For most, the path to success means university, a first job and steadily climbing the career ladder.
But GCSE student James Gilmore, 16, has already taken a very different approach.
Four years ago, he launched his own Internet Radio station — and now has 50 volunteers, including 20-odd presenters, covering everything from pop music to politics and advice on bullying and obesity.
His station, Wizard radio, has also interviewed actors, Daniel Radcliffe and Colin Firth, pop star Katy Perry and even BNP leader Nick Griffin.
“We just love our work and are really passionate about what we do,” says JFS student James. “Because we are teenagers ourselves, we understand exactly what our audience wants and are constantly expanding and improving our content.
“We are also really creative people and I think we are one of the few companies that gets really excited about launching new advertising campaigns with others. We never have to do any market research because we just ask ourselves — would we like this?”
Entrepreneur James has just secured a new deal with Sony to review the Playstation 4 and says the key will be using social media heavily to interact with listeners by live tweeting while playing and reviewing the games.
But he admits the experience has been a challenge and a little overwhelming at times. “It’s been a mad, mad year,” he said. “I find myself standing on the red carpet for a big film premiere. I’m the youngest person there and I think to myself, I shouldn’t be here.
“University makes sense for a lot of people because they need time to decide what they want to do. But for me personally, I don’t think I would be interested in it. Hopefully, this is going to be my career.”