As parents the desire to provide for our kids is constant and will likely always be at the forefront of our minds. But the greatest risk in giving in to this desire is the limitations we then put on our kids to work hard and learn to provide for themselves.
We parents won’t be around forever after all and our kids will have their own kids one day soon, who they will need to provide for. So how then will we start a healthy cycle of empowering them to take control of their finances?
Small business Samantha Cade Collection was started on this very principle of empowering our kids to work hard for what they want. Lindsey explains how she worked to raise a teenager focused on doing great things despite obvious limitations:
“I feel as parents we always feel that we’re not doing enough or doing well enough. I am reminded of the advice we always give to new parents, ‘Don’t negotiate with terrorists!’ It always gets a good laugh, but what we’ve always meant by that was stick to your guns, let your no be no.
If our kids threw a fit in the store, we never caved. If we said no to something, we stuck with it. As they got older we got into the habit of bringing out old toys to donate to families in need when new toys came in, recognizing the sacrifice someone made to spend money on a gift for us.
I believe all of these things created a heart of gratitude, a heart for giving to others and not having expectation or entitlement in their lives. This bred with encouraging them to try new things, belief in themselves and letting failure guide them to success instead of sink them, helps build a strong foundation.
We obviously help with things like start up cost, taxes, financials and research in this situation, but she is learning invaluable life skills from this experience.
Here’s teenage owner Brynlee herself to discuss how she started a business venture in order to purchase her own vehicle.
“Around the time I turned 15 we started thinking about how we were going to have the money to buy a car when I turned 16. Around this time my parents were doing research to put together an aroma kit for my dad’s podcast and we went to a store that sold fragrance oils. I thought it was fun trying all of the different smells.
Making a candle was something that I had always thought was interesting, and I knew it was something I wanted to try. I brought the idea of selling candles to my parents, and after some thought and research we decided it was something that we could use to raise money for a car.
Working with my mom has given us a new opportunity to spend time together and talk. There have been days where we’ve spent hours in the car making deliveries and talking to each other, or working together all day. Working together also requires some trust.
There have been times that I needed my mom to help pour candles when I had to do school work and there have been times when she had work to do and couldn’t help as much as usual.
So we have to trust that we have each other’s back when one of us may not be able to help out as much. My dad and my brother even help out with deliveries and wicking jars. My brother has gotten really good at helping us remove labels if we need to fix them!
Eventually we hope to move onto higher quality wax, more intricate jars, and nicer labels to make a higher quality candle for a signature line.
We’ve also started testing bath products, including a foaming bath salt that would go with our signature line as well as a beard oil for my dad.
Ten years from now I’ll be 25 and I’d like to make enough money for a car, obviously and maybe even college!
I’d like for us to grow our wholesale accounts so we can be in stores and I think it would be really fun to have a subscription box. Something that we could maybe partner with other small businesses like ours and help each other grow.
Samantha Cade Collection also gives portions of it’s proceeds to support local causes.
Because we are such a new company, our first opportunity to support a cause was with a local organization making care packages for front line workers facing the Covid pandemic. Everything from basic necessities and gift cards to spa packages and candles were gathered and delivered to a local hospital.
It was an awesome thing to be a part of! As far as future causes, we are hoping to create a fundraiser in September in support of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
Having lost a family member to suicide in 2014, this is a cause that is very close to our hearts . We have participated in fundraising walks like Out Of the Darkness, which also raises funds for AFSP.org, but it can be emotional and difficult for our family members, so it’s important to find a way to support that organization in other ways.”
It’s clear that supporting our kids to work hard can impact more than their own financial pockets. Samantha Cade Collection has been able to impact local causes and encourage other kids like herself to be a positive impact on their economy.
