Where Business and Community Support Collide

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Sam Vahhaji. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

From slime to slippers, Sam Vahhaji has been running businesses since he was 6 years old. When he was older, friends and colleagues alike sought his hard-earned expertise, eventually leading him to create an organization to share his knowledge in April 2023, his sophomore year of high school. Through Business for the Youth (BFTY), Sam teaches his peers the skills to run a business before engaging them in real-life practices to solidify their understanding. The resulting profits are then used to help underserved populations in the community.

He now supports approximately 85 chapters in 18 US states and 15 countries. Some members are eyeing a career in business. Others join just for fun. Everyone learns entrepreneurship skills they can take with them in whatever direction they proceed.

Sam spends around 48 hours a month on Business for the Youth on top of serving as the president of Student Council and racing on his school’s ski team. He plans to study business, finance or economics in college and, though he’ll be away from his chapter, he has no plans to step away from BFTY any time soon.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

My mom is an entrepreneur. She came from Iran to the U.S. with limited English, so it was hard for her to get a job. Her solution was to build her own online consignment store, and I watched her run it as I grew up. It inspired me.

I had a snow cone business when I was 6 years old and hired friends to help me sell at our local park. In middle school, it was a candy business, which eventually led to selling slime. That was the first time I advertised on Instagram and sold on Etsy. Then, I started a clothing brand, Juicy Threads, during the COVID lockdown and made videos on TikTok to advertise. I’d learned how to utilize social media through a personal account that grew to 150,000 followers and applied those skills to my Juicy Threads account. My first video got about 100,000 likes overnight. In two weeks, I had my launch, and we sold out within 20 minutes. Ultimately, it was taking over my life, so I put it on pause.
A few months later, I started a drop shipping store called Cozy Step. When that started gaining traction, my friends started asking me to help them run a business. That’s what led to BFTY. I also wanted students to know there’s another path if they feel like college isn’t their next step.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Business for the Youth.

I host bi-weekly meetings with my chapter for business workshops, like how to find a winning product to sell. I invite guest speakers—mainly student entrepreneurs—to talk about their journey. One student with own landscaping business did a slideshow on how he started it, what he learned along the way and what he would do differently.

My chapter has a leadership team of 11 that I manage. And I market the nonprofit as a whole. I communicate daily with chapter presidents and design curriculum for any who need help. I’m there for support. We have an overarching executive team and chapter and volunteer coordinators whom I mentor as well. I also organize service projects and manage our website.

What kinds of things do you teach, and how do you engage students in real-life practices?

After her online consignment shop, my mom started a piroshki business. I learned from her, so together, we taught people how to run a small food business. Then, members sold Raising Canes at lunch as a simulation. Another time, we covered how to utilize social media for business, and members made mock accounts to reinforce the lesson.

Tell us about a couple of your favorite community service initiatives.

Last year, my chapter focused on helping Afghan refugees. In 2021 about 1,300 of them came here to escape the war in Afghanistan. I’m Persian, and a lot of them speak Persian or Farsi. My mom wanted to help, so she started interpreting for them. I met with one of the families she was working with. I learned about their experience adapting to America and shared my own story of navigating kindergarten with limited English skills.

Refugees don’t have much, so we collected around 100 toys around the holidays through a donation drive for the kids. We also bought some with our funds. Collaborating with a global nonprofit called Alight, we distributed them to 35 families. We also raised about $2,000 in business practices–$1,000 after costs–that we donated to Alight, specifically for Afghan refugees within the Twin Cities area.

This year, we made sandwiches and distributed them to the unhoused with our profits. We also raised about $1,000 for an entrepreneur whose home-based pastry business had to be put on hold due to the Eaton fire in southern California.

Tell us about future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about.

My chapter will host a Shark Tank where students present business ideas, and board members will be the sharks. Whoever wins will get money to donate to an organization they resonate with. We’re considering a social session with the Afghan refugee kids and students at my high school as well.

The school year is ending, but we’re planning our second thrift convention where students can earn money by selling clothes and other items they no longer need. There will be a $5 entry fee that will go towards a big end-of-year service project.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

With business or volunteering, if you have an idea and the desire to do something, you just have to do it. See what happens. When I started Business for the Youth, it was to help my friends. I never would have thought it would get to where it is now. You’re capable of doing a lot more than you might think.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Sam? Find local volunteer opportunities.