A few months ago, one of Indianapolis’ premier social media mavens, Stephanie Eppich Daily, asked permission to write an article about me as one of Lemonade Day’s featured entrepreneurs. Honored that she asked, I of course said, “Yes, absolutely!”
Lemonade Day is a national event where kids of all ages have the opportunity to experience entrepreneurship by starting, owning, operating their own lemonade stand! Over 150,000 kids are registered in 36 cities to participate in this year’s Lemonade Day!
Stephanie asked, “Was there anything in your childhood like a lemonade stand, babysitting business or newspaper route that influenced your entrepreneurial spirit as an adult?”
My mind immediately went back to the plant store my friends and I (Karen, Brandee and Holly) had when we were in grade school. Our imaginations were in high gear as we rummaged the woods digging up beautiful plants and assembling them into gorgeous arrangements. (Okay…I’ll be honest…they were just ugly weeds. But like I said, our imaginations were in high gear!)
When marketing experts say, “location is everything,” they are right…at least in the case of our plant store. In our very quiet neighborhood, we chose a ditch in the corner of Karen’s horse pasture. That wasn’t one of our best decisions since, on average, only one or two cars passed by each hour. And those that did pass by never saw us because we were in a ditch!
Needless to say, we didn’t turn a profit so I decided not to share that story with Stephanie.
There were, however, events that took place during my childhood that fueled my passion for what I do today. I shared those with Stephanie and, as a result, she wrote Dance Recitals to SWI: Starla West’s Entrepreneurial Path that now appears on Lemonade Day Greater Indianapolis’ website.
After reading my story, please don’t stop there! If you have any type of influence in a child’s life right now, please keep reading. There are tons of stories just like mine that provide inspirational ideas on how you can positively influence a child’s entrepreneurial spirit.
For example…
R
ocky Walls shares with us a few things parents and teachers should be on the lookout for that might indicate a child has a strong entrepreneurial spirit.
Jeremy Dearringer shares with us how is entrepreneurial spirit actually got him in trouble at age seven when he decided to sell “adult” magazines at $20 a pop.
Even as a child Daniel Herndon was thinking of ways other people could create businesses – so much so that his siblings continuously made fun of him for it!
Deseri Garcia says her paper route funded her daily candy habit. Or was it the other way around? Did her candy habit supply the energy needed to deliver newspapers?
“I’m going to teach you a lesson,” were the first words out of Will Hardison’s dad’s mouth when he asked to borrow $250 for a pair of Air Jordan sneakers that we wanted to resell on a sneaker message board.
Heather Tallman learned early on from her parents that she could not sit and wait to get what she wanted…and needed. She had to earn it for herself.
James Kuester inherited a lucrative family business but then sold it to start his own company from the ground up! Now that’s following your passion!
These are just a few of the stories you will find at http://indianapolis.lemonadeday.org/blog/. I encourage you to read ALL of them as they are beautiful reminders of how the little things in a child’s life can have an enormous impact on his or her future.
So…who IS the handsome young man pictured at the beginning of this blog post? That is Dylan – the proud owner of D’s Fresh Squeeze!
Dylan is participating in Indianapolis’ Lemonade Day this Saturday, May 19. D’s Fresh Squeeze will be located at the Marsh on US 31 South & Smith Valley Road in Greenwood, Indiana. His stand will be open from 10am to 6pm.
If you are in the area, please visit D’s Fresh Squeeze. He, along with several other budding entrepreneurs all throughout the United States, will have an ICE COLD LEMONADE fresh squeezed and waiting just for you!
