Eleven-year-old Asia Newson, the co-founder and CEO of a candle company called Super Business Girl, has become known as ‘Detroit’s youngest entrepreneur’
Being a successful entrepreneur is not dependent on age, as shown by this 13-year-old from Detroit, Michigan. Her name is Asia Newson, and she is known locally and nationally as “Super Business Girl.” It’s the perfect name for a determined young girl whose company is targeted to make $100K this year, and for someone who wants to help other young girls do the same!
Newson actually got started at the age of five selling candles door-to-door with her dad, who is also an entrepreneur. She bought the wholesale candles for $1 and sold them for $10. At the time, many people bought her candles because they couldn’t resist her cuteness. But as she grew older, the situation changed. She knew she could no longer rely on her cuteness if she wanted to create a successful and long-lasting business.
Every business has it’s challenges
When Newson was older, local security guards began banning her from public places because they suspected she was running some kind of scam. With her mother’s help, she went downtown and got a vendor’s permit. By this time, she had trained 20 others but security continued to be suspicious.
The game changer
Everything changed, however, when, by chance, she ran into Quicken Loans founder, Dan Gilbert, who is also a famous entrepreneur who has been helping to rebuild downtown Detroit. Gilbert recognized her as Detroit’s “Super Business Girl.” She met with him in his office and he said, “I have keys to the city, and I can sell anywhere!”
From that point forward, everything changed. She improved her product packaging and began to enlist the help of partners. She continued to train more people, and her web site really took off, producing more and more orders from her sales of candles, shirts, book bags and school supplies. This got her a lot of media attention; she even appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Helping and training others
Newson has always been focused on helping others. The idea of training others to sell her candles is to teach other children how to make their own money. Her advice to others is to never give up, and don’t be afraid to fail.
She explains, “No matter what is going on in your life…no matter what other family responsibilities you have…no matter what your age, geography or gender, you can be a success. Just don’t give up.”
Newson obviously never gave up, and for a certainty we are going to hear much more from this very special entrepreneur.
Watch her interview below on Ellen back in 2015:
Source : http://blog.blackbusiness.org/2017/01/13-year-old-entrepreneur-asia-newson-100K-training-other-girls.html#.WHjPIxsrK1t
