By Traci Phillips
Kayla Lewis, an 11-year-old girl from Charleston, WV, spent 12 hours baking cookies and sweets for the first annual West Virginia Kids Business Expo. The morning of the event, she arose at 6 a.m. and began baking more than 200 of her Sweet Day Cookies to be showcased at the expo in the TransCanada Building in Charleston. What she didn’t know was later in the day she would take home the first place prize in the small business pitch contest as an entrepreneur selling her goods.
“It was a great opportunity to work on my passion for baking while learning business with other kids my age,” says Lewis.
The West Virginia Kids Business Expo was facilitated by the Fun Fitness Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that was founded in 2018, and Markel Marketing, Inc., a local marketing agency that specializes in promoting community events, particularly targeting children and families. A partner of Fun Fitness Kids Club, LLC, the foundation’s goal is to help curb the adult and childhood obesity rate in West Virginia by providing fun fitness activities. The expo was a foundation fundraiser to assist in securing equipment for more activities. Expo vendors’ products ranged from homemade lemonade and sweets to jewelry, perfume and slime. The event helped encourage economic development through promoting youth entrepreneurship while also providing a venue for local youth to perform and showcase their talents.
According to the judging panel, which was made up of members of SCORE WV, an organization that helps provide small business advice, Lewis was chosen as the winner because she could articulate her business idea well and had a company logo, business cards and electronic payment options already in place.
“Judging the future generation of West Virginia business was exciting and insightful,” says Melissa Hill, chair of SCORE WV. “We saw potential patents and a soul-stirring mission and tested some tasty award-winning treats. SCORE WV is looking forward to helping this future generation bring their dreams to fruition. We’ve got work to do.”
When 9-year-old Jahari Brown’s father passed away earlier this year from heart disease, Brown began working to make a difference by creating awareness to ensure no one suffers from the same pain. He received second place in the small business pitch contest and donated his winnings to the American Heart Association.
“It was really fun to be around other kids and show off my ideas,” he says.
Judges chose Brown because of his passion for such a noteworthy cause. Since the Kids Business Expo, he has also been named honorary chair of the 2019 Charleston Heart Walk.
The expo was supported by Frank Walker Law, Cary Law Office, EnAct Community Action, Element Federal Credit Union, Financial Literacy Boot Camp, Markel Marketing Inc., MESH Design & Development LLC, Berea Seventh-Day Adventist Church and WSVQ 92.1.
After the inaugural event, the foundation staff feels that a new wave of optimism and support is on the horizon in Charleston and is excited about how community members are working together to provide positive outlets and opportunities for youth. The organization is also continuing its work with various community partners such as Financial Literacy Boot Camp to teach financial literacy and youth entrepreneurship workshops for ages 6-18 on Saturday afternoons at the West Virginia State University Economic Development Center. In addition, the organization is also collaborating with the Boys & Girls Club of Charleston and MESH Design & Development to host a series of free coding, graphic design and entrepreneurship workshops with the goal of preparing participants for the next small business pitch contest. These workshops will also work to educate, raise awareness and empower youth in elementary through high school with essential skills designed to help avoid many common financial pitfalls and achieve a state of financial well-being.
The next Kids Business Expo will be held on December 6, 2019 at A More Excellent Way Church on Charleston’s West Side.
About the Author
Traci Phillips is the CEO of Fun Fitness Kids Club LLC., a soft play party rental company in Charleston, WV. She is also the executive director of the Fun Fitness Foundation Inc, a 501(c)3 organization that aims to help curb the obesity rate in West Virginia by providing fun fitness activities. Phillips holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Bowie State University and has worked for companies such as C-SPAN, CBS Newspath, BET Nightly News, Radio-One Inc., XM Satellite Radio and WCHS-TV. She is an on-air personality for WSVQ 92.1’s Charleston’s Voice for Equity and Empowerment, an initiative of the Partnership of African American Churches.
