We were lucky to catch up with Eli Crentsil recently and have shared our conversation below.

Eli, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I 1000% wished I had started my business later. I started my first business when I was 13 with a few friends at the time. I started my second business just before my senior year at 17 and my third right before the pandemic at 20. Now with the business I just started I feel like it’s something that out of all the experiences I’ve had with past businesses, I started this at the right time. The thing about starting a business so young is that you’re also growing up still. You don’t really know what you’re going to love even though it can be outlined with the things that excite you most in your businesses, whether it be relationship building with vendors or manufacturers, marketing, maybe finance. You won’t get a grasp until you’ve done something enough to where you can definitively say I like this a lot or I’m not feeling this. At the time I started my first business I was in middle school, my second at the end of high school and my third in college. I was still doing all the things that middle school/ high school kids do. I had after school activities and clubs, I also worked jobs all throughout high school and my college experience. I believe if I didn’t also get these experiences in addition to my second life I had in business at the time I would’ve been doing myself a disservice. through all of it I loved the creative side of those businesses. And now in my newest business that’s what I get to focus on as I figure out where and how to source talent in the other areas of my business that I’m not great with. I think waiting to start my current business put me in a place where I’m more confident in my ability and in myself. Growing up in my household I had a lot of very strong personalities who are very opinionated. My father, mother and sister are entrepreneurs and my dad especially had a lot to say when I started my second business. I think I might’ve let him and his opinion get the best of me there. I think the fact that I waited to start this business , especially because in this one I get to focus a lot on something I’ve loved forever I’ve had a lot less doubts in my ability and what I can do. It’s been the scariest most amazing feeling right now.

Eli, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My names Eli, I’m 24 now and have had an interest in business for as long as I can remember. I started my first business at 13 creating and selling custom phone cases. My second business at 17 making a clothing brand. My third business at 20 running an e-com retailer with my mom and sister, and now my fourth business with my father in real estate and my fifth (newest) business helping creatives and businesses build brand identity and online presence. I’m a first generation Ghanian-American born and raised in Dallas, Tx. I’ve had a long love for business, technology, and design. Now getting the opportunity to merge those worlds together is where my heart feels the most joy.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I actually met my business partner through a very close friend of mine. I had been disconnected because in 2021 I had been through a life changing hospital stay. 5 months in the hospital and so much happened. But that’s another story for another time. So fast forward to 2022, I had just gone to my first friend get together since before I went to the hospital and my close friend Evan was in a relationship with who I now consider one of my very best friends and business partner Sarah. I got to meet her and we just connected. I felt we were so much a like and I believe I told Evan after maybe 5 minutes of talking to her “ Evan where have you been hiding her?!”

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

There’s been multiple lessons I’ve had to unlearn. A lot of them stemming from childhood. But the most prominent lesson being not to believe in yourself and your abilities. As a child I wasn’t showing “promise “ in a traditional way. I was big, but I couldn’t have cared less about sports or physicality. I was constantly distracted and in my own world so my grades were below average and all throughout childhood to my pre-teen and even now I’m adulthood, I’m told that I don’t have anything to offer. As you can imagine being told that constantly left me feeling empty and anxious. Feeling like I have nothing to contribute and can’t in anyway because I don’t fit in a traditional mold. Now as I’ve just turned 24 I’m realizing that 1. People are wrong all day 24 hours a day and will say anything. 2. People who don’t have your shine or can’t contemplate what you do will try and tear it down. Now these are realizations that hit me recently but because of it now I’m learning to trust myself above everything and know I have skills that just show up differently.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: elicrentsil
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• Twitter: elicrentsil
• Youtube: @elicrentsil