SPEAKER_01: 1:16

Welcome back to Speak Out Standout. I'm Elizabeth Green, and today's guest is Leah Ellis. Leah is a mom of four and the founder of the Society of Child Entrepreneurs, which is a nonprofit that helps kids turn imagination into action. Leo, we're so glad to have you here today to chat.

SPEAKER_00: 1:31

Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01: 1:33

So let's just before I we're gonna, we had a lot of things to talk about in a short amount of time, but let's start with how did you get to this point in in your life where your focus is teaching kids how to be entrepreneurs and why is that important?

SPEAKER_00: 1:47

So the why is very, very bluntly, my 10-year-old daughter Melody. And it happened in a roundabout way. I'm very entrepreneurial. And pre-COVID, I ran an in-home daycare. And then COVID happened, and my daycare couldn't reopen because our city opened a free childcare for essential workers within walking distance of where I charged$200 a week. So that didn't happen, and I had to pivot. Our pivot turned into launching a financial coaching company, and I was watching entrepreneurship training videos on our living room TV because her dad was deployed and I needed to watch my two little kids while I was doing the training videos. Melody looked at me and said, I want to start a business too. Uh the important part of that sentence is at the time Melody was four. And I tried to say no, but I didn't have any really good reasons why I should say no because she had a good idea. She knew what she wanted to do, and it wasn't like we had anywhere else to be. So I let her start her business at four years old. It was the same time I started homeschooling her. Um we were in California, so transitional kindergarten. So she literally started learning to read and start a business at the same time. Well yeah. Um so she started building her business at the time, Melody Paints. After COVID, we did a couple of children's business fairs, she did some art shows, and then we moved. And when we moved, she she lost all her friends. We moved to a whole new state. So there wasn't really an easy way for her to connect with them in person. And I wanted to find a way for her to connect with other kids. So we did another children's business fair. And then after that children's business fair, I got really frustrated because a children's business fair is really fun. The kids set up, they sell their stuff, they tear down, they leave. And then there's nothing next. There's no next steps in that entrepreneurship journey. There's no after actions reviews, there's no how do we reiterate? How do we work on our customer service? Nothing. And so I decided with some friends of mine to found the Society of Child Entrepreneurs. And the running joke is so that we could create peers for Melody, who also loved talking about business and entrepreneurship as well as swinging on the monkey bars.

SPEAKER_01: 4:01

I love it. I love it. So entrepreneurship, right, is something that I is something that we think of when we think about adults and your job. Like it is very difficult to think about that with kids, especially four-year-olds, right? How does a four-year-old actually run a business?

SPEAKER_00: 4:19

So when Melody was four, obviously I did a lot of it for her and with her that she wasn't an independent business owner. But at four years old, she was able to tell me this is a thing that I can make that I can sell. And I was able to tell her, okay, well, we can sell this through Facebook on a Google form. Um, she was able to say, Well, my paints cost this much money, so we did it as a math lesson. How do we determine if the paint costs this much, the canvas costs this much, it takes you this long, how much do we charge for it? Okay, well, now what about how are we paying for the shipping and getting that all put together so that she could ship out these paintings that people were requesting from her? Then as she gets older, she has more control over her business. Uh, she has, if she takes out a loan to buy materials, she has to pay it back. She has to keep her budget, she has to know what's going on with the money in her business and her inventory. I don't manage any of it for her anymore now that she's 10. Um, for little kids, I promise you, you know a little kid who has shown up at your door and been like, Will you buy my used Pokemon cards, this bracelet that I just made, or a glass of lemonade, because they have something that they see value in and they want money. So they want to trade you their thing of value for money. And that's all entrepreneurship is, even as grownups. All we're doing is selling our thing of value for your money by solving a problem. So I with our kids who don't have businesses, that's where we start. What is something you enjoy doing and how does it solve a problem for other people? And then we take those two things and we create a business around it. You don't have to be 35 to solve problems.

SPEAKER_01: 5:58

Right, right. I this is something that I was so excited to talk to you about because we have personal experience with this too. Um, my youngest son, who we were talking about before we were started recording, he has for the past three years, I think, had a business where he takes out trash cans for our neighbors the night before trash, and then after school the next day, he goes and puts the cans back. And um, today's actually the day we go put the cans back. But he's been doing this for three years in the rain. He had to do it one year on Christmas, which really was not like I felt bad about, but it was trash was coming the next day, you know, and that's just the way the world is. And so, and obviously he didn't spend all of Christmas Day doing it. It took him like an hour, but he did it, right? But the coolest thing has been to watch him uh be able to buy things that he wants and see him think if I want this dinosaur or whatever it is, how many trash cans do I have to take out in order to purchase it? And I feel like those lessons are so like invaluable, you know? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 6:56

That's um I teach my kids, um, actually, when I was a financial coach, I teach adults there's only three things you can do with money after you earn it. Uh, no matter what fancy name you give it, the only things you can do are spend it, save it, or give it away. So when my kids earn money, they're required to put some and spend, some and save, some and give. And it's really fun to watch my kids be like, okay, well, I want to buy X thing, but I have to spend and I have to save and I have to give. So in order to have enough money for this new item, I have to sell this many of what I'm selling. And then I also need to make sure that I have enough money left in my business that I haven't taken out so that I can pay for inventory for my next event.

SPEAKER_01: 7:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 7:44

Yeah. And they have to learn inventory management and budgeting, and it's all very real world to them. Yeah. Which means it impacts them. And for them to learn it as kids, there's no risk because there's no house, clothing, or food on the line. Right.

SPEAKER_01: 7:58

And they are they're learning, like you said, these real world skills in a way that that they can understand and they're excited about. And who doesn't want that for a kid's education? You know, for them to want to learn something that we know that is is going to affect their lives forever and be excited about learning it. Now, okay, so I a couple different questions for you. But one, like, let's say mom's listening to this and she's like, okay, yeah, that's great, but I don't have time to put one more thing on my plate. I don't really think we could go down a path like this. What do you say to that mom?

SPEAKER_00: 8:27

Honestly, when I when Melody started Melody Paints, it was an hour a week. Um, now Melody mostly does it on her own. I don't I help her set up for business fairs and I make sure that she has enough inventory. Um, but with eight, nine, 10-year-old kids, all you really need to do is make sure that you find them a venue to sell it and you have that one day set aside for them to sell their things and that you help them get the stuff started. But the point of a child-run business is that they're doing it. So that means it's something that can occupy them while you're doing your own business or your own homework or your own housework or your own reading a book and relaxing because your homeschooled child is actually occupied on their own. Reading a book and relaxing.

SPEAKER_01: 9:13

Oh my goodness. Who who knows anything about that?

SPEAKER_00: 9:16

Take the win. This is this is the opportunity for them to step into their own and you don't have to hold their hand through it. You have to guide them, but you also, and this is the hardest part, and I will say, as a former homeschool mom, the hardest part for me is you have to be willing to let them fail.

SPEAKER_01: 9:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 9:36

You have to be willing to let your kid work on their idea their way, even if you think it's the wrong way, and even if you know it's going to fail. Because that alone is an invaluable lesson that your child has to learn.

SPEAKER_01: 9:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 9:48

Uh, and yeah, it sucks. The first time, uh, actually just this year, we signed up for a big event that was taking place on Melody's birthday. So it was literally her tenth birthday. She had this big fair on her birthday, and she sold three items the whole day. Oh. So I had to watch my daughter fail through no fault of her own on her birthday, and a big milestone birthday nonetheless.

SPEAKER_01: 10:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 10:15

And you know what? Later on, she came and she said, you know what? Here's what I think we can do to drive more traffic. Here's how I think we can make our next events better, and here's the events I want to do to try and make up the difference in what I didn't sell at that event. That's awesome. Also, sh we took her out for a steak dinner. Well, yes, of course. You still have to celebrate, of course. Right. Well, she still got to celebrate, but she also had to learn some amazing things on her birthday.

SPEAKER_01: 10:42

Yeah. Well, and I guess kind of the same with my son having to do it on Christmas. It hurt my heart that he had to work on Christmas, but I talked to him about there's so many people who work every holiday. You know, doctors are always there and all of that. So um, yeah, I they're just really learning these amazing life lessons. Okay, so we talked about it. So it really is not a huge time investment from mom or dad. Um, and and I love what you said because it is I'm still guilty of I primarily take over tracking who has paid and when and all of that. And um, I every time, every week or every month when we do like the books, I always say, you need to really start handling this. I but I'm like, it's just easier for me to do it. And that's I know that is not the right approach.

SPEAKER_00: 11:29

Get a system like Wave. Um, because I was a financial coach. Wave is a free bookkeeping software. So he could have a legitimate bookkeeping software like QuickBooks or Zero, but free. And it would keep track of his clients. And you could teach him how to do grown-up bookkeeping. He doesn't have to keep a spreadsheet of who hasn't hasn't paid. He can actually do grown-up bookkeeping through Wave. That's a fantastic idea.

SPEAKER_01: 11:55

Okay. All right, I'm making a note of that.

SPEAKER_00: 11:57

Let him do it the grown-up way.

SPEAKER_01: 11:58

Yes. And I've obviously I can see the benefit in it, and I would prefer to not be the one doing it, even though it only takes a few minutes. But as moms, sometimes it's just we get stuck in that, it's just easier for me to get it done. And but just because it's easier doesn't mean it's the best path, right?

SPEAKER_00: 12:14

Um, when I homeschooled Tiny Tiny Tiny Melody, uh, one of the things I found was every time you cut the line for me, every time you write my name for me, every time you drop the glue for me, all you're teaching me is that you do it better than me. Yeah. He's not learning anything about keeping his books when you're talking while you do it.

SPEAKER_01: 12:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 12:39

Even if you give him the mouse and you tell him where to click, he will learn more than him watching you do it.

SPEAKER_01: 12:45

That's true. That's that's fantastic advice.

SPEAKER_00: 12:48

It's the worst advice because we just want to help them. I know, I know. I just want to make it easy for you. I just love you.

SPEAKER_01: 12:57

Well, it's starting today, because today's one of our trash run days, and I do transport him because we have a big neighborhood. But um, but so starting today, he's gonna he's gonna be starting to put put in the information. Um, so okay, so what it like maybe somebody's listening and they're like, listen, I these are great ideas, but we don't have fairs uh or kid business expos. I don't live in a neighborhood where uh my kid could go take out trash cans. We don't have any neighbors nearby, we couldn't even do a lemonade stand. You know, the traditional things that we think about when we think about kids making money. Are they stuck or are there still other ideas for them?

SPEAKER_00: 13:33

There are still ideas. Um, you only have to be 13 to start an Etsy shop. Um they could still sell their stuff online. Um, they can still provide services like babysitting mowing lawns to people that their family already knows. Um, and then they can take if mom really loves or dad really loves what I'm saying today, they can host their own children's business fair. Um it literally takes 10 minutes in a background check to host a children's business fair. Um, and then you go and you can be the one to bring your community together around inspiring your children and empowering them to do amazing things. Um if they're just because it doesn't exist yet doesn't mean it can't ever exist. You can be the one to start it. Um, but you can also ask the school about doing something like a market day or get your homeschool co-op to do a market day. Like there are ways when you've already got a group of children that you can bring this into them and help them start to do this because your eight, nine, ten-year-old, they want new video games, they want Stanley water bottles, they want 87,000 things that mom and dad are tired of buying. And this gives them the opportunity to have the pride in buying those things for themselves.

SPEAKER_01: 14:45

I think the pride of buying it, I think that is the key thing. Not only can they buy it, they feel so good about it, you know? I mean, to be able to say, I earned this, I did this on my own. That's a huge feeling.

SPEAKER_00: 14:57

Even like, because Stanley water bottles were a big thing in my daughter's fourth grade class. Everybody had to have a Stanley water bottle. And it lasted for like six months, and now we have a Stanley water bottle that nobody uses. But um, she wanted a Stanley water bottle so bad. And I was like, I've bought you so many things. The trends change, and I'm so tired of buying trendy things. She bought her own. She found the one she wanted, she found the color she wanted, she paid$35 for her water bottle. Um, but she got to carry it to school and say, Oh yeah, I bought it this weekend. Not my parents got it for me, not it was a Christmas present. I bought it this weekend. Yeah. So she's already got that like hoity torty, I got the fancy thing. And I got the fancy thing because I had the money for it, not because my parents had the money for it.

SPEAKER_01: 15:40

Right, right. Um, my well, and then with my son, we've been through this a couple of times. I w I just you just made me think of this. But he actually bought a dirt bike, which I well, he's bought two of them actually in the past year, and never in a million years would have bought him a dirt bike, you know? I'm a mom. It terrifies me. Look away and pray, is what I have to like tell myself whenever he's riding it. But when he has earned a thousand dollars of his own hard-earned money, it's very hard to say, no, you can't buy that.

SPEAKER_00: 16:07

My my little neighbor boy just did the same thing. He came and knocked on our doorbell or rang our doorbell and was like, I'm I'm doing odd jobs, whatever you need done, because I want to buy a dirt bike. And he was literally like, I'll hang your lights, I'll change light bulbs, I'll sweep the floors, I'll do whatever it takes to get this dirt bike.

SPEAKER_01: 16:25

I love it. I love it. Well, and then this is just like a little offshoot of this. This conversation's going in a very different direction than I anticipated, but I love it. Um, it it in my sometimes it's hard for me to, as the fixer and the mom, to watch my son make purchases that I know are a waste of money, like something that he's gonna spend$50 or more on, and I know he it's not gonna be what he wanted, or um, it's gonna be something he plays with for like a day. And it is very hard to say, okay, what do you do in that scenario? Should we guide them? Should we offer our opinions, or is it their money?

SPEAKER_00: 17:04

So funny story, this actually just happened on Black Friday. So this year, Black Friday was also my seven-year-old's birthday because her birthday is at the end of November. So it can fall on Thanksgiving, on Black Friday, nowhere near, just kind of depends on the calendar. So we were all like, I gave her some money and I said, This is your money. We're gonna go Black Friday shopping. We went to the mall. Her big sister was watching her shopping with her birthday money, and her big sister had less money, but wanted to be able to be the one to shop too. So we got to Claire's, and you know, you have a seven-year-old and a 10-year-old little girl in Claire's. So they were like, Can we buy the whole store? And of course, Claire's was doing buy three get three free. So they were like, we can buy half the store and get the other half for free. This is even better. Um, so my 10-year-old starts picking stuff out, and she had picked out like three items, and I had picked out like two or three items, and so I was like, Well, why don't we just put our items together so that we can get the buy three get three free, and then we'll I'll pay for it and you can just pay me your half. Um, and she was like, Okay, fine. But then like this little thing clicked in her brain that her sister was using her debit card and she wasn't using her debit card. So she ran to the back of the store, grabbed this random plushie, ran to the register and paid for this plushie or this squishy just because she like had been hit with this impulsive need to swipe her card. Yeah. Um, then we walked across the the way to Old Navy and I said, Oh, don't forget you still owe me for your half, and told her what the total was, and she was like, I don't have enough.

unknown: 18:37

Oh no.

SPEAKER_00: 18:38

So she grabbed this like random thing she didn't even really want or need, and now didn't have enough money for a commitment that she had made right there in the mall on Black Friday. And so I was like, Okay, well this is this is something called buyer's remorse. Sometimes we buy things and then we regret it. Um, you're lucky that in this moment you have the opportunity, you can go return that if you think that's what you would like to do, or you can take it home and do some extra chores to make up the rest of the money that you owe me. But you have made a financial decision that you are now regretting, and you have to figure out what you're going to do. What is your next step? Because honestly, it was the dumbest little toy that she had ever put a brass. Like, why are we even why? She was like, It's a palm pet. And I'm like, if you're carrying a palm pet, how do you use your hand? It's a really dumb toy. Um, so she did decide, she was like, you know what? I think I'm just gonna go over to Claire's and I'm gonna I'm gonna give it back. Like, I don't, I don't want this. And I was like, okay, I understand what happened. Do you understand what happened? And she's like, Yeah, I just got jealous. I wanted to use my card too. And I was like, Yep, so go ahead, go do the return. So she went and she did the return. She came back, she was able to transfer the money to pay me what she owed me. Um, but she did like I had to sit there and be like, oh, this is such a bad idea. Yeah. This is such a bad idea, don't do it. And I also had to sit with the fact that if she had decided to keep it, I was going to have to make her follow through on doing extra chores to pay the money that she owed me. That's what I was thinking. It would be so easy.

SPEAKER_01: 20:16

It would be so easy to just be like, oh, just don't worry about it. You know what I mean? But but like you said earlier, if they're failing in little financial, you know, episodes like this, that's a lot different than taking out a credit card when they're 18 and racking up thousands in debt, you know.

SPEAKER_00: 20:32

Yeah, that's one of my favorite things about being able to teach entrepreneurship and financial literacy to kids, is there's no risk when they make mistakes right now. Like they can make whatever big obnoxious risky decisions they want to make. Their house, their clothes, and their foods are never on the line. Yeah. So they have this security to make those mistakes in a way that still impacts like my daughter, she's gonna remember the impact of impulse spending forever. And she didn't have to miss a meal because of it. Right. Right. So now is the perfect time for them to be learning these things because then they just become a part of their subconscious. I mean, even the research shows that 90 up to 90 percent. Of your subconscious beliefs are formed by the time you're seven. So the more opportunity we allow our kids to experience money before the ages of seven, eight, nine, ten, the more that they can become confident with their money and even subconsciously not worry about their money because they've already built a healthy relationship with it.

SPEAKER_01: 21:35

Wow. That's amazing.

unknown: 21:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 21:37

Well, so it are there any other benefits? We've talked about several, I know, kind of loosely, but are there any other benefits that we can uh we can understand that we're going to be giving our kids, whether we help them go down this path of entrepreneurship, or uh maybe they're just, like you said, doing extra jobs at home to earn money. Maybe you give them allowance anyways, but you want to help them learn how to manage it, all those things. What are there any other benefits that we haven't talked about?

SPEAKER_00: 22:03

So yes to all of them. At the Society of Chad Entrepreneurs, we say that we empower children's entrepreneurial spirit, financial literacy, and leadership. So each one of those has different benefits that are going to become a second nature or innate behaviors to your kids as they grow up. So in the financial literacy section, the more we teach them a healthy relationship with money now, the easier it is for them to sustain a healthy relationship with money when they reach adulthood, which means you don't have to worry about them being boomerang kids. Uh, you don't have to worry about them filing for bankruptcy, you don't have to worry about paying for your grandchildren's school supplies because mom and dad can't afford it because your kids have already built this long-standing relationship with money. So that immediately, once you have a long-standing relationship with money, you have more confidence in your money, which is then more confidence in your life. You have less stress, which is therefore better health, because you're not focusing on these money problems. And then we get into the leadership aspect of it. And if we're teaching our kids leadership, we're teaching them to speak up for the problems that they see in their community, we're building again their confidence and their ability to speak up for what they see is wrong. Problem-solving skills, communication, because they have to be able to talk about what's wrong and how they want to fix it without being jerks and without throwing fists. And then we get to the entrepreneurship where we're teaching them that inside of a nine to five, outside of a nine to five, however they want to earn their money in their lives, there's always an extra option. That entrepreneurship always gives them the opportunity for creativity. It gives them the opportunity, again, for confidence and believing in what they've done. Um, so all three sections of our business model at our nonprofit are teaching these skills that are fun now and everlasting later.

SPEAKER_01: 23:51

Yeah. And I know some people too are hesitant to um to really teach the things about money because they don't want, I don't want my kid to be money hungry. I don't want them to like think that this is something that they should idolize and you know go after all the time. And uh one of the things you mentioned a long time ago was um they have to set aside money to spend, save, and give. I think that is a great, um, a great way to teach it. But even uh in in our experience, I have not seen, I mean, my child will do anything. He like he wants to earn money, right? But but he is also very generous with it. Um, not too long ago, we were, you know, outside of a gas station and somebody came up and asked me for money. And I didn't, I literally didn't have any cash on me. And I just said, I'm so sorry, I don't have any money. My son pulled out his wallet and gave him five dollars. My he was like, he's 12, but this was maybe maybe last year. It was a big deal. It was a big deal. And that made me more proud of and you know, in that moment of seeing he understands the value of money to himself, but he also understands why it's important to help people who don't have it, you know, and that's such a that's such a lesson to learn.

SPEAKER_00: 25:01

Right. Um our curriculum and our children's books are about uh these characters named Astra and Zeke. And in one of the books that has yet to be published but has been written, Astra and Zeke work with a young child entrepreneur who is upset in her community because there's this empty lot that has just become a place where the litter settles. Like you know, every city has that spot where the grass is too tall and the plastic bags are stuck, and she doesn't want that in her community anymore. And as a socially minded entrepreneur, she goes to Astra and Zeke and says, How do we fix it? And they help her go through this plan and revitalize this portion of their city into a community garden and a park. Oh when you are an entrepreneur, you have the opportunity then to be a giver in your community. And money hunger is a problem if you are constantly in the desire for I need more, I want more. Give me money so that I can hold money. Like you can't just grasp the money and hold on to it. But having the desire to do more good with more money, as long as you're always looking at that money as the tool that you're using to achieve a goal and the money itself is not the goal.

SPEAKER_01: 26:16

Yeah, I love it. I love it. Well, I know we are just about out of time, but Leah, tell us a little bit more about the Society of Childhood Child Childhood Entrepreneurs and um what you all do, uh, what if people are interested in learning more. You know, give us a little bit more information about that.

SPEAKER_00: 26:32

So we are a nonprofit. Like I said before, we teach entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and leadership to kids through hands-on experiences, where they every one of our members builds and runs their own business. We do four shade cases a year called Children's Business Fairs, where they step up and they sell their stuff to the community at large. I have a full 36-week curriculum that starts piloting next month. Um, 36 books in the works. The first book is on Amazon. If you look up Sparks to Stars, the story of Astra and Zeke, you can find the first story. Um, and then we have our junior board of directors where our kids actually help us guide our programming. So just a really cool nonprofit that really enjoys getting to teach kids the amazing things that their little bodies and brains are capable of when the grown-ups ask a question and then step back and let the kids answer it for themselves. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 27:23

And this is something that even if people don't live in your neighborhood, like you said, it's the books are on Amazon, they can still build the same thing. They can participate all of that from wherever.

SPEAKER_00: 27:33

Yep. So you can read the book anywhere. Um, you can message me on Facebook if you're like, I want to start a little pilot program of my own in my area. I'm happy to share resources. One of my goals is within 10 years for the Society of Child Entrepreneurs to be nationwide, because the more kids that we can teach entrepreneurship to, the brighter our entire future economy will be.

SPEAKER_01: 27:55

I love it. Well, Leah, thanks so much for being here and sharing all these stories. I hope that everybody listening is understanding that there is so much value into letting your kids explore this. And what a great way to teach them something that is hands on, and like we said earlier, that they're going to be excited about to learn. So we will make sure we have a link to the book and um, of course, all Leah's socials and everything in the show notes. So if you want to connect with her, learn more, um, you can just click right on one of those and you'll be able to connect with her. So Leah, thanks so much again for being here. Thank you so much for having me. Have a good day.