“Who wants to be a millionaire?” might seem like a television concept to most, but for senior Val Share it is a life motto. Born and raised in Miami, Share explains that the businessman blood has always run through his veins. 

“I used to sell candy in school at a really young age, and I’d also sell shoes when I was 12-13 years old,” Share said.

However, his candy and shoe games were left behind once Share shifted his entrepreneurial skill to social media marketing and web and app development. MovesApp, a mobile app that allows him to partner with venues to throw parties and events, was his first project alongside Net Kohen, a Krop alumni. The app was so successful that they soon began partnering with nightclubs in Miami, where Share has worked with rappers such as NLE Choppa and DaBaby. 

However, it all came to a halt at the start of his junior year. When Covid-19 hit, the business shut down due to lack of funding and a team. Nevertheless, Share has hope of restarting after the pandemic. 

Alongside co-partners Kohen and Dre Medici, an Instagram branding and growth expert, Share is now developing LinkMe. The idea for this new social networking app would allow people to easily exchange socials in seconds. From doctors to restaurants and schools, LinkMe aims to make connections easier. 

Because two apps were not enough, Share has also founded a business called WOMP LIFE, which sells products such as ab stimulators and massage guns online. He makes and ships these products from fulfillment centers located in and out of the United States.

  The products have even been promoted by TikTok influencers such as Noah Beck and Blake Gray. 

However, the business life is not all glamour and social media stars. His endeavors lead to a hectic schedule, usually causing him to work around the clock seven days a week. Share admits that he works around 80 hours a week. 

But how does Share manage to work 80 hours a week on top of being a full-time student? As any good businessman would, he has a solution for that too. Share takes fairly easy classes that don’t require Zoom calls so that he can dedicate time to his business. He is enrolled in Guided Workplace Learning, also known as OJT, which allows Share to end the school day earlier to work on his business endeavors. Even with some harder classes, Share has managed to keep his grades up. 

Because of the success he’s already gained through his entrepreneurial ventures,Share doesn’t believe he will attend college. However, he is not ruling it out and says that it is a possibility in the future.

When asked what advice he has for high school students wanting to start a business, Share notes that education and designing a plan before execution is the key to success. He advises to conduct a lot of research and gather as much information as possible. Share also says that finding a mentor and surrounding yourself with the right people is essential, quoting Dan Pena, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”

“Try to find people who are smarter than you, who you want to be like, and learn from them,” Share said. “If you don’t have a good team and good people around you, it could be hard to expand at a good pace.”

He explains the importance of the healthy relationship he has with his partners. They each have their own role and do what they are good at, which enables the business to grow at a fast rate. The group lives together in the SLS Brickell, which he is able to afford by budgeting.

“You need to be able to make a good budgeting sheet and not go crazy when you make money, like spending it on a pair of expensive shoes,” Share said. “If you’re making $5,000 a month, out of that $5,000 you need to be putting away at least two or three thousand just for cost of living; paying rent, food, and having appliances for the house.”

Share’s greatest influence is Mark Zuckerberg, who also started a business as a teenager and worked throughout college to create a huge company by the age of 20, which is what Share aspires to achieve. Like Zuckerberg, he is going to continue to expand, and plans to continue this way of living. His last words are to everyone who wants to create a life for themselves.

“Keep going,” Share said. “Don’t listen to the negativity, surround yourself with people you want to be like and who inspire you, and always try to educate yourself, learn and listen.”