By Cynthia Lescalleet
Contributing writer
Rachel Zietz, CEO and founder of Gladiator Lacrosse
Whenever Gladiator Lacrosse sells one of its rugged backyard lacrosse goals or rebounders, Rachel Zietz’s cellphone chimes with a vintage cash register’s “ka-ching.”
Well into its second year of operations, the whimsical signal still makes her smile. But she has to silence the ring tone while in class.
She’s 14.
Rachel, who’s father, Sam Zietz, joined YPO in 2012 in Florida, is an honors student and skilled athlete on her way to becoming a teen tycoon in the specialized sports equipment industry.
In 2014, her company’s first full year of sales hit more than US$200,000 — an amount already surpassed in the first quarter of 2015. Rachel anticipates sales of US$1 million this year. Her products are sturdy, she says, and the sport is popular, with continuing exponential growth forecasted nationally.
A fiercely competitive lacrosse player, Rachel currently plays on a travel team, a national team and her high school’s varsity team, though she’s a freshman. Whether on the field or handling business details, Rachel remains passionate about the sport. Playing mid-field gives her the full vantage point for offense and defense, something she finds relevant in running her business as well.
Playing and pitching
Rachel started Gladiator Lacrosse at the end of 2013, when she was 13, based on the products and business plan she had developed a year earlier as a participant in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy. Offered by the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, the demanding program’s 33-week curriculum challenges young participants to pitch viable products, develop related business plans and seek investors.
Rachel’s entrepreneurial exercise addressed and resolved her frustration with prevailing practice equipment that does not hold up to the rigors of the sport she loves, company lore explains. Rather than patch it, like so many players do, she designed sturdier versions.
Her investor pitch landed a US$2,700 grant, which helped fund part of the initial order for launching the company and its two products, a goal and rebounder both available online.
In March, Rachel received the “Rising Star” award at the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s HYPE awards.
While sales thus far mostly have been to individuals for backyard practice, more recent orders have come from school districts, Rachel says. Currently, she’s negotiating distribution channels in two national markets as well as with a major retailer. She hopes to add more products, such as lacrosse balls and compression socks.
Rather than draw a salary, Rachel chooses to reinvest in her business. She has one employee to help her with shipments and customer service, particularly during school hours.
“School is a priority,” the student in Rachel says. Her business side, however, has noted how having a company to run has made some classes more relevant, such as the math behind business forecasting and projections.
“School is a priority,” Rachel says. She has noted how having a company to run has made some classes more relevant, such as the math behind business forecasting and projections.
Rachel squeezes in time each day to take care of business, even if she’s playing at a tournament. On breaks between games, for example, when other players check out the vendors, she usually can be found in her company’s booth, running sales orders and checking messages. She thinks it’s pretty cool to encounter players on other teams who are familiar with her equipment and then learn she is behind the business.
‘Entrepreneurial osmosis’
Sam Zietz, CEO of Touchsuite
While Rachel has been learning about enterprise, her father has been observing her progress. A veteran entrepreneur who mentors college students, he says he is not one to put limits on possibilities.
“Why limit the ceiling?” asks Sam, who was named an Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 in Florida.
He’s pleased that his daughter independently tackled so many of her business plan’s execution details, from product design, manufacturing negotiations and trademark registrations to website content. Sam’s business, TouchSuite, shares some warehouse space for her container loads of product, which sells out far more quickly than he had ever anticipated.
Father and daughter describe each other as competitive, very competitive. Both of them recognize their similar mindsets, especially in how they view a problem as an opportunity; the bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity, they say.
“Business is a language we can both speak,” he notes.
Shop talk sometimes spills over at the family dinner table, Rachel says. She listens carefully to the work day challenges her father describes to learn how they might apply in her own business down the line. He is helpful when she has a question about something related to ongoing business operations.
Sam believes ‘entrepreneurial osmosis’ may have influenced all three of his children. “It’s what you have access to,” he says of their family’s business-spinning culture
Rachel stands ready to mentor her siblings — and other young entrepreneurs. Her advice? Have a passion for your idea and envision success. “If you are passionate about your business, there should be nothing in your way to making it succeed,” she says. “And, if you have an ultimate goal for success, you will reach it with determination and passion.”
How do you share the entrepreneurial spirit with your family?
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