113. Noor Kids Co-Founder Amin Aaser

Amin Aaser was an entrepreneur in search of a problem, and then he realized the problem that had been with him his whole life: feeling different. Embracing his faith as a Muslim while also living his best life as an American. Aaser, along with his brother, launched Noor Kids with the goal of “raising Muslims who build a better world.” Initially, that took the shape of a magazine. Then came books, and more recently, video programming, which is drawing a global audience and setting the stage for a new chapter of growth for the Minneapolis-based social enterprise startup. To date, Noor Kids has published 140 titles and reached more than a quarter of million people with its content, which is available under a “freemium” model—some is free; subscriptions can be purchased for full access. The latest product is “Noor Kids Muslim Treehouse”—think of it as Mr. Rogers for a multicultural, international audience that interacts over Zoom. You can watch it now on YouTube, and don’t be surprised if you see it soon on a streaming service, or maybe even a network. Aaser talks about turning his passion project into a full-time job, how he applied his corporate and business school experiences to his entrepreneurial mission, and how to know when it’s time to raise money. Following our conversation with Aaser, we go Back to the Classroom with the University of St. Thomas Schulze School of Entrepreneurship where professor AnnMarie Thomas teaches entrepreneurship. She talks about the value of following your heart in entrepreneurship. “In this day and age, we know that kids are really struggling in a lot of ways, trying to find meaning,” Thomas says. “With social and emotional learning, they are tapping into something families are really looking for.”