Meet Angell: The Young Entrepreneur Keeping It Poppin’

At 11 years old, most children aren’t thinking about launching a business. Angell wasn’t necessarily thinking about launching one either.

He was sitting in his mom’s car when he created a popcorn mix with a lime tortilla twist. He liked what he tasted enough to give his creation a name: Lime Creeper Popcorn.

That moment would become the beginning of YanniMakesPopcorn.

What started with one flavor grew as Angell began making popcorn for school and church functions, barber shops, car washes and other community events. An idea created by an 11-year-old was slowly becoming something people could recognize, purchase and enjoy.

The name YanniMakesPopcorn has its own childhood story. “Yanni” was a nickname given to Angell when he was a toddler, and it stuck. Years later, that childhood nickname became part of the identity of a growing business.

Today, the brand offers a variety of flavors, including the Lime Creeper creation that helped start the journey. The official YanniMakesPopcorn store describes its mission with a phrase that fits Angell’s journey perfectly: “Keep it Poppin.”

Building a Business While Building His Future

Angell is now in the 10th grade, where he earns mostly A’s in his classes. One class in particular has a direct connection to what he is already doing outside of school: marketing.

Instead of marketing being something he may use someday, Angell already has a business where he can put what he learns into practice.

YanniMakesPopcorn has grown beyond those first sales at community functions. Angell sells his popcorn online and in person at a local farmers market in McDonough, Georgia, on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

He also owns a food trailer that is planned to be converted into a space for serving his popcorn.

And his vision goes further.

Future plans include participating in fall festivals, hospital and healthcare pop-ups, daycare in-house field trips and school pop-ups, with an even bigger goal of eventually seeing YanniMakesPopcorn sold in commercial stores.

That’s a lot of vision for someone who hasn't even finished high school.

More Than the Business

Entrepreneurship is part of Angell’s story, not his entire identity.

Outside of YanniMakesPopcorn, he enjoys playing the drums, producing music, riding dirt bikes, skating, swimming and cooking.

He is also a member of the Police Explorers Association, where young people interested in law enforcement can receive training while participating in community service.

Between school, business, community involvement and the things he simply enjoys doing, Angell represents something adults can sometimes overlook about young people: they can carry responsibility, creativity, ambition and fun at the same time.

They are still discovering who they are while already beginning to shape who they may become.

Let The Children Speak

That is one of the reasons stories like Angell’s belong in Let The Children Speak.

Young people should not have to wait until adulthood for their ideas to be considered important.

Angell was 11 when he experimented with popcorn in his mom’s car. Someone could have looked at it as nothing more than a child mixing together a snack.

Instead, that small moment became the beginning of a business.

There is a lesson in that—not only for other young people with ideas, but for the adults around them.

Sometimes a child doesn't need someone to tell them how unrealistic an idea is.

Sometimes they need someone willing to ask:

“What could this become?”

Angell is still writing the answer to that question.

From Lime Creeper Popcorn to a food trailer, online sales, community events and dreams of commercial-store shelves, there is plenty of room for YanniMakesPopcorn to keep growing.

And Angell has plenty of time to decide just how far he wants to take it.