PHOENIX — He's a 12-year-old entrepreneur with a purpose and a mission. King Mauni created We KINGZ BRO.
The inspirational-themed apparel is part of a mission to inspire young men to be "cool" in a positive way.
This Arizona pre-teen is passionate about empowering other boys to realize their inner "King".
He wants to "help other young men discover the problems on earth that they were put here to help solve," he said. And, he wants to "help them be the solution that the world needs."
He says, the "K" stands for kind, the "I" stands for intelligence, the "N" stands for noble, the "G" stands for godly, and lastly, the "Z" stands for zealous.
The idea for We KINGZ BRO came after a ride through Skid Row, a 54-block area in downtown Los Angeles that has become synonymous with homelessness and poverty.
His mother, Dr. Velma Trayham, CEO of the Thinkzilla Consulting Group, knows the reality of being born into poverty firsthand and said, "I believe that poverty is a state of mind and I believe that if we get more children to understand how powerful their mind is, so much change can happen in the world. And so when I took King to Skid Row I believe it changed a lot in him."
"We saw a lot of homeless kids. Just a lot of homeless people that are homeless kids, but kids younger than me. And the kids the same age as me," King said.
For his efforts to drive this purpose-driven message and spread kindness, King is getting big-time attention. He was honored at Chase Field before an Arizona Diamondbacks and then by Tempe City leaders, who awarded his company a $25,000 grant.
Tempe Mayor Corey Woods calls King Mauni a role model and said, "You don't have to be my age or older than me to start your own business or to be an entrepreneur! You could start as young as 11 or 12 years old and have a huge impact on your city and the state and even our country!"
Calling We KINGZ BRO a movement that sparks creativity and boldness, King Mauni has come up with a way to inspire other boys to learn about financial independence. He and his mother have come up with an affiliate program on the company's website WeKingzBro.com telling ABC15 Arizona, "This gives other kids a chance to spread kindness, and make money."
They will get a 10% commission on anything they sell. That will go directly to their bank account.