Sarah: Please tell me how you got started and where CEO Kids and parents can find out more info about you.
Lily: Our Mom read an article about how few women were bosses at Fortune 500 companies. So she challenged us to come up with a business idea so that we could be our own boss. Then the actual idea came by accident. One day I was looking for my lip balm and I said “Mom, have you seen my lip BLAM?” She said, “BLAM?” That would make a great name for a lip balm company. The link below tells the story pretty well also.
Sarah: When did you start thinking about starting your own business and becoming an entrepreneur and why did you want to start?
Lily: When my Mom read us the article, even though we were pretty young, we thought it was really unfair that only a few companies have women bosses. My Mom told us that women make up more than half of the people working so the small number of Fortune 500 CEO’s just didn’t seem right. We were pretty young but we still knew that it was unfair. So, my Mom told us she wanted us to be our own bosses and if we had an idea for a business she would support us. I got a bit excited about it.
Sarah: Where did you come up with your idea and what investigation did you do to help you know that this would be a great business?
Lily: Our Mom helped us find a manufacturer that would make our formula. We wanted to make sure that our manufacturer was in the USA so that we could be sure the factory was safe.
Sarah: What do you think are the most important skills you have that help you in business?
Lily: Well, as a kid it was hard in the beginning because people didn’t really take us seriously. A lot of people thought we were just kidding around because you’re a kid but they didn’t really realize that we were very serious about our own business. So determination and hard work were the most important skills we needed to start and run Blamtastic. Once we grew and got our product into more than 1,000 stores and began exporting it to Canada people started to take us seriously.
Sarah: What were the biggest obstacles, problems you had in getting started in business?
Lily: There are fun parts and hard parts to owning your own business. The fun part is creating products and free lip balm. The hard part is lots of work. Be prepared to work at times that aren’t convenient for you like afterschool. Sometimes that’s not easy when you’re tired at the end of the day.
Sarah: How old were you when you started and how old are you now? How does your age affect your business success?
Lily: Well, I was only 10 when we started and as I said before people really didn’t think we were serious about our business. They would just say “Oh, what a cute kid. She thinks she’s going to run a business”. But I really was running a business. Sometimes it made me mad. I guess it also made me work harder because I wanted to show them what I was capable of. Now I’m 13.
Sarah: What about college? Are you planning on going?
Lily: I want to study to be a doctor. Specifically an Equine Veterinarian because I love riding and taking care of horses. I think it would be a really fun job.
Sarah: What have been the best surprises that you found in starting your business?
Lily: Well I think the biggest surprise for me was how much was really involved. You have to have a lawyer, accountant, graphic designers, a web person and so many other people that help in getting your product made.
Sarah: What was the first year of business like for you?
Lily: For the 1st year or so our family did everything and we shipped everything out of our house.
Sarah: What ideas and approaches do you use to market your business and what do you find works best for you in getting the word out about who you are and what you are doing?
Lily: After the first year we hired a PR group. People seemed pretty interested in our story so they helped us to handle that.
Sarah: How do you balance it all? Do you find that you still have time to be a kid?
Lily: Honestly, it can be hard because sometimes you can’t just decide you don’t feel like working if there’s an interview or something that is scheduled. I do take time to do things I love like =But I love to ride horses and play volleyball and hang out with my friends in my free time. And go to camp for a month in the summer.
Sarah: What is the best piece of advice you would like to share with young entrepreneurs?
Lily: Well, if you’re a kid starting your own business don’t let people tell you your idea won’t work. If you feel confident about it then it can work. You just have to work hard to make it happen.
We must encourage more kids to develop the attitudes and the perspectives that Lily has. Imagine a country–a world even–in which the young adults are filled with optimisim and drive and a feeling of control over their own destiny. Too many kids have the opposite feeling.
Encourage your kids and the children who you know who are only occasionally in your life, by telling them what they’re doing right, showing them how to correct what they’re doing wrong, and by repeating over and over “You can do it. You can do anything!”
Let Lily be an inspriation.
Thank you so much Bruce for our comment! That is my hope – that the world will be filled with hope, vision and belief that kids (and parents) can make their dreams come true!