While growing up we’re taught to eat with our mouths closed, always obey the rules and never keep secrets. Well, at 27 years old, Cameron Johnson is one of the youngest and most successful entrepreneurs of his time, and when he was younger he decided to bend the rules a little. The outcome was way more than he ever expected.

At eight years old, Johnson acquired the motivation and ambition to be an entrepreneur. On Oct. 15, 2012, during entrepreneurship week, Johnson told the crowd gathered in Cameron Hall that his first ambition was to go to New York City and stay in the Plaza Hotel where “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” was filmed.

Johnson said he begged and begged his parents to take him there, but they wouldn’t budge, until one day they made a deal with him-if he received all A’s on his report card they would spend a weekend in New York at the Plaza. So, knowing what he had to do, Johnson worked diligently on his studies and came home with all A’s.

Before Johnson traveled to New York he wrote to Donald Trump, the owner of the Plaza Hotel, about how excited he was to visit. In the letter, he asked Mr. Trump if he could possibly leave open the door to the suite Macaulay Culkin stayed in while filming “Home Alone 2.” Johnson didn’t know the address he was supposed to mail his letter to, and he couldn’t ask his parents because he was afraid they would discourage him, so on the envelope, he wrote “Donald Trump, Plaza Hotel, New York City.”

When Johnson’s mother checked in at the front desk of the Plaza, the lady behind the counter lit up at the sound of their name and said, “You must be Cameron.” Johnson’s mother was confused, and even more so when the lady continued, “Mr. Trump received your letter, and he’s arranged for you to stay in the suite Macaulay Culkin was filmed in.” At this, his mother laughed and asked “What did you do?”

In the suite, Johnson found a gift basket of “I heart NY” t-shirts and other odds-and-ends from Trump. Trump scheduled a tour at the toy store shown in the film, and while Johnson was there he saw a center where kids could get their own business cards made. While waiting in line to make his business card, Johnson wondered what title to put underneath his name, and his dad said, “Why not put entrepreneur?” Johnson asked what exactly that was, and as soon as his dad told him, he had already printed his business cards: Cameron Johnson, Entrepreneur.

At nine years old Johnson, started his own business, Cheers and Tears Printing Company. After badgering his parents to buy him a new computer, he began learning how to create and print invitations, business cards, etc. He began selling his invitations to friends of his parents and friends of their friends and eventually made enough money to buy a new computer and printer.

Once Johnson bored of the printing business, he started thinking about what he could do next. At the time-the year was 1997-Beanie Babies were a serious craze on the internet, and his sister just happened to have an enormous collection. Johnson’s sister, only 5 at the time, agreed to selling her Beanie Babies to him for $100, all behind his parents’ back of course.

“A hundred dollars to a five-year-old is like a million,” said Johnson.

By the end of the week Johnson sold the collection for $1,000 on Ebay.

Realizing how much money could be made off of Beanie Babies, Johnson looked up a sample business letter and entered in the information needed to get TY, the company that created Beanie Babies, to let him sell their product online for them. TY sent him an order form in the mail within the next week, having no idea they were dealing with a 10-year-old. Johnson soon made thousands a week off of Beanie Babies.

“I would go to the post office with huge garbage bags full of Beanie Babies to send off, and I remember everyone in line would get angry whenever they saw me because they knew I had to have 40 packages stamped and sent off,” said Johnson.

Johnson had over 13 other businesses in the years following his Beanie Baby epiphany, this number not including his current projects.

Johnson is still working with various businesses and has claimed to still be in love with it.

But when asked what his favorite part of being an entrepreneur was, he got quiet for a minute and then looked seriously into the crowd.

“Being your own boss is the best and the worst thing about being an entrepreneur,” he said.

Check out Johnson’s new book, “You Call The Shots,” to learn more about the young entrepreneur.