Meet The Makers - Young Entrepreneurs
At the Asbury Park Bazaar we welcome vendors of all ages! Meet a few of our young entrepreneur vendors…these young ones have set out on a mission to start a business and they’re doing amazing! They’re sharing their inspiration, goals, and maybe a couple business secrets. Hopefully they’ll inspire you, like they inspired us!
Meet Olivia (Liv) Anton, Founder of Birdhaus of Interlaken
Why did you start your business? What do you love about it the most?
My family spends every Summer in Interlaken and we paint together. My Grandfather passed away in 2015 and when I would visit the cemetery I noticed that the chain-link fence was falling down in sections. I decided that I would paint and sell my birdhouses to raise money for a new fence. I raised $5,000 and the funds were matched by the Cemetery Board. A new perimeter fence in aluminum is now in place at Chesed Shel-Ames in Neptune.
What I loved about the experience is how the community all pulled together to help achieve the goal. After we did that project, I asked my family if we could continue our good work and make it an official business. The following summer, I spent my weekends selling my birdhouses at Asbury Fresh and through the community support we raised over $10,000 for Mary’s Place by the Sea, a cancer respite for women. Birdhaus of Interlaken is a community based charity and when we join together we can do magical things!
What do you look to for inspiration when creating your products?
We definitely have a modern design approach in our colors, styles & our accessories. We strive to rethink them and make them happy & giftable.
What advice do you have to other kids who want to start a business?
My mom spent one summer with me and wrote a little booklet called “Lessons with Liv” that covered all aspects of starting a business. The subjects we covered were creating a website, branding, merchandising, and even how to explain your ideas to potential customers. The biggest advice is that building a successful business takes time and you can’t be afraid to fail. During our painting events and after selling at a market, I’m always learning what can be improved and what to change for the next time.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned so far?
The first time I set up a booth to sell I was terrified to be alone—not knowing what to say. I learned that retail is social and customers enjoy hearing about what we are doing.
If you could tell your 40 year old self something about business what would it be?
I absolutely LOVE what we are doing. It’s been said so many times-but find something that truly makes you feel good.
Come visit Liv at the Asbury Park Holiday Bazaar on Sunday, December 9th. Birdhaus of Interlaken is hosting a Kids Pop Up Art Class - Make Your Own Holiday Birdhaus Ornament with proceeds going to Covenant House of Asbury Park in support of homeless teens. RSVP here.
Meet ROse Powell, owner of Rose & Co
Why did you start your business? What do you love about it the most?
I started my business because my dad's allergic to wax with paraffin in it and one day he bought a soy wax candle. To his surprise he didn't have an allergic reaction, so he decided to try making them for the house. I got interested and we just started getting some new neighbors, so me and my dad made candles as welcoming gifts for them. They liked the candles so much we decided to try selling them and our business kind of took off from there. My favorite thing about making candles and what I love the most is when we get to pour. It is such a relaxing, eye opening experience to have. Every time I do it I feel like I'm letting my soul run free. It's just so peaceful.
What do you look to for inspiration when creating your products?
When creating my products I get my style inspiration from a kitchen and get my scent inspiration from the scents that live in the memories inside my head. The look of our candles is like a rustic-modern fusion. Like a present-day, dream kitchen. With accents of rustic copper, but with more modern accents of marble. I connect many scents with younger childhood memories. For example, hot cocoa takes me back to memories of sledding when I was 2 with my best friend, or having snowball fights. When we came home we always drank warm, sweet, liquid wonder, hot chocolate.
What advice do you have to other kids who want to start a business?
A lot of people in life are going to second guess you and underestimate you. Don't let that get in your head. Over the years I've had so many people see me and my dad with our candles and immediately think he's the boss. Despite the large sign behind us with a picture of me saying I'm the owner. At first I thought it was rude, but I realized that some people are too close-minded to ever be able to think that a child could own their own company. Instead, focus on the people who admire you for what you do. I'm 11 and I've had a company since I was 8 and I've seen a lot of this. People's opinions on what your limitations are and what you can or can't do is irrelevant. If you want to be a boss don't let anyone tell you that you can't be one.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned so far?
The biggest lesson I've learned so far is how to be more social. Sometimes, I can be really shy and it's gotten worse over the years, so I have trouble meeting new people. But when I'm selling I am able to talk to the customers, because of practice. I especially came out of my skin this year at Dragcon. I love Rupaul's Drag Race, so we signed up to sell candles at Dragcon in New York. I met over 20 drag queens from the show and I was so brave, it was great. I've never met that many famous people, ever. The even crazier thing is that I went up there and put myself on the line.
If you could tell your 40 year old self something about business what would it be?
Don't always put business before family time. This can be hard when you are in business with your family (and my parents also have a business together), but you have to make time to enjoy the people you love.
Come shop Rose & Co. at the Asbury Park Holiday Bazaar on Saturday & Sunday, December 1st and 2nd in Convention Hall.
Meet Sailor Leslie, Founder of Sailor’s Hook
Why did you start your business? What do you love about it the most?
I started my business because I love making pillows and I wanted to interact with the business world more on my own, rather than working in someone else's business. What I love about my business the most is the setting up, I love to organize things.
What do you look to for inspiration when creating your products?
When I create my products I look to the theme of the bazaar for example the holiday bazaar I look for winter-themed Fabrics to incorporate into my pillows.
What advice do you have to other kids who want to start a business?
I would tell them to never give up no matter what you are doing. It can be difficult and it can put a lot of pressure on you, so the worst thing to do would be to give up. Never give up, ever. Some other advice I would give to another kid would be to be reasonable. It is good to be reasonable with pricing in order to succeed. For example, say you are making notebooks and a notebook is all covered in a bunch of designs and it had a lot of pages and a lot of detail. You have to think about how long it takes you to make.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned so far?
The biggest lesson I have learned so far is that you can't succeed unless you try over and over again. You can't get frustrated if something doesn't turn out right the first try.
If you could tell your 40 year old self something about business what would it be?
It would be a question. I wonder if I will have the same job when I am 40 and I would ask how much starting my business as Sailor’s hook helped me in the future.
Come shop Sailor’s Hook at the Asbury Park Holiday Bazaar on Sat & Sun, Dec 1 & 2, 8 & 9, & 15 inside of Convention Hall.