Statistics from the Kaufman Foundation show 543,000 new businesses are being created each month by young people. Texas is second in the nation for new business growth, spurred on by new graduates like Shama Kabani.
Statistics from the Kaufman Foundation show 543,000 new businesses are being created each month by young people. Texas is second in the nation for new business growth, spurred on by new graduates.
Shama Kabani doesn't spend a lot of time in the office. At 27, she's often on the go, managing the 30-40 employees who work for her as president and CEO of the company she started, Marketing Zen Group of Dallas.
But Kabani's road to success started very differently. She went to college at the University of Texas in Austin --- graduated with great grades and a masters degree -- and couldn't get a job.
"It was very humbling," Kabani said.
Kabani found she'd become a victim to an economy that had fewer jobs, lower pay and little opportunity.
"I moved back home, to my parents, to try to figure out, what I do now?" she said.
After dozens of rejections, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She started her own company, specializing in corporate social media and Internet marketing. She teaches companies how to leverage the Internet and tools like Twitter and Facebook to their advantage.
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Kabani is in a blossoming group of young entrepreneurs spurred on by the great recession.
"You have to work extra hard," Kabani said. "The assumption's been, 'I go to school, I get a good GPA, I send out those resumes.' No, no, no. You have to back up and say, 'who am I going after?' and you really have to amp up your game because, the average job you're competing for, the person's looking at 200 resumes."
Kabani says her best advice for new grads: make your own path.
CLICK HERE for more information on the Small Business Administration's young entrepreneur assistance program.
