Build Future-Ready Young People
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Develop Entrepreneurial Mindsets
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Future-proof education for the Age of AI
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Build Future-Ready Young People ⭐ Develop Entrepreneurial Mindsets ⭐ Future-proof education for the Age of AI ⭐
Side-Hustle Shark Tank
In person or virtual
A Creative Entrepreneurship Workshop for Young People
What if young people were taught how to turn their ideas into income and learn by doing?
This is an immersive, hands-on program that combines storytelling, practical learning and live participation.
In a rapidly changing world, traditional career pathways are no longer the safe and reliable option. Young people need confidence, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking to adapt, create opportunities, and build meaningful futures in the age of AI.
About the programTara’s ‘Side-Hustle Shark Tank’ is a high-impact, interactive workshop that introduces young people to the world of side hustles and creative entrepreneurship. It shows them how to start small, test ideas and take action.
This is not theory. It is a practical, real-world experience that helps participants see what is possible and how to begin.
For Organisations :
This program is designed for councils, schools and universities seeking meaningful, future-focused education for youth, that goes beyond basic skills or inspiration.
It is designed to increase:
• Entrepreneurial thinking and innovation
• Basic business financial literacy, tax, legal and income awareness
• Confidence, communication and presentation skills
• Youth engagement in creativity and ways to take agency over their own future
Participants get:
Participants leave with new ways of thinking, motivation and practical next steps they can act on in their every day life.
They’ll learn through real life storytelling:
• What a side hustle is and how to start one
• How simple ideas can become real income streams
• Practical knowledge on pricing, marketing and getting started, including ABNs
• Tara’s real-world insights from being an inventive child to launching many side hustles, to building and scaling 5 x successful businesses from scratch
• How to build the confidence and resilience needed to design,share, test and refine their ideas
• The opportunity to craft a business idea and enter a shark-tank style pitch to Tara for real time feedback.
Shark-Tank ExperienceAt the heart of this workshop is a live Shark Tank-style pitch experience where participants bring their side hustle ideas to life. They’ll be guided to craft their pitch, present it in a supportive environment, receive real-time feedback from Tara, and learn by watching others. Together, they’ll see ideas celebrated, challenged, refined, and strengthened, while learning how to think like an entrepreneur.
Pathways Beyond the Program
Tara may identify participants with standout ideas, curiosity, or commitment and offer optional next-step mentoring to support their entrepreneurial journey.
Participant Testimonial, NSW Youth Week 2026
“As a young person looking into various business ideas and ways to start entering the world of entrepreneurship, the skills and help provided by workshops like the ones conducted by yours is invaluable. Knowing that the advice and knowledge is coming from someone with such personal experience and knowledge of entrepreneurship such as yourself is also very pleasant. I wish you all the best in taking this program to high schools across the country as I truly believe that it will be a very good thing for other young people to know.
Personally I found the workshop very helpful, first of all in simply motivating me to get out there and start looking into different ways to make money. By hearing stories of people like you, the idea of becoming an entrepreneur doesn't seem so far fetched and alien as it does for many people that have not yet been so closely exposed to experiences such as this. Specifically understanding how to find an avenue that will suit myself by analysing businesses of similar nature that I have seen/ interacted with was very interesting. I found by looking at different businesses that I see on a daily basis, I can find avenues of entrepreneurship that appeal to me and that I can see myself taking. Overall, the workshop was very interesting and very helpful in setting me on the right path towards becoming an entrepreneur.”
An email from 16yo participant of Side-Hustle Shark Tank hosted by Cumberland City Council, NSW YOUTH WEEK 2026 
About the facilitator
Tara Shelton is an award-winning creative entrepreneur dedicated to teaching creativity, entrepreneurship, and inspired action. She is best known for founding Dream & Do, the creative agency behind more than 250 start-ups, and Little Succers, the side hustle she grew from a small pop-up idea into a nationally recognised half-million-dollar brand.
Through her programs, Tara helps young people build creative confidence, resilience, and the ability to take agency over their ideas and their future, especially in times of uncertainty, rapid change, and the age of AI.
Tara is known for her creative courage, commercial reality, and her ability to turn ideas into action. She is passionate about empowering the next generation to dream big, know who they are, and how to create opportunities for themselves.
Register your interest.
Available for delivery across schools, universities, councils and community organisations.
Enquire now to bring Tara to run Side-Hustle Shark Tank for your organisation.