Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/461818
illustration by daniel o'leary The Fountain of Youth used to refer to staying eternally young. In Chicago, it's a fitting refer- ence to the gushers of cash being generated by the city's new generation of entrepreneurs. Barely out of their teens, this ever-younger group of whippersnapper CEOs are becoming millionaires by 17—and these days, college is the consolation prize. Consider Emerson Spartz, who dropped out of school at 12 to start his first website. Now the 27-year-old CEO of Spartz Media, his 15 sites garner 160 million monthly page views. Of course, at this point, Spartz has graduated from the wunderkind category by a good decade. Sho Yano enrolled in University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine at age 12; 10 -year- old Cory Nieves, who is CEO and founder of Mr. Cory's Cookies, is well-versed in manipulating the media, has plans to take his New Jersey– based business national, and foresees a Mr. Cory clothing line in his future. Farrah Gray, raised on Chicago's South Side, started selling painted rocks at age 6. By 14, he was a self-made millionaire and is now CEO of Farrah Gray Publishing. Then there's Tavi Gevinson, an acclaimed pre-teen blogger and style setter. That's yesterday's news, though. Now at the ripe age of 18, the fashion veteran and Project Runway: All Stars judge has turned her eye to acting, starring in Broadway's This Is Our Youth. Sure beats the drama club back home in subur- ban Oak Park. Let's face it—if parents truly want to use the word "prodigy" now, they'd better be talking about a toddler. Chicagoans who thought they had the formula for raising wealthy geniuses are going to have to adjust their thinking. More than ever, it's all about Junior now. No longer will the hallmarks of success be creative tax shelters, foreign mistresses, and "My yacht is bigger than your yacht." From now on, parents will be brag- ging, "My tween's start-up got bought out by Google faster than your kid's." The definition of "education" has also changed. The Francis W. Parker and Latin Schools? These classic halls of learning are still invaluable for net- working, but—ironically—young upstarts are usurping their place. The elementary Greenfields Academy, which just opened last fall in Roscoe Village and has a strict "no homework" policy, has been working on pragmatic programs like "E-ship," where students learn to start and run a business with scaffolded challenges. After they pay back their investors, the students keep any profits. The oldest students are 10 years old. And talk about educations that are actually applica- ble: Savvy parents will want to supplement their children's business classes with the Cloudberry Language School, which teaches courses in Lincoln Square, Old Town, Evanston, and Glenview. Beginning at age 3, future jet-setters can now learn Arabic, Mandarin, and Russian. The role of children has changed. No longer are they the high-achieving pets of the family, admired for their lacrosse finesse and their charming theory that Iron Man is the ultimate Ayn Rand–inspired hero. Today's children are not to be raised—they are to be invested in. And don't kid yourself—parents are keeping a fixated eye on their own dividends. The golden rules have gone platinum. The most important les- sons Chicago parents can teach their children are these four: There is an art to raising capital, and there's no shame in being adorable to do it. Anything—anything—can be monetized. Dress for the lifestyle you want. (In other words: seer- sucker.) Work hard and play never. That is, until you retire at 25. MA Youth Is served As ChiCAgo's entrepreneuriAl sCene CreAtes ever-younger stArt-up Ceos And power plAyers, the Competition for ChiCAgo pArents to CreAte "super Kids" hits A tipping point. by paige wiser 144 michiganavemag.com Gold coastinG spring 2015