52 Messages, One Mission: Helping Young People Feel Enough

At Young Entrepreneurs Academy, one of the most rewarding parts of our work is seeing young people take an idea and turn it into something real. That's exactly what Marco did.

After attending a YEA Bootcamp, Marco was inspired to launch ENOUGH AS YOU ARE™, a wellbeing-focused card deck designed to support pre-teens and teenagers navigating the challenges of growing up. At just 12 years old, Marco has already taken his first steps into entrepreneurship, creating a product that tackles issues many young people face every day, including anxiety, exam stress, friendship challenges, social media pressures, and self-confidence.

For Marco, the inspiration behind ENOUGH AS YOU ARE™ wasn't a single defining moment, but a series of experiences that gradually shaped his thinking. The idea grew from his own personal journey, particularly the pressures he experienced in sport. As a member of a highly competitive school football team, he sometimes struggled with the expectation to perform at an exceptionally high level, leaving him feeling overwhelmed and lacking confidence.

"It just made me feel too small for the situation," Marco explains. "That's when me and my mum said, 'enough is enough'."

From that simple but powerful statement, an idea was born. Together, Marco and his mum developed the concept of a product that could help other young people facing similar challenges, offering encouragement, reassurance, and support during difficult moments. The result was ENOUGH AS YOU ARE™, a card deck designed to speak directly to young people dealing with exam pressure, anxiety, friendship issues, social media challenges, peer pressure, and concerns around body image.

Turning the idea into reality required far more than creativity alone. Marco quickly discovered that entrepreneurship involves problem-solving, decision-making, and persistence at every stage. He created 52 unique messages for the cards, intentionally writing them in a way that felt authentic and relatable.

"I wanted them to sound like kids speaking to each other, not adults being preachy," he says.

Every aspect of the product was carefully considered, from the calming colour palette and easy-to-read fonts to the packaging itself. Marco worked directly with manufacturers, reviewing samples and selecting the final design, choosing a magnetic box that opens like a book and cards with a matte finish that feel more like calming prompts than traditional playing cards.

Like many founders, he also encountered challenges along the way. The biggest hurdle was funding the business and covering the costs involved in designing, producing, and shipping hundreds of packs. It was a valuable lesson in the realities of building a business and one that taught him resilience as well as resourcefulness.

While many people assume entrepreneurship is something to pursue later in life, Marco sees things differently. Attending the YEA Bootcamp opened his eyes to what was possible and inspired him to take action now rather than wait until adulthood.

"The YEA Bootcamp really inspired me to start a business," he says. "I would learn lots of skills that would help me in the future, it would help me later in life, and most of all, it looked really cool. Why wait to grow up to start a business when you can learn much more as a child?"

His advice for other young people considering entrepreneurship is refreshingly simple: "Don't wait! The lessons that people, especially children, can learn are huge. Having that extra bit of experience can really help adult life in business."

Marco is passionate about the importance of entrepreneurial education. He believes young people often have a unique ability to approach problems creatively and come up with innovative ideas that adults may overlook.

"I think young people can come up with the most extraordinary yet useful ideas because we tend to be more creative and imaginative than adults."

He also believes schools have an important role to play in helping students develop these skills from an early age.

"Some students might not even see it as a lesson. They might see it as a period where they can just be themselves and use their imagination for the better."

Since attending a YEA Bootcamp at Mill Hill School and participating in a YEA workshop at Belmont School, Marco says hearing directly from entrepreneurs has had a huge impact on his own journey. Learning from founders who shared their experiences, challenges, and successes helped him realise that entrepreneurship is something young people can actively pursue, not simply something to aspire to in the future.

Looking ahead, Marco's ambitions for ENOUGH AS YOU ARE™ go far beyond building a successful product. His mission is to help young people everywhere feel more valued, more confident, and more supported as they navigate the challenges of growing up.

As he puts it:

"We Are Enough. We Are Growing. We Are Not Alone."

Marco's story is a powerful reminder of what can happen when young people are given the opportunity to think differently, solve problems, and take ownership of their ideas. With the right encouragement and support, young people don't just learn entrepreneurial skills they discover their ability to create something meaningful and make a genuine difference in the lives of others.