[ad_1]
Like many 9-year-olds, Lily Harper enjoys baking cookies, going ice skating, and hanging out with her friends. But unlike most of her children, Lily is also a successful entrepreneur with big plans for the future. “I want to have a huge, huge factory,” she says. “I want more stock”
Lily is the founder of Lily Lou’s Aromas, a Surrey company that manufactures candles, wax melts, reed diffusers, room sprays and linen sprays.
“My house smells good,” says Chloe, Lily’s mother.
The sweet-scented products are sold on the company’s website and in several stores nationwide.Lily began experimenting with wax melts and candles at the age of seven, and launched her business at age eight. Her candles remind her to “take care of herself, step back and have some self-care time,” she says.
The entire business started in 2020, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began. When Lily was in elementary school, she struggled to deal with both bullies and concentration problems: “Lily was really struggling to focus on her book and sit quietly,” she says. Chloe says.
“I have ADHD,” Lily says matter-of-factly. “I need to run around.”
Chloe, who was pregnant with Lily’s sister at the time, took up a homeschooling job. “I was getting out of my depths,” says Chloe. “I felt like a failed mother.” She recalls sobbing on the phone to her own mother. I don’t know what she’s doing! But her parents in her Chloe reassured her. “My parents ran a corner store in England. They said to me, let her learn through her play.
The pretend shop was a success, teaching Lily subjects such as math in a hands-on manner. I thought it should offer a lesson.
“The more we leaned into it, the more we realized she was really fine and enjoying herself,” Chloe says. Because of the absence, suddenly seeing her happy and excited felt like a real “triumph” moment as a mother. ”
Lily started selling wax melts as part of a gymnastics fundraiser. After she shared some videos of her wax melts and candles on her social media, she was approached by a store owner and asked about carrying merchandise in her store. Lily Lu’s aromas grew organically from there. But the young entrepreneur claims that she doesn’t see what she’s doing as work and that she’s “excited and having fun.”
At the same time, she is learning real-life skills that will help her every day. “It’s a really good life experience,” points out Chloe. “I learned how to play the recorder in school, but I didn’t learn how to pay taxes,” she said.
Business offers a wealth of opportunities for education and growth. “There are a lot of daily challenges,” Chloe says. When a problem arises, rather than giving up or immediately reaching out to an adult for help, “I encourage Lily to sit down and think about how she can solve the problem.”
Lily feels no problem whenever things inevitably go wrong. It’s a puzzle. ’ Then she sets her mind on finding a solution.
Like many entrepreneurs, she has had to learn the importance of finding the right job for each person in the business. Lily describes a time in her company’s history when her mother was pouring wax her melt:
“I realized I wasn’t very good at making wax melts,” admits Chloe. “So I was demoted to a bow tie.” But her official title? “I think she’s the lead snack maker.” She also manages the company’s social media and takes care of Lily’s younger sister, Ellie.
Lily’s father, Sergio, is now responsible for pouring wax, in addition to handling customer service and deliveries. “He’s a much better help than I am,” Chloe said, noticing the look on his daughter’s face. “No need to roll your eyes So It’s difficult, Lily.”
In addition to selling items that make your home smell good, Lily Loose Aromas also prioritizes donations to organizations such as One Tree Planted and the Canadian Women’s Foundation. “Charity has always been very important to us,” says Chloe. She and Sergio obviously taught her daughter well.
Lily always seemed to go to the hospital around Christmas. The first year she was able to spend her vacation at her home, she worked with a local mall to collect gifts that were delivered to the hospital’s children’s ward, helping sick children who weren’t lucky. Decided to return the favor.
“Before we knew it, we had over 2,000 gifts,” says Chloe proudly.
One day, Lily hopes to own a huge factory and expand her company to produce more products. But now her product line is limited by the size of her family’s kitchen.
“We need warehouse space before we can implement Lily’s ideas,” Chloe says. “She has a lot of energy.”
Lily Lou’s Aromas has proven to be a useful example for our young entrepreneur friends. “Lily inspires her friends to start businesses,” says Chloe. One friend has started making soap, and another wants to make dog collars.
“I learned more from business than from school,” says Lilly.
Any advice for fellow entrepreneurs? “Follow your passion. Follow your dream,” she says. If you find yourself getting off track, Lily advises writing down the three things she most wants to accomplish each day and focusing only on those three tasks. And what if you don’t finish all three? “Just keep going.”
[ad_2]
Source link
