Savannah Lewis has big plans for the prize money she might win by selling her homemade sourdough and handmade jewelry and paintings: to advance her business and save money so she can do mission work.
“I have been planning on it, at some point within the next year or two, to possibly go to Africa or Honduras, or maybe go back to Hawaii to go help some friends that we have there,” said Lewis, 17.
She said she started Shine Like Crazy, her jewelry business, about 18 months ago. Since then, she’s also started selling Faith Painted Art, which are hymnal paintings, and Savannah’s Sourdough during the last four months.
“I figured that if I could make work something that I enjoyed, it wouldn’t be as much work,” Lewis said.
Lewis is one of 25 young entrepreneurs ages 3 to 18 competing in the inaugural Kids Entrepreneur Con from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 1205 Military Road. Schoolhouse Ice Pops & Lemonade is hosting the event, which is Desiree Johnson’s children’s business.
“I homeschool my kids, so this is actually their business school or business portion of our curriculum,” Johnson said.
Johnson said she wanted to create a marketplace for other kids in the Golden Triangle area.
“It’s just another place for them to get notoriety, for them to show their hard work and dedication as being an entrepreneur,” Johnson said.
She said the convention is completely free for participants. They just need to bring their own table, chairs and canopy.
The young entrepreneur who sells the most will receive $150 that must be used for business expenses, Johnson said, and the second place winner will receive $100. She said both scholarships were donated by The Watson Foundation.
Johnson said part of winning that prize money is giving a 30-to-60-second business pitch including the participant’s name, age and products they’re selling. She said participants will give their pitches on a stage throughout the event.
Johnson’s 10-year-old son, Cinco, also has big plans for the money he’ll make Saturday.
“In my future, hopefully I’ll use that money to buy a house and get my dreams,” Cinco said.
He said he’ll be selling Schoolhouse & Ice Pops and Lemonade’s regular menu items with his siblings Sirius, Olivia and Jackson. He said he’s especially excited at the possibility of expanding their menu specially for the event to include food like hotdogs.
“My hopes and dreams of this entrepreneur con is to have a lot of vendors, and the vendors to have fun, sell a lot of stuff, and get a lot of money,” Cinco said.
Johnson said the event has been many years in the making, and she wants it to become a place for young entrepreneurs to be recognized for their hard work and learn leadership, critical thinking, teamwork and money and time management skills annually.
“If you really think about it, it’s our future,” Johnson said. “Especially if you live in a small area like the Golden Triangle, small business is everything.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
