17 Year Old Girl Starts Million Dollar Website WhateverLife.com
.
Ashley Qualls started building her empire at the young age became a self made millionaire by 17 with her online business Whateverlife.com. Ashley started her business when she was 14 with $8 to buy a domain name.
Ashley is certainly an Internet professional. In the less than two years since Whateverlife started, she dropped out of high school, bought a new house, helped launch artists, and rejected offers to buy her young startup company. Although Ashley was flattered to be offered $1.5 million and a car of her choice for up to $100,000 – she responded, Whatever, “I don’t even have my license yet”.
Whatever Life .com – Created by a 17 year old girl
Ashley is evidence of the meritocracy on the Internet that allows even companies run by teenage entrepreneurs to compete, regardless of funding, location, size, or experience– a reminder that ingenuity is ageless. Whateverlife’s creator has taken in more than $1 million, thanks to a quickly familiar Web-friendly business model. Her MySpace page offers basic layouts available for… free! Ashley’s major source of revenue so far is advertising.
According to Google Analytics, Whateverlife attracts more than 7 million visitors and 60 million page views every month. That’s a larger audience than the circulations of Teen Vogue, Seventeen, and CosmoGirl! magazines combined. Although Website rankings vary with the methodology, Quantcast, a popular source among advertisers, ranked Whateverlife.com a staggering No. 349 in mid-July out of more than 20 million sites. Among the sites in its rearview mirror: CBS.com, Britannica.com, AmericanIdol.com, and FDA .gov.
Young women spend lots of time decorating their social network profile pages and making slide shows. Popular sites such as Whateverlife.com facilitate this trend by offering and catering MySpace layouts to young women.
Ashley can’t either quite believe herself: “WhateverLife .com is ahead of Oprah!” (Oprah.com: No. 469.) Sure, Ashley is a long way from having Oprah’s clout, but she is establishing a platform of her own.
The MySpace teenager came along with the right idea at the right time. Eager to customize their MySpace profiles, girls cut and paste the HTML code for Whatever Life .Com layouts featuring hearts, flowers, celebrities, and so on onto their personal page and a brand new look. Think of it as MySpace clothes; some kids change their layouts nearly as frequently. “It’s all about giving girls what they want,” Ashley says.Nowadays, she and her young company are experiencing growing pains. She’s learning how to be the boss – managing her mother, her friends, developers-for-hire in India. And Whateverlife, one of the first sites offering MySpace layouts specifically for girls, needs to mature as well. “MySpace layouts” was among the top 30 search terms on Google in June. Ashley knows that she needs new content–not just more layouts, but more features, to distinguish Whateverlife from the thousands of sites in the expanding MySpace ecosystem. Earlier this year, the website included an online magazine. Cell-phone wallpaper, a new source of revenue at 99 cents to $1.99 a download, is in the works.
MySpace Basics to a million dollar business
Running a growing company without an MBA, not to mention a high-school diploma, is hard enough, but Ashley confronts another extraordinary complication. Business associates may forget that she is 17, but Detroit’s Wayne County Probate Court has not. She’s a minor with considerable assets–”business affairs that may be jeopardized,” the law reads–that need protection in light of the rift her sudden success has caused in an already fractious family. In January, a probate judge ruled that neither Ashley nor her parents could adequately manage her finances. Until she turns 18, next June, a court-appointed conservator is controlling Whateverlife’s assets; Ashley must request funds for any expense outside the agreed-upon monthly budget.
The arrangement, she says, affects her ability to react in a volatile industry. “It’s not like I’m selling lemonade,” she says. Besides, it’s her company. If she wants to contract developers or employ her mother, Ashley says, why shouldn’t she be able to do it without the conservator’s approval?
So the teenager has hired a lawyer. She wants to emancipate herself and be declared an adult. Now. At 17. Why not just sit tight until June? The girl trying to grow up fast can’t wait that long.
WhateverLife Girl Million Dollar Website Ashley is different from the recent crop of high-profile teen entrepreneurs. True, her eighth-grade class did vote her “most likely to succeed,” but it’s safe to say they were predicting 20 or 30 years out, not three years removed from middle school. She created her company almost by accident and without the resources that typically give young novices a leg up. Catherine Cook, 17, started myYearbook.com by teaming up with her older brother, a Harvard grad and Internet entrepreneur. Ben Casnocha, the 19-year-old founder of software company Comcate and author of the new memoir My Start-Up Life, is the son of a San Francisco lawyer and has tapped Silicon Valley brains and bank accounts.
But Ashley had no connections. No business professionals in the family. No rich aunt or uncle. In the working-class community of downriver Detroit, south of downtown and the sprawling Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, she bounced back and forth between her divorced parents, neither of whom attended college. Her father is a machinist, her mother, until recently, a retail data collector for ACNielsen. “My mom still doesn’t understand how I do it,” Ashley says. To be fair, she did go to her mother for the initial investment: $8 to register the domain name. Ashley still hasn’t spent a dime on advertising.
It all started as a hobby. She began dabbling in Web-site design eight years ago, when she was 9, hogging the family’s Gateway computer in the kitchen all day. When she wasn’t playing games, she was teaching herself the basics of Web design. To which her mother, Linda LaBrecque, responded, “Get off that computer. Now!” For Ashley’s 12th birthday, her mother splurged on an above-ground swimming pool–”just so she’d go outside,” LaBrecque says.
Whateverlife just sort of happened, another accidental Web business. Originally, Ashley created the site in late 2004 when she was 14 as a way to show off her design work. “I was the dorky girl who was into HTML,” she says. It attracted zero interest beyond her circle of friends until she figured out how to customize MySpace pages. So many classmates asked her to design theirs that she began posting layouts on her site daily, several at first, then dozens.
By 2005, her traffic had exploded; she needed her own dedicated web server. Ashley, who had bartered site designs for free Web hosting, couldn’t afford the monthly rental, not on her babysitting income. Her Web host suggested Google AdSense, a service that supplies ads to a site and shares the revenue. The greater the traffic, the more money she’d earn.
She would look up how much she had made,” says Jen Carey, 17, one of her closest friends. “It was $50. She thought that was the coolest.”
The first check, her first paycheck of any kind, was even cooler: $2,790. “It was more than I made in a month,” her mother says.
“It made me want to do even more designs,” Ashley says. But first, she went on a shopping spree at a nearby mall with Bre Newby, her best friend since third grade. Ashley walked out with eight pairs of jeans from J.C. Penney and an armful of other clothes. Without a credit card or a bank account, the 15-year-old paid $600 in cash–the most she’d ever spent.
“Before, I would ask my mom, “Can I have $10?’ and she’d say, “No, you have to wait a few weeks,’” Ashley recalls. She hasn’t asked since.
In January 2006, a few months after that first payday and six months before her 16th birthday, she withdrew from school. Instead of taking AP English, French, and algebra II, instead of being a straight-A sophomore at Lincoln Park High School, Ashley stayed home to nurture her budding business and take classes through an online high school. “Everybody was shocked,” she says. “They asked, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’ But I had this crazy opportunity to do something different.” That “something different” was Whateverlife. The name came to Ashley in a moment of frustration. After losing a video game to Bre, she dropped the controller and blurted out, “Whatever, life.” She liked it instantly. She thought it would be a great name for a Web site, for “whatever life you lead.”
Now her life is centered around working in the basement of the brand new two-story, four-bedroom house that she bought last September for $250,000. It’s located in a fenced-off subdivision in the community of Southgate, a couple of blocks removed from Dix Highway, a thoroughfare dotted with body shops and convenience stores, not online stores.
Ashley’s home office is the physical embodiment of her Web site. The business brings in as much as $70,000 a month, but there’s not a whiff of corporate convention. It’s fun, whimsical, and unabashedly pink. Pink walls. Pink rug. Pink chairs, pillows, and lamp. Even the blue, green, and silver stick-on robots dancing on the wall have tiny pink hearts. It’s a teenager’s version of the workplace, which earned raves when she posted pictures on MySpace.
Source: 2b2.org
Google
Yahoo
Digg
Technorati
Delicious
Slashdot
Google
Yahoo
Digg
Technorati
Delicious
Slashdot
June 26th, 2009 at 11:54 am
I found businesswomennews.com very informative. The article is professionally written and I feel like the author knows the subject very well. businesswomennews.com keep it that way.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
It is good that you took your time to write this post; it’s great to see another’s point of view. I respect your work on this post, and I’ll revisit for more info.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Let me start by saying excellent site. Im not sure if it has been talked about, however when using Chrome I can never get the whole post to load without refreshing alot of times. Maybe just my router. Enjoy!
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:38 am
How considerably do I owe you for all the Outstanding post.
March 8th, 2010 at 2:47 am
While this topic can be very challenging for most people, my belief is that there has to be a middle or common ground that we all can find. I do value that you’ve added pertinent and intelligent commentary here though. Very much thanks to you!
March 10th, 2010 at 3:10 am
By far the most concise and up to date information I found on this topic. Sure glad that I navigated to your page by accident. I’ll be subscribing to your feed so that I can get the latest updates. Appreciate all the information here
March 10th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Hey, I found this website by mistake i was looking for Google for a registry cleaner that I had already paid for when I discovered your site, I should say your internet site is really cool I just like the theme, its amazing!. I do not have the time nowadays to wholly examine your blog but I have saved it as well as signed up for your RSS feeds. I will probably be back within a day or two. many thanks to get a great site.”
March 13th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Hi great blog yea nice job amazing stuff thanx
March 23rd, 2010 at 9:44 am
You might have a great technique of putting elements into perspective.
March 27th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
Great success quotes
April 11th, 2010 at 7:04 am
Thanks for the information. I’ve been trying to find it for a while.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:48 am
Very interesting blog post thank you for sharing I have added your website to my bookmarks and will be back.
May 2nd, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Fantastic ideas. I always carry out your ideas and utilize them.
May 15th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I think that some bloggers are creative and others are clearly wasting their time. Web page is just a tool and like any tool it can be used for good, for ill or for wasting time.
May 18th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Howdy there,I find that your site is incredibly educational and useful and we were interested if there can be a possibility of obtaining More writing like this on your web site. If you willing to support us out, we can be willing to compensate you… , Maryland Veazie
May 19th, 2010 at 6:00 am
Wow really cool
May 28th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Hello, great article!! I got you bookmarked. Thanks and best wishes
June 6th, 2010 at 8:56 am
Can I clone your article to my blog? Thank you.
June 6th, 2010 at 11:00 am
nice list..really helpful.
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:51 pm
What a great site…and a great article! Best of luck!
July 5th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Was in the neighbourhood and wanted to say thanks once again for the advice
July 10th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Hay dude , Why dont u put facebook badge on your site? Because I want to add your facebook. Thank’s Regards Owner
July 12th, 2010 at 1:39 am
Heyadmin I enjoy w/ your news . May i copy this posting for my university test ? thanks adminstrator
July 13th, 2010 at 9:54 am
The company brokerages network will give you access to some big pool of individuals who’ve the information about companies for sale and buyers or investors searching for a organization venture. By making good use from the information you have, you might be cutting a offer and make a handsome profit out of the transactions.
July 13th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
I suggest Yahoo Small Business Web Hosting. Management of one’s internet website at Yahoo! is a breeze due to their internet hosting manage panel. Every thing from setting up e-mail accounts, acquiring monthly web website statistics, to internet website development and maintenance could be easily controlled utilizing one standardized interface.
July 15th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Hello, good writing.
August 5th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
You realize, I wish there were more weblogs like this one, I really appreciate the content published here
August 28th, 2010 at 9:49 am
damn. i saw this topic too late any other good offer for registering domains available at this moment ?
September 5th, 2010 at 11:21 am
You could possibly under no circumstances find out what final results come of your action, yet if you do nothing there will be no final result
September 9th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Great news admin
September 13th, 2010 at 5:39 am
You can get 5-6 DKK for each dollar you have. A couple of years ago you could get up to 8-9 DKK per us dollars. That means it cheap for us to shop in the US
September 15th, 2010 at 1:08 am
I likes Ones New style boy
September 27th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
For reasons uknown i’m getting a blank page after i attempt to post a comment,do you recognize the its taking place?i’m using oprea web-browser
October 10th, 2010 at 10:46 am
During the recent downturn, my family and I have gotten over our heads in personal debt. I have been reading that the best way to get out of debt is to get off of the high interest rate credit card debt and to consolidate the debt into a single, larger loan than has a lower, in some cases much lower, interest rate. Is there any truth to this, or is this just a sales job from some aggressive banker?
October 19th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
hey there this is a solid blog, would you consider being a invitee writer on my blog?
October 30th, 2010 at 1:46 am
You you should edit the page name title 17 Year Old Girl Starts Million Dollar Website WhateverLife.com | Business Women News to something more specific for your content you make. I enjoyed the the writing even sononetheless.
October 30th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Hey, I’m not certain I agree with everything in this article, but damn it do I respect it!
October 30th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Been looking for this, thank you!
November 7th, 2010 at 12:43 am
Solid information.. This is my First trip to this site. Thank you for sharing this. I have to bookmark this site. I was a inground pool mechanic for a long time. Our mechanics tip of the century is this: Please do not try a extremely difficult repair solo. This can cost you mo money in the end. Thanks again!
November 30th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I like this article.. This was my 1st time to your blog. Thank you for sharing . I am going to bookmark this website. I am a house decorator for a long time. Our decorating tip of the century is this: Please don’t clutter a room. Space is a plus. Thanks again!
December 1st, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Congratulations well done. Good writing.
It’s refreshing at least for me see this article because everyone tries to got some success on the Internet which isn’t easy and this girl almost without effort accomplish all.
Good luck.
December 13th, 2010 at 11:12 am
Which creature inside morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?
January 16th, 2011 at 7:27 pm
I like this web site very much, Its a really nice situation to read and incur information.
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:58 pm
That happens to be the complete reverse
April 6th, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Appreciate your taking this possibility to speak about this, I feel strongly over it and I benefit from garden greenhouse structures this subject. If at all possible, while you gain data, please update this web site with new information. I have found it extremely useful.
August 8th, 2011 at 10:52 am
thanks a lot regarding the actual blog post ive really been searching with regard to this kind of content online for sum time these days thus thanks a lot
September 28th, 2011 at 6:21 pm
עיצוב הזמנות לחתונה,הזמנות לבר מצווה,הזמנות לאירועים ווגרפיקה יחודית להזמנות לחתונה רק חברה
October 18th, 2011 at 10:06 am
I’m no longer certain the place you are getting your information, but good topic. I must spend some time finding out much more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic information I was looking for this info for my mission.
October 29th, 2011 at 3:37 am
Very good this post
October 29th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
It is really a great and useful piece of info. I am glad that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
November 7th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Just want to say your article is as astonishing. The clearness in your put up is just cool and i can think you are a professional on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to snatch your RSS feed to stay updated with impending post. Thanks 1,000,000 and please continue the enjoyable work.
November 15th, 2011 at 11:37 am
Excellent beat ! I wish to apprentice at the same time as you amend your website, how can i subscribe for a weblog website? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I were tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered shiny clear idea
November 22nd, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Hi there, You have performed a fantastic job. I?ll definitely digg it and individually suggest to my friends. I am sure they’ll be benefited from this site.
November 27th, 2011 at 6:45 am
this stuff is great! thx. I retweeted it. dagadt kutyák.
December 17th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
I will right away snatch your rss feed as I can not to find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly allow me recognise so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
December 17th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
I do not even know how I stopped up here, however I believed this put up was once great. I don’t understand who you’re however definitely you are going to a well-known blogger should you are not already. Cheers!
January 31st, 2012 at 10:01 am
Hi there! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it tough to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Thank you
April 19th, 2012 at 8:34 am
It’s good plan. This is good blog posting. Good Luck.