Jesse is sixteen and a business woman. I know because I stood in line with her to get her business license. She had an idea and she worked on it, and then reworked it until she had a finished product. She took it to a buyer and she liked it and bought it. It sounds simple but it took her MANY hours of hard work and, although we've never discussed this part, courage. It takes courage to start a business, to believe that you can produce or provide something that other people want. It takes courage to gather/sacrifice resources and put time and effort into something that may all come to naught. It takes courage to approach people and offer them your precious idea, materialized into a tangible product, almost like wearing your heart on your sleeve. But she did it all. The first time she met with the buyer, I took her to her appointment, but I sat in the car while she showed her product. I didn't know if this was a good idea or not. For all I knew the buyer might try to swindle her. It just felt like the right thing to do. She walked out of the meeting with an order and at her asking price. I can't tell you what that felt like for me, as her parent. Now when I look at her, I see strength and courage, and I admire her tremendously.
Here is her product: Sling bags in Samoan prints
Here are some shots from our impromptu photo shoot (that means we decided we needed some photos to show with the bags at a meeting she was going to, so we stopped at the beach on the way and Siwa took them):
My strong, courageous woman
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