receiving the Princess Trust Award, he was given money to start investing. With their support, he jumped right into the business world and hasn’t regretted a day since.
Unlike many of his competitors, achievement has always been his biggest motivation. While some people get into the business world only as a means to accumulate a large amount of wealth, that was never the most important thing to Sahr Ngegba. He believes that money comes naturally with success, and shouldn’t be the primary focus. Instead, he is dedicated to actually accomplishing things. As a detail-oriented person, putting together companies and building systems is what drives him, not the potential of making money.
In his current business, Sahr is responsible for starting Sierra Leone’s largest indigenous haulage and trucking network. Sahr Ngegaba also established the biggest agricultural project in the Kailahun district. His wealth of experience and knowledge in the freight and maritime industries have helped him to find all of this success.
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