In the past few years, the Internet has emerged as a new platform for businesses, and, as a result, it has revolutionized the way people do business. It has made many aspects of business possible that would have been unfathomable more than 15 years ago. Hence, the Internet has been the catalyst for the success stories of many entrepreneurs. There is Mark Zuckerburg, creator and current CEO of Facebook, the world’s largest social networking site. Also Jimmy Wales, the founder of the largest online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. There is even a Washington University student, Juliette Brindak, who has achieved momentous success through her own Internet corporation, Miss O and Friends.

Juliette Brindak’s story started six years ago when she was 15. Her mother, a graphic designer, drew pictures of fictitious girls known as Miss O and Friends and enlarged them as design pieces for Brindak’s younger sister’s birthday party. Brindak’s sister and her friends were crazy about the pictures and Juliette decided to create a website about the Miss O figures.

The website, known as Missoandfriends.com, is a social networking site for girls to talk to one another and play that is “run by girls, for girls.” Miss O and Friends soon gained immense success, and Juliette began talking with companies in New York regarding advertising on the site.

Now, Brindak is worth 15 million dollars.

Brindak’s staff consists of about 30 people, including her parents. Her mother gives the company ideas for illustrations and designs while her father gives them financial advice. However, Juliette sometimes questioned their position in her life.

“My parents were so involved with my whole venture that sometimes I wondered if they were actually my parents or my colleagues and it got frustrating,” Brindak said. “Looking back however, I realize that if it weren’t for them, Miss O wouldn’t have been nearly as successful as it is now.”

The real question is how she was able to balance her venture with the rigors of high school, especially since she played two sports (lacrosse and field hockey). For her, high school was actually the easy part.

“It wasn’t as difficult to balance Miss O with high school as with college because of its rigor and location,” Brindak said. “I lived in Delaware and most of my advertisement negotiations happened in New York, so when I came to Wash-U, I had a dilemma. I had presentations to do, papers to write, and then I needed to fly to New York! On top of that, I wasn’t really given much leeway with my scheduling so juggling Miss O with Wash-U got really hard.”

Despite the website’s immense success, Brindak says she still has plenty of goals for Miss O and expects it to become even bigger.

“Eventually, I want Miss O to do licensing and I also want to open shops revolving around Miss O products,” Brindak said. “I think Miss O and Friends has the potential to grow outside the Internet.”

For Juliette, her whole venture with Miss O and Friends has not only been a learning experience, but a life changing one as well.

“If anything, I think my venture made me grow up faster,” Brindak said. “I mean, as a high school student I was already negotiating with different companies and I became exposed to the professional world very quickly.”

As for advice for any upcoming entrepreneurs, Brindak encourages selecting the right people for the job.

“If you have an idea that you want to implement, make sure you have a good team!” Brindak said. “You don’t necessarily need a staff, but just a group of people that can give you good ideas, like in my case, my parents.”

Brindak’s personality is contrary to the negative perceptions often associated with millionaires. Despite her current status, Brindak remains humble about her experience.

“I think I’m just an ordinary person who had a good idea and profited from it,” Brindak said.