Introducing Brett Schneider, Founder of Lax Elements

Welcome to the newest segment on our blog, Youngpreneurs, where we feature stories about young entrepreneurs from across the U.S.  In this episode, we sat down with local Austinite, Brett Schneider, Founder of Lax Elements.  Brett’s a super-sharp guy who has done some amazing things and was kind enough to show us his company’s operations and answer a few questions from the kids.  We hope you enjoy!

Owen (our eight-year-old son)
What were your favorite things to do as a kid?

Brett (Brett Schneider, Founder of Lax Elements)
As a kid, I loved to do origami.  In fact, in third grade I sold it to kids in my class.  And in 6th or 7th grade, I started selling stuff on eBay.  I remember my parents were going to give some  stuff away but I sold it on eBay intead and that worked pretty well.  And a few summers ago I went to a programming camp and I was able to make an app.  So I thought I might do that for awhile.  But anyway, that’s what I did until I started doing what I’m doing today.

Owen
How did you go about learning as a child?

Brett
I was more of a visual learner than anything else.  For example, if someone would say something to me I would be able to understand it, but it was always easier if they wrote it down or if they showed pictures or did a demonstration.  I always learned better through those methods than if someone was just talking without any visual aids.

Owen
How would you describe your business?

Brett
I provide the finest custom mesh and stringing services to the lacrosse community.

Owen
When did you first know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Brett
It wasn’t really a decision…it was more something that just happened.  I just started selling a bunch of mesh for stringing a lacrosse stick and then I started doing custom stringing jobs.

Owen
What is your favorite thing about being an entrepreneur?

Brett
I like the creativity of it.  I can venture out and create my own products and patterns and do whatever I think might sell.  I also like the flexibility of it because I can work whatever times are convenient for me.

Owen
What is the most challenging thing about being an entrepreneur?

Brett
The most challenging thing is that I get orders during school and would have exams the next day…and kids would expect the lacrosse heads to be done.  Sometimes I have to stay up late to get it done.  Sometimes, I’ll be stringing sticks and studying for a final exam at the same time.

Owen
What would you be doing if you weren’t customizing lacrosse sticks?

Brett
I probably would have continued programming.  That was really cool and I really enjoyed it.  I really liked the idea of putting apps on the App Store.

Owen
What is your favorite thing you’ve designed or created?

Brett
My favorite thing is probably our web site, which I worked really hard on.  I think it looks awesome!  I also really like our plain white mesh…it’s really cool; as a stringer, it feels like the best mesh to string.  My third favorite thing I’ve designed is our camo mesh…it also looks really cool.

Owen
Do you have any advice for young entrepreneurs?

Brett
I think that working hard is the best thing you can do.  For example, when I string, I need to make sure everything is perfect and that the customers is going to be satisfied.  Also, persistence is really good because you’ll need it to make sales.

Malia (our six-year-old daughter)
Where did you come up with this idea?

Brett
It started with me just tinkering around with stringing sticks.  I thought the idea of stringing was really fascinating because I played lacrosse and I had no idea how the pocket worked.  And so I started to explore that and starting watching YouTube videos.  And as I got more interested, we decided to go to New York where the master stringers were at…a guy by the name of Greg Rose…and they taught me how it works.  And that’s how it got started and how it took off.  And now I string my sticks over and over to keep perfecting what I’m doing.  And the cool thing about this type of business is that I really love doing it and that makes it easy to do.  In fact, when I string a lacrosse sticks, it’s like playing a video game…I get the same level of enjoyment.  It’s not work at all and I’m extremely excited about it.

Well done Brett…keep stringing.  And thank you for sharing!