An entrepreneur is born!

A few days ago my 9 year old daughter sat alone in her bedroom at her desk armed with scissors, design paper and and muti-colored maskin tape.  When she finally emerged after 30 minutes she had created four (4) designer wallets.  I was amazed not because she made these incredible creations but more so the time it took.  She regularly makes innovative crafts out of recycled materials, using crayons, markers, paint and beads etc. and gives them to friends and family members as gifts. 

This day was different.  Her plan was to sell her new creation to neighbors as they walked down our tiny block in our North East Baltimore neighborhood.  I secretly thought to myself, “who will buy these little wallets?”  I walked by periodically and watched her out of the living room window as she sat on the porch humming her favorite tunes as she patiently awaited a customer.  She exhibited true perseverance!  The temperature was 95 degrees and the humidity was sweltering! I enjoyed the comfort of our air conditioned home and surfed the internet to see what was occurring in the world.  Before I could log in, my daughter runs into the house with cash money in both hands!  She screamed "dad, I did it!  I sold all of my wallets!"

Proud, was an understatement of how I felt in that moment.  Her genuine joy became contagious! I went from doubting her to being inspired by her!  All the business meetings, trainings and conference calls that she witnessed and participated in with my wife and I had came full circle at that moment!  As I looked into her angelic face, I realized that an entrepreneur was now born!  That day she learned to create, market, sell, inspire and control her own destiny!  As her father, I will continue to encourage, support and inspire her with all of her creative ideas.

What will you do today to inspire others?  How will you support your child to become self sufficient and control their own destiny?