Mishael Khi Fontenelle is a nine-year-old kidpreneur who helps kids set goals and build better habits through his online course Little Legacy Heroes: Kids Chasing Goals. He currently resides in Texas, United States of America.
Khi as he is affectionately called also has begun a YouTube Channel, online store, as well as co-authored a book with his mother Neema Jn. Baptiste-Fontenelle.
The young entrepreneur said that he decided to create his YouTube channel because he sought to interact with persons and could not due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
“I was inspired to become a kidpreneur after having a hard time coping with the pandemic. It was March of 2020 when the Coronavirus struck. I was stuck indoors, and I missed doing the activities that I enjoyed. I was longing to do all the fun things I once did – like playing with my friends, riding my scooter, going to the park, swimming in the pool, and going to Max Bowl. I was missing outdoor life.
At one point, I started feeling bored and my mom tried to come up with some creative indoor ideas to make me feel better. I figured that if I was feeling bored, other kids would be feeling bored and lonely too. That’s when I came up with the idea to motivate kids.
I decided to create a YouTube channel. When I told my mom about my idea to create a YouTube channel, she said it was an awesome idea and she was very proud of me. So together we brainstormed ideas of what my YouTube channel’s name would be and what I wanted to feature on my YouTube channel.
In my first video, I introduced myself and shared my vision board so other kids would get to know me better. At the end of the year, I realised that everything on my vision board was completed as I had met all my goals. One of my proudest accomplishments was getting straight A’s at school. I figured that if I continued to focus on the goals I set, then other kids can do it too.
At that point, my mom was creating a course for kids to become published authors, so I decided to create my course to helps kids set goals. I was also more motivated because I listened a lot in the background to the podcasts, courses, and challenges that my mom participated in. And that is how Little Legacy Heroes: Kids chasing goals was developed,” he said.
His mother Neema said that she knew that her son would become involved in entrepreneurship but never thought that it would be so soon. “The advantages of entrepreneurship and the need for us to be creators was always a mindset we have encouraged from the time Khi was a toddler.
He helped us when we first started our Herbal Teabag business in St. Lucia. He also helped his grandparents with their catering and farming business. I think this helped sparked the passion he now has so when the opportunity came during lockdown of 2020, he welcomed it,” she said.
Neema who is the proud mother of two young boys said that she was pleased when her son Khi told her that he wanted to become a businessman.
“I know that children learn from what they see modelled in their environment, so I knew it would eventually happen, I just wasn’t expecting it to unfold this early.
I was blown away because I am a proponent of kidpreneurship, but I was worried that I was just starting to figure out my journey and now I would have an added responsibility with him hopping on board. So, in essence, I was nervously excited,” she said.
The educator said that she can create balance with her son Khi between his business and education by creating balance in his curriculum. “In life, everything is about balance. As parents, we also believe in the holistic development of our boys.
So, we work together to balance all his goals: spiritual, academic, social, entrepreneurial etc. For the most part, he is self-driven so that helps. Khi has a vision board that he created during our goal setting session at the beginning of the year.
His goals direct his weekly schedules, what he refers to as “Khi’s Drive-thru”. We discuss it at the beginning of each week, and we are flexible, so we adjust as necessary.
For academics, he has time dedicated to learning. He reads independently for at least 40 minutes a day for the nonacademic area, each day he focuses on one or two small goals.
For example, on Mondays he does his kidpreneur course and growth mindset like Big Life Journal podcast, Tuesdays he engages in a social meet with Kid CEO clubhouse.
On some Saturdays, we may have to dedicate a morning to Unscripted Voices Speaking Academy. Our focus is on progress and persistence. The key to progress is in Khi’s Formula:
Minute +Minute=Repeat
Repeat+Repeat=Habit
A Better Habit=a better You
A Better you=A better Legacy
Or as Bruce Lee stated: I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times.
We also have reflection sessions when we discuss his progress, how we can better manage his goals, what’s working, what’s not working, what needs to change or even be eliminated,” she said. Khi had some words of advice to any other kidpreneur and that was that they can achieve anything.
“You are not too young to chase your goals, you are strong and fit, you are powerful and can do anything. You are a little legacy hero! It’s better to look to your future and take tiny steps to make it what you would like it to be instead of looking back at your younger self, wishing you had known better, wishing you had done things differently,” he said.
