My kids are 8 and 5 and have their own businesses

I grew up in a dysfunctional household, where I experienced a lot of childhood adversity. 

Due to my father’s absence from my life most of my childhood and the stresses of my mother’s single parenthood, I had so many unmet physical and emotional needs. 

I didn’t feel valued and l didn’t feel like I had a voice. 

Because of my experience, it’s always been a priority of mine to spend quality time with my children, and I have always made a special effort to carve out time for specific activities that we can do together. 

And, as it turns out, this quality time has led to more than just bonding together – it has resulted in both of my two children creating a business of their own: my son Prince at just five-years-old, and my daughter, Verity, at age two. 

Some people might think this is too young, but I think it’s a way for them to have a voice, explore the essence of who they are, express their uniqueness through creativity, come to the realisation that they matter – all while making money doing what they love.

My son, Prince, and I decided to learn a craft together and, thanks to a selection of YouTube videos, we settled on soap making – this appealed to him as it had endless possibilities in terms of creativity.  

In February 2019, the very first time we sat down to try out our new crafting project, Prince suggested we put dinosaur toys (his favourite thing at the time) into the soap.

Although in my adult mind it sounded like a far-fetched idea, I went along with it and did the research to purchase everything we needed. 

I still remember his excitement and joy the first morning we took to the kitchen, laid all the ingredients out on the kitchen table, and made our very own soap – led by tutorials online. 

We incorporated his novel idea of making an egg-shaped soap with a dinosaur toy inside it – and it turned out to be a masterpiece! It was green, smelled like pear and freesia, and was transparent so you could see the little Spinosaurus toy inside it. 

Prince was mesmerised by it as he held and marvelled at what we had created. We had both never seen anything quite like it. 

We subsequently made a blue one (blueberry and vanilla) and a red one (strawberry bonbon). They smelled divine and each contained different types of dinosaurs.

We shared our creation with friends who loved the idea and Prince started receiving requests and orders for his soaps. Prince was thrilled that others loved his creation so much. 

We realised that Prince might even have a business on his hands and quickly created a brand name and found suitable packaging. Then, we made multiple versions of Prince’s first products to sell, which, again, we made in our kitchen. 

I helped him sell via pop-up shops at gift and craft fairs soon after.

Prince’s soaps were so popular and at least one product sold out each time we set up a pop-up shop. We sold £90 worth of soaps the first time, priced at £2.50 each. 

I felt so proud of us and I was particularly proud of Prince for his brilliant sense of creativity. It only proves how important it is to give our children a voice and value their opinion, regardless of their age.

By listening to him, we created something unique and extraordinary that I would never have thought of.

A month after creating Prince’s soap, my daughter Verity turned two years old. As a birthday present, she received a gorgeous Black doll, with stunning afro hair.

She instantly fell in love with her, named her ‘Baby Verity’ and took her everywhere. She would show everyone she came across and, as time passed, she started saying ‘she looks like me’ with a huge smile.

As a mother who had never played with a Black doll myself as a child (because they hardly existed), I was filled with such joy for my daughter. We noticed a huge gap in the market and, as Verity was already inadvertently doing her own marketing by telling everyone how much she loved her doll, everywhere we went, I thought it could be a great idea to replicate what I had done with Prince.

I explained to her that ‘Baby Verity’ could be her product and she seemed very delighted.

I contacted a manufacturer and placed a small bulk order of dolls, created the brand, and we packaged ‘Baby Verity’ beautifully, along with some African-inspired colourful hair accessories we had been making together since she was 18 months old. 

In December 2019, I helped Prince (who was six) and Verity (who was now two years and nine months) to set up their first joint pop-up shop at a local Christmas gift and craft fair. 

Prince was at the stall for the entire duration of the two-day event and it was amazing to see him talk to customers about the products. To our delight, some completely sold out. 

We made £150 that weekend and we split the profits proportionately between Prince and Verity and placed the money from that weekend in individual glass jars, so they could see their profits – and what they had achieved.  

Then, the pandemic hit, which curtailed our ability to head to pop up shops.

We decided to move their ventures online, setting up an Etsy shop for them both. Here, we managed to reach customers all across the world. It felt awesome to be getting amazing feedback. 

Verity is now five years old and the nursery and reception classes in the school they both attend have her dolls for the children to play with. This has helped open up conversations about diversity and representation and it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to contribute to such an important matter in very practical ways. 

Prince will be nine years old soon and early on in his venture he helped their school’s PTA to raise funds through his soap donations. 

Essential workers at his school and some households in Leeds were also provided with a donation of his branded hand sanitisers at the start of the pandemic, when they were like liquid gold. 

As a mother whose childhood was rooted in poverty, lack and limitation, I’m delighted that I’m able to establish a relationship with my children, that not only builds their confidence and gives them a voice, but also positions them to build a meaningful life of freedom around the things they love.

All while reaping the financial benefits of solving problems, adding value and making an impact in this world.

They know that they are never too young to dream big and they have an awareness that entrepreneurship is a brilliant vehicle for philanthropy as well as building a meaningful and fulfilling life of impact.

In February 2022, they were both named ‘Young Black History Makers’ during Black History Month in America by ‘Because of Them We Can’ – a platform that showcases Black brilliance. 

Over the years, we have received messages and comments from far and wide about how much of an inspiration Prince and Verity and their ventures have been for both adults and children. 

It’s such a wonderful experience being on the entrepreneurial journey with my children as we grow, evolve and make an impact together. 

They might only be eight and five, but I learn so much from them and their endeavours are proof that age is just a number.

Age is Just a Number

Welcome to Age is Just a Number, a Metro.co.uk series aiming to show that, when it comes to living your life, achieving your dreams, and being who you want to be, the date on your birth certificate means nothing.

Each week, prepare to meet amazing people doing stereotype-defying things, at all stages of life.

If you have a story to share, email [email protected]

Source: Read Full Article