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Alina Morse, founder of Zolli Candy, is now a senior at Michigan State University and continues to work on the candy brand and the Million Smiles Initiative, according to an October 2, 2026 profile in Entrepreneur. Eight years after featuring Morse on its cover at age 13, the magazine revisited how that early recognition became a business tool—and what she is pursuing now.
Who is Alina Morse, and what is Zolli Candy?
Morse is the young founder associated with Zolli Candy. Entrepreneur’s 2026 profile describes her as the youngest founder to appear on its cover, at age 13. The brand’s product line includes Zollipops, which the profile identifies in connection with Zolli Candy and the Million Smiles Initiative.
The profile is a founder interview, not an independently audited account of the company. It does not provide revenue, market share, sales-growth, customer-count, or donation figures, so those measures cannot be used to assess the brand’s current scale from this source.
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What was it like to be on the cover at 13?
Morse told Entrepreneur that she learned about the cover while finishing seventh grade. Looking back, she described the period from ages nine to thirteen as a formative stretch for the business: “Those were really formative years in cementing our status as not just a startup but a real company.”
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She also reflected on the company’s survival and continued activity: “To say we’re still here and we’re still growing is a testament to that middle schooler’s drive.” These are Morse’s assessments in the interview, rather than independently reported growth figures.
How did the cover help Zolli Candy?
The cover had practical value beyond publicity. Morse said Zolli had expanded through Whole Foods, Walmart, and Amazon.com between her ages of nine and thirteen. She described the cover as a sales credential: when approaching prospective retailers, the company sent copies of the issue along with product samples to help validate the brand.
That account explains how a media milestone could support retailer conversations, but it does not establish current distribution at those retailers. It is a description of the company’s earlier expansion, as recalled by Morse.
What is Alina Morse doing now?
At the time of Entrepreneur’s October 2, 2026 profile, Morse was a senior at Michigan State University and continued working on Zolli Candy. The magazine also describes the Million Smiles Initiative as a complementary 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Morse said she wants the company’s growth to connect with the initiative’s charitable aims.
Her business ambition remains an aspiration, not a confirmed market position. “Looking at our trajectory, I’ve always said that a crazy audacious goal was to be the No. 1 zero-sugar candy company globally, and we’re well on our way,” she told Entrepreneur. The profile does not supply independent market-ranking evidence to show that Zolli has reached that goal.
How does she balance college and entrepreneurship?
Morse rejects the idea that running a business and studying can be neatly divided into equal portions. “The idea of entrepreneurial balance is kind of a hoax. There is no balance,” she said. Her advice in the interview was: “Think like a seven-year-old.” In context, those lines describe her perspective on the demands of combining school and company work, not a promise that the workload is easy or evenly manageable.
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What the eight-year follow-up establishes
The 2026 interview documents a continuing story: a founder who received national business-magazine attention as a young teenager, used that recognition in retailer outreach, and is now reported to be combining university with work on the brand and its nonprofit counterpart. It offers a personal account of persistence and ambition, but not the financial or market data needed to independently measure Zolli Candy’s performance.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsSource: Entrepreneur, “She Was On the Cover of Entrepreneur Magazine At 13. Now She’s 21 and Her Brand Is Still Thriving,” by Noa Ran-Ressler, edited by Dan Bova, published October 2, 2026. The interview was edited for length and clarity.
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