S2-E58: Fish Tanks in The Classroom With Kristen Ye of The Festae Factory

Aug 24, 2026

Today's episode features sixteen-year-old Kristen Ye, a young entrepreneur and conservationist who discusses her lifelong passion for the aquarium hobby and her family business, Festae Factory. She shares how she invented a fluidized bed filter using recycled materials for a third-grade project, which has since evolved into a successful product sold at aquatic trade shows. The conversation highlights her "Fish Tanks in the Classroom" initiative, an educational program funded by filter sales that aims to inspire a new generation of hobbyists through school sponsorship and hands-on mentorship. Kristen details her dedication to animal welfare, her experience breeding diverse cichlid species, and her vision for sustaining interest in aquatic environments.

Key Takeaways:

• Involve children in your hobbies from an early age to spark lifelong passions and build deep, generational family connections.
• Upcycle everyday plastic items into functional, self-sustaining tools to reduce waste and create efficient systems like moving bed filters.
• Test new designs and prototypes in real-world conditions for years to ensure their long-term durability and prevent messy structural failures.
• Introduce nature-focused projects like classroom aquariums to local schools to foster responsibility, teach environmental conservation, and support student mental health.
• Develop engaging manuals and mentor younger successors to ensure collaborative community projects can survive and continue running after you move on.

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