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Renee Dierdorff & Amy Guest with Austyn Guest

January 19, 2023 by angishields

Austyn-Guest
Cherokee Business Radio
Renee Dierdorff & Amy Guest with Austyn Guest
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This episode was brought to you by

Kid-Biz-Expo-logo

 

ReneeDierdorffAmyGuestRenee Dierdorff & Amy Guest are co-founders of Empowered Youth Entrepreneurs, a 501(c)3 organization.

Our goal is to empower kids with resources & education to grow their entrepreneurial spirit.

Follow Empowered Youth Entrepreneurs on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Austyn-Guest Austyn Guest is a young entrepreneur from the The Kid Biz Expo program.

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:07] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Kid Biz Radio. Kid Biz Radio creates conversations about the power of entrepreneurship and the positive impact that journey can have on kids. For more information, go to Kid Biz Expo. Now, here’s your host.

Stone Payton: [00:00:29] Welcome to this very special edition of Kid Biz Radio. Stone Payton here with you this morning. And we have a studio full. We’ve got some young entrepreneurs and we have the folks who are behind the scenes running this marvelous organization, Renee Deardorff and Amy Guest. Welcome back to the studio.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:00:48] Hello.

Amy Guest: [00:00:49] Happy 2023.

Stone Payton: [00:00:50] Yeah.It’s going to be an exciting season. I’ve missed you guys. You know, I went chasing Elk in Kentucky for a couple of weeks, and so I’ve been out of pocket and I actually got back in time to go to the gala. But the only thing I harvested, no elk, was a terrible cold. I didn’t want to get anybody sick. So that’s why I didn’t go.

Stone Payton: [00:01:10] Well, I really wanted to attend. I’m looking forward to future events and I want to talk about that in a little bit. But get me up to speed on the gala. How did it go?

Renee Dierdorff: [00:01:19] It was awesome.

Amy Guest: [00:01:20] It was so much fun. Oh, my goodness. It all came together somehow.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:01:24] We had a great time. We held it at Woodstock City Church and we appreciate them letting us use that space. And we have beautiful over 100 people there.

Amy Guest: [00:01:35] And Kevin Williams from Chick fil A was a great speaker. The kids were really engaged in his his speech and conversation. He was very entertaining. So that was that was the highlight for sure. Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:01:47] Fantastic. And we are going to talk about some upcoming events before we close, because I want to make sure that our listeners kind of have that calendar together. And can they also go to the website and see upcoming stuff and what’s the website again?

Renee Dierdorff: [00:02:00] It could be Zappos.com.

Stone Payton: [00:02:02] Well, that’s handy.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:02:03] Yeah, we might try make it easy.

Stone Payton: [00:02:05] And then as early as this Sunday afternoon, I’ve got it on my calendar and I would like to attend if I can. You’ve got a workshop and the kids are going to play a very active role in actually facilitating this workshop.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:02:18] Yeah.

Amy Guest: [00:02:18] Yes, that is correct. So this Sunday at 3:00 right here at the Innovation Spot, we will be hosting the first of the year’s workshop on brainstorming and it will be led by our older, more seasoned kid partners, one of which we have in the room, Austyn,

Austyn Guest: [00:02:36] Hello.

Stone Payton: [00:02:37] Hello, Miss Austin. So are you ready for this workshop? Have you thought about what you’re going to say or questions you might ask?

Austyn Guest: [00:02:45] I have thought about a few questions to ask. Have begun to think about how this is going to go and what me and Laila are going to talk about and help these kids brainstorm about what they’re going to do and just some new ideas in general for the for the new year.

Amy Guest: [00:03:01] It’ll be a good place for kids who want to start a business but don’t know where to start or have a couple of ideas, a way to hone in on that kind of bouncing ideas off of each other, but also kids with businesses that maybe want to plan out some new things for the year. So it’ll be a good like open forum kind of.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:03:18] So they’ll be leading it, but it will be kids talking to kids and the parents can chime in, too, of course, because I’m sure they’ll have questions, especially if it’s brand new, which is totally fine because we’ll be there as well. Yes, but it’ll be very interactive. And we’ve done something similar last year. It kind of turned into that, which made us think about it was at the end of last year. It made us think about this one being a great way to start the year where these kids were just just the ideas that they had were amazing, and it turned into a really good conversation. So we’re looking forward to this one.

Stone Payton: [00:03:47] Great. And it’s okay if an old man with broken dreams comes in and gets re-inspired.

Amy Guest: [00:03:52] Absolutely. You’re always welcome. Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:03:54] Well, I’m looking forward to it. Well, you know, I thought that maybe for this edition of Kid Biz Radio, it might be a good idea to go back and get you guys to share what I call the origin story. How did it all get started? What compelled you to do it? Some of what you learned along the way, I know our listeners would be interested in. I certainly am. So yeah, please, please share that origin story with us, if you would.

Amy Guest: [00:04:22] Sure, we can do that. Let’s see. So two years ago, maybe a little bit longer, like two and a half? I don’t know. Anyway, my middle daughter is a dreamer, and she was going to run the world of cotton candy. She was going to rule the world. She decided she wanted to sell it. And I was like, okay, let’s figure this out. So we’ll I’ll take you to farmer’s markets in the area and you can sell your cotton candy. Her sisters were her employees. We all worked together. It was very fun experience. But then, of course, her sisters decided that they didn’t want to be employees anymore. They wanted to be their own business owners. So we figured out a couple of business ideas for everybody else than we were taking. So I was taking three girls to farmers markets, which of course led when your bestie has two daughters of her own and they see what their friends are doing, they’re like, Oh.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:05:20] Neat on this.

Amy Guest: [00:05:21] Action. Wait a minute. So then they had business ideas. So now we’re the two of us are taking. Five girls to farmers markets around the area and little tiny events that was it to like didn’t cost too much for moms to, you know, invest in their kids for this. The community was so supportive and very sweet. Everybody loved seeing kids working hard at something and, you know, doing something for themselves and running a business and trying something new. But also at the same time, we kind of felt that it wasn’t the the best avenue to showcase the kids. It almost felt.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:06:00] Like novelty, like, oh, isn’t that cute? Yeah, they were very nice about it, but it wasn’t. They were competing with.

Amy Guest: [00:06:06] Adults because adults do that for a living, you know, go to event event to support themselves. And we were just kind of like on the sidelines and we didn’t I don’t know. It just felt more like we needed our own venue. So we’re like, wait a minute.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:06:20] We could try.

Amy Guest: [00:06:20] This. We could try this. So light bulb went off and Renee and I are like, okay, let’s do a kid’s vendor event. Maybe there’s other kids in the area. I mean, we already got five. We’re halfway there, right?

Renee Dierdorff: [00:06:30] Yeah, we started by getting interest. You know, we asked the community if something they’d be interested in and people jumped all over it. So that kind of gave us a little fire there to make it happen.

Amy Guest: [00:06:39] So we hosted our very first kid Bizz Expo, just the two of us, August of 2021 at Seattle Baptist Church, and we had 27, seven kids. Wow.

Stone Payton: [00:06:52] 27 kids. That had to be encouraging.

Amy Guest: [00:06:55] It was so exciting. We had a DJ and Rene’s husband Adam is in the fire department, so he brought the fire truck and that was, of course, entertaining. We had a bounce house, food trucks and we just turned it into a fun community event. And if you know, we’re suitably is it’s it’s not close to anything. It’s not there’s no residual people come walking around. So we had at least over two 300 people that showed up solely for us based on our efforts, efforts, our marketing efforts, we were determined to make it an event for these kids. So we were very excited and exhausted.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:07:35] It was exhausting. It was so rewarding.

Amy Guest: [00:07:37] The feel, the environment of walking around and hearing the comments from the people, the spectators and the parents involved and the kids involved like you watch. These kids are like, I don’t know what’s happening at the beginning of the day. To the end of the day, like running the show, you know, and really feeling inspired and in the moment and just like proud of themselves. And then people walking around notice that and they’re engaging these kids and they’re wanting to know more and then asking us, is this we’re doing this again, right? Like, when is this happening again? And is this what you guys do for a living? And we’re like, Woo, hot. Yeah, but yet. So then we’re like, the next day, I guess we have to do this again.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:08:24] This something like.

Amy Guest: [00:08:26] People liked it. So we had a connection in Milton and we went over there to host. We did a holiday themed one in November, so just a couple of months later with how many kids did we have? Like 35, I think. Something like that, Yeah, 35 kids. And then that was even bigger because it was in a location that was like a live work play area. So people were able to walk around and they’re like, What’s happening over here? You know? And it became like an event. Yeah, we had Santa, we had face painting, ax throwing bounce houses, which was amazing. So with that, we’re like, okay, maybe we do have something.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:09:05] Then we thought about, well, we should probably make this a nonprofit organization. And then in December we applied for a51c3. We got that in March, and.

Stone Payton: [00:09:16] That seems like a very short window. I would have thought it would have taken much longer.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:09:21] Than we’re surprised.

Amy Guest: [00:09:22] But very surprised. Yeah, everybody told us it’s like, which is not I’m not minimizing it at all. It’s a lot of paperwork. But yeah, somehow we managed to push it through as quick as possible and they got it done. And that like three month window, which was great. Yeah.

Renee Dierdorff: [00:09:38] So I mean, like I say, the rest is history, but I mean that was not even a year ago that we got that. So last year we spent the year developing the foundation of the organization and we had three more expos. And you know, here we are.

Amy Guest: [00:09:52] And here.

Stone Payton: [00:09:53] We are. You have office space in this same facility that I’m in, the innovation spot. You’re over in the other building?

Speaker4: [00:09:59] Yeah, Yeah, we have an office now. We’ve been doing we had a numerous workshops last last year. We had the three big expos, one at the mill at Etowah. In April. We had our summer expo at the Woodstock Arts Green, and then we had our October expo last year alongside Crabapple Fest back at Milton, which was massive.

Speaker1: [00:10:25] So many people.

Speaker4: [00:10:26] Yes. So that was a lot of fun. So we’re, I think total between the expose of last year and workshops, we had over 150 kids involved in our program, which is amazing and super inspiring and exciting. So obviously we’re hoping for that continued encouragement. This year.

Speaker3: [00:10:47] We started the podcast.

Speaker4: [00:10:48] We started this podcast with Stone, which has been fun because what else have we done?

Speaker3: [00:10:54] The parades this.

Speaker4: [00:10:55] Summer we’ve done a couple of parades, which is just super fun for that, like exciting time, just like a low key cool thing where you get to throw candy at people. Yeah.

Speaker3: [00:11:05] We had our inaugural board of directors, so we got some amazing people that helped with that. We had ten workshops and I you mentioned the workshops. We were in round Canton magazine.

Speaker4: [00:11:13] We were the June cover of Around Canton Magazine with the beautiful cover girl next to me. She still loves me for that one.

Speaker3: [00:11:22] We presented to the community a few times with 1 Million Cups and also a Cannon business club, which was really fun.

Speaker4: [00:11:28] Yeah, it was.

Speaker3: [00:11:29] Good to try to get awareness out to the community of.

Speaker4: [00:11:32] Business leaders. Get in front of them.

Speaker3: [00:11:34] Yeah, yeah. And get in front of them. And because of that, I feel like we garnered a lot of support from the community.

Speaker4: [00:11:39] Absolutely.

Speaker2: [00:11:40] You really have gotten a tremendous amount of support from the Woodstock community, the Canton community and Cherokee County. All of these folks, they’ve really rallied, haven’t they?

Speaker4: [00:11:50] They have. It’s been I can’t even describe like to have other people believe in your passion and to support it. And it’s a it’s a great feeling.

Speaker3: [00:11:58] We attribute a lot of that momentum that we had last year to that because getting the word out and just supporting it and that helped us believe in ourselves, which helped us keep going. And it’s just this whole thing. So grateful is the best word, I think for sure how I was feeling, especially at the gala, just the accomplishments and, you know, just seeing all the kids in the room and we had them stand up and we got to applaud them and we got to thank our board. And just yeah, there’s a lot of people in that room that we were very proud to have there, and we were very grateful for their support all year.

Speaker2: [00:12:31] Yeah, and clearly the kids are learning and growing through this process. Do the two of you feel like you have been learning and growing along the way?

Speaker4: [00:12:41] Goodness, yeah.

Speaker3: [00:12:41] It’s been uncomfortable situations, but that’s where you grow. Yes. You don’t grow in your comfort zone. We’ve learned a lot.

Speaker4: [00:12:48] Yesterday has pulled me out of my comfort zone numerous times. I am not a public speaker, as I’m sure anybody who’s been in the room with me has noticed. But we have presented so many times now that it’s a learning process and it’s much less overwhelming. I’m now more capable. We’ve learned so much more about the nonprofit industry in general and the business behind it because it is still a business. And so learning those foundations has definitely been eye opening. And that’s a learning process.

Speaker3: [00:13:18] Yeah, because neither one of us had nonprofit experience in the past. It was a brand new world for us.

Speaker2: [00:13:23] So yeah.

Speaker3: [00:13:24] It was what do we do from the get go? So that’s a part of the community. I mean, the community helped us with that too.

Speaker4: [00:13:29] So yeah, our board was critical in that, helping us discover and lay that foundation.

Speaker3: [00:13:36] Yeah, doing everything right from the beginning. That was a big thing for us and making sure that it’s not just half done, you know, because we owed it to the kids in the community to make sure that this thing can build from the ground up.

Speaker2: [00:13:46] So another constituency that surely benefits tremendously from this and learns a great deal is the parents. What are some I’ll call them pro tips, but what are some things to keep in mind as your kid expresses an interest in entrepreneurship? Maybe some do’s and don’ts or some things, some resources, some things to be reading or thinking about that that let’s let’s leave them with some Pro Tips in this segment.

Speaker4: [00:14:11] Do you have any tips that you have learned that as coming from the kids point of view? Possibly.

Speaker1: [00:14:19] There have been many lessons to learn along the way of starting a new business out of just an idea you get from going from that to going to market to expanding your business as much as you can to get it out there. A good lesson is definitely interacting with customers. You definitely get better at that as you go. It is definitely a difficult start for some people. It’s kind of hard to interact some in some ways, but by the end of the day it just gets easier and easier to interact with the customers and talk to them and get them interested in your products or your service. That is definitely been a helpful learning that along the way. Also, like she was talking about earlier, public speaking has gotten much easier as well.

Speaker4: [00:15:07] Which I imagine has helped at school also.

Speaker1: [00:15:10] Yes. Yes, it has. Especially since we’re starting to do that a bit more.

Speaker2: [00:15:15] So how about in interacting with your parents? Are there some things that they’ve done apparently very well that kept you encouraged? Because I could see that same conversation happening in some household and even not on purpose, just inadvertently it gets shut down just because the parent doesn’t quite know how to handle the conversation or doesn’t want the kid to get disappointed, or.

Speaker3: [00:15:38] I’d say listen and let them kind of just have that brainstorm and open discussion because and don’t I think a lot of people get maybe shut it down because they don’t have that mindset and it’s overwhelms them or they think that it’s too much. And in before we kind of got started, there really wasn’t a place for that kid to try that stuff out. And that’s why we are doing what we’re doing, because we’ve talked to parents that are like, Well, I’m not really, you know, entrepreneurial minded and I didn’t know what to do with this kiddo that’s got all these ideas. And so it’s a place to channel that. And our workshops are a great way to kind of dabble in all of that. And we’re always we’re always available, you know, if a parent needed to talk to us individually, of course. But biggest thing is listen, because, you know, and just try something small and let them get creative. I mean, it just depends on what they’re wanting to do. But yeah, don’t shut it down. Let them try to, I think, express their thoughts on that.

Speaker4: [00:16:34] Big part of that is letting them try. Yep. Because that is probably the hardest thing, I guess as a parent, just in all aspects. Like you don’t want them to fail, you know, but they have to try, you know? And so if it starts with something as simple as a lemonade stand or whatever craft that they want to create, and even if you’re worried that it’s not going to sell, they still need to experience all the parts that go with it, the good and bad. So just letting them try something help could only help them.

Speaker3: [00:17:04] Yeah, it’s the life skills that they’re learning that go along with it. That’s the point of all of it.

Speaker2: [00:17:08] So I wonder at the other end of the continuum, is there also the trap of maybe pushing too hard, too fast, like you, you get so excited. Like, like as an entrepreneur, I would be so excited if my kid and then I’d want to do too much and maybe not place enough accountability on them. So there’s.

Speaker4: [00:17:25] That. We have seen, unfortunately, I’ve seen a couple of instances where it becomes more of what the parent wants than what the kid wants, and then the kid gets burnt out because it’s not fun anymore, you know? And so that kind of correlates, you know, in along the lines. But it’s starting that conversation that like, you know, like how you approach things, like how much effort you put in your accountability for it and then things of that nature. So letting them hold the stake in it because it is theirs and not trying to do the work, let them do the work and make them feel like if they want to do this or not, you know, but trying to take it over or run it how you want it run is takes that joy away from them.

Speaker3: [00:18:02] Yeah, they have to have ownership in it one way or the other.

Speaker2: [00:18:05] So yeah, yeah. Point So at this point, what’s the most fun? What are you guys finding the most rewarding about the work?

Speaker4: [00:18:14] Good question. Oh, man.

Speaker3: [00:18:17] I mean, we love Expo Day.

Speaker4: [00:18:19] Expo Day. I mean.

Speaker3: [00:18:21] Know, it’s stressful leading up to it. Just trying to make sure all the ducks in a row. But when it’s kind of like, okay, we’re.

Speaker4: [00:18:28] Here once it starts, then it comes together. Walking around is like just this uplifting, like, Yeah, we did this.

Speaker3: [00:18:36] But, you know, just it’s just fun to show the community and let these kids do their thing and let everybody see it all come together. And because, you know, we talk about how the workshops lead up to the expo and that supports the kids along the way and keeps the conversation going and gives resources to everybody along the way. But the Expo Day is like, This is why we do this. This is why we’re here. We’re seeing it in action, seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces and, you know, not just the community but the kids and their parents and everything. And then they feel I know they feel the same way, like this is why we did all this, especially if it’s a kid that’s brand new and hadn’t done it before. They’re getting the full circle. They’ve been working really hard, making the inventory, doing all the having the conversations, and they may not exactly see how it all clicked yet. But then they’re making money and they’re, you know, doing all the things and they’re seeing the fruits of their labor and just feeling proud of themselves and just knowing that that’s that day that that happens. That’s what we love.

Speaker2: [00:19:32] And at this point, you guys are really beginning. Maybe you’re further than even I realize, beginning to develop or maybe you already have begun to package methodology, discipline, rigor, steps to okay, here’s a a path, a roadmap for for helping your kid get into business or for the kid to get into business. Yes. You.

Speaker3: [00:19:55] Yeah. I think that and you can interrupt me any time, but when we were developing workshops for this year, we took what we learned last year, what you do right? And we’ve noticed a pattern and you’re talking about a path where there’s like a pattern leading up from now to the expo and then when the expert is over recapping, figure out, you know, reevaluate, readjust or just bringing in new kids, you know, talk about that brainstorming thing and then you’re leading up to the next one again. So, you know, the elevator pitches and all the things that were very successful last year for people just getting ready for the expo is just trying to lean into that and develop this pattern. So over time we will have more methodology, but we’re crafting that. So it’s another year of learning. You always learn. But yes, we have definitely found a pattern.

Speaker2: [00:20:41] Fantastic. Now forgive me, I get my entrepreneurs mixed up, so I don’t know if it’s Austin or Layla or who it is, but somebody in this ecosystem has got a new business that they’re launching has made quite a substantial pivot. So it is you Awesome. Are you up for describing this new business?

Speaker4: [00:21:00] Sure. Yeah, it has definitely pivoted.

Speaker2: [00:21:03] Yes.

Speaker1: [00:21:04] Big pivot. So I originally started with epoxy crafts like resin tumblers, keychains, that sort of thing. And this year I have recently pivoted to a mobile photo booth business, which has been a fun journey already. And we’ve just started. We got a small camper, a camper that.

Speaker4: [00:21:25] It’s like so cute and like little vintage.

Speaker1: [00:21:27] Vintage camper, and we have set it up to wear the outside. It has a ton of different decor and set up different scenes and all these different things that you can have different photo shoots for, photo shoots that you can bring to many different events or you can use for really any occasion. And soon we are going to open up the inside to have a photobooth machine with different backdrops and different props so that you have the outside for photos and the inside for a more photobooth feel.

Speaker4: [00:21:58] Yes.

Speaker2: [00:22:00] And so you can be present at the at the expo for this kind of thing. But it strikes me as something that you might be at some point willing to. However, the structure is rented out for an event.

Speaker1: [00:22:12] You can rent it out for an event or I can bring it to an event such as an expo or a farmer’s market or any event of that nature.

Speaker3: [00:22:20] And photographers can use it.

Speaker1: [00:22:22] Yes, photographers can rent it out and have their clients and.

Speaker4: [00:22:25] Like mini sessions.

Speaker1: [00:22:26] Yeah.

Speaker4: [00:22:27] I could do parties weddings. So we’re trying to figure out all that. It’s capable of it at.

Speaker3: [00:22:32] The moment and what you enjoy being there for and doing it for.

Speaker2: [00:22:35] Yeah, I got to believe having the experience of being in the other business has probably served you really well in getting this one off the ground. Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:22:43] Yes I have. From what I’ve learned previously with my other business has really helped carry on into this one with all the different lessons like the interacting with customers, public speaking, the money management, the time management, just everything has come together to help with this new business.

Speaker2: [00:23:01] So what’s the biggest lesson you feel like you’ve learned around money.

Speaker1: [00:23:06] Before.

Speaker4: [00:23:08] To save it? Yes.

Speaker1: [00:23:09] With my previous business it helped a lot for me to start saving more money rather than just. And they get all on something as soon as they see it. It has helped me save stuff to get new, more materials, maybe some new materials, and even maybe even pay somebody if they help me out during an expo that I have money saved up for that it has definitely helped with money saving.

Speaker2: [00:23:35] So a ton of things coming up in 2023. I know about a couple. I’m going to try to attend the upcoming workshop I plan to be at. You’ve collaborated with another organization to do something. I think at some point the The Limitless folks, you’ve got your spring gala. I’m just hitting some of the hot spots and people can go to the website. But yeah, just give us some broad strokes on some upcoming stuff.

Speaker3: [00:23:59] Well, first that’s happening or the workshop. So we are also having workshops in the Milton area too. So, you know, the brainstorming this weekend and the next weekend there’s going to be one in Milton. So it gives people an opportunity. There’ll be 20 workshops this year, so we have.

Speaker4: [00:24:11] 20.

Speaker2: [00:24:12] You know, there’s only 52 weeks.

Speaker3: [00:24:15] So double a.

Speaker4: [00:24:15] Lot. Oh, my gosh.

Speaker3: [00:24:17] But there it’s it’s brainstorming for both in January, but it just gives people more dates. So and if they loved it and they want to come again, they’re welcome to and they can provide a lot of insight to it. So we have workshops on the docket and the first expo is going to be at the mill on Etowah in April, April 23rd to Sunday from 10 to 2. Then we’ll have one on July 8th in Woodstock again. So that’s our pattern. Spring is in at the mill in Canton, and then we have summer in Woodstock, and then we’ll be at Crabapple Fest again. They asked us to come back and do that in this fall in October.

Speaker4: [00:24:52] So and as far with the Limitless organization, we’re working and coordinating with them to offer more accessible and inclusive areas of our expos to encourage their audience to be a part of our expo. So that’s very exciting. So we’ll be promoting that this year. We are working on incorporating to more of our programs the kid biz coach and Kid Biz Connect, hopefully one of which will be starting as soon as March, so there’ll be more details on that. It’s a mentorship program that we’re working on. We have a date scheduled for our golf tournament. We can announce that save the date, September 11th. It’s a monday. We will be at Bridge Mill Golf course for our golf tournament, which would be fun.

Speaker3: [00:25:42] Save the.

Speaker4: [00:25:42] Date. Save the date on that. Let’s see.

Speaker3: [00:25:44] We also have our scholarship fund that we have. We have some funds that we can use for the first expo where we want to have some kids apply for that and they will get their vendor fees paid for. So. That’s right. Yeah. And the help of the community. Yeah.

Speaker4: [00:26:00] When we were the community was very helpful in supporting that cause When we were selling ornaments and out doing some small fundraisers, all those proceeds will go and benefit some kids to pay for their vendor fees.

Speaker2: [00:26:12] We are so blessed with this community and it sounds like they’ve helped directly and probably created some marvelous opportunities to connect with area business people who want to rally behind this kind of effort. I know that this particular type of effort is very dear to to the Business RadioX family. It’s something that we really want to support. So there are going to be continue to be opportunities for local businesses to support. And I suspect you can get pretty creative in whatever’s going to serve them and support the kids, right?

Speaker3: [00:26:42] Yes, We are going to have community partner, annual community partner opportunities and the levels would be geared towards small business in the area. People want to help and we appreciate it so much. So we want to help make that possible.

Speaker2: [00:26:55] What a fantastic year this is going to be.

Speaker4: [00:26:58] It’s going to be busy. It’s going to be busy.

Speaker3: [00:27:00] So if I look like a deer in headlights, just I’m not.

Speaker4: [00:27:03] Just.

Speaker3: [00:27:04] Me.

Speaker4: [00:27:05] All the time. Just keep moving.

Speaker3: [00:27:07] I’m good. I’m fine. Just give me a high five.

Speaker2: [00:27:10] Well, we are so delighted that you guys are putting so much energy and effort into this. And we want to support you any way we can. And when I say we, I don’t just mean business Radio X, I mean the local business community. The community at large. Keep up the good work.

Speaker4: [00:27:24] Thank you.

Speaker2: [00:27:25] And keep us posted. And let’s get some of these community folks and some of these business folks in the studio and give them a chance to share their story and and talk about how and why they want to be be a part of this. I really enjoy doing this show. If you can’t tell, this is a lot of.

Speaker4: [00:27:40] Fun, but we love that you enjoy this. It’s definitely been helpful for us so much.

Speaker2: [00:27:46] It’s my pleasure. All right. Until next time, this is Stone Payton for our guests today, our roomful of youth entrepreneurs and of course, Amy Guest and Renee Deardorff and everyone here at the Business Radio X family saying we’ll see you next time on Kid Biz Radio.

 

Tagged With: Empowered Youth Entrepreneurs, Kid Biz Expo

Layla Dierdorff and Austyn Guest

December 6, 2022 by angishields

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Layla Dierdorff and Austyn Guest
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Layla-DierdorffThe Kid Biz Expo was the flagship idea of Renee Dierdorff & Amy Guest.

They created a market where kids could compete among their peers instead of adults.

The Kid Biz Expo creates a space where the kids can use their platform to showcase their business, hone their sales pitch and earn a profit!

Austyn-GuestGuests Layla Dierdorff and Austyn Guest are young entrepreneurs from the program.

 

This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Kid Biz Radio. Kid Biz Radio creates conversations about the power of entrepreneurship and the positive impact that journey can have on kids. For more information, go to Kid Biz Expo. Now, here’s your host.

Renee Dierdorff: Hello, everybody. My name is Renee, and thank you for joining us here at Kid B’s Radio. Today, we are creating conversations about the power of entrepreneurship and the positive impact that journey has on kids. I’m here with the co founder of Kid Biz Expo, my partner in crime, Amy Lowe, and we are happy to have our two oldest daughters in the studio with us today. Layla, Hi. And Austin. And we wanted to take the time being the end of 2020 to to discuss with them, reflect on this last year and just get your perspective on the Expos and the workshops and the program and the organization in general and the things you’ve learned over the year and just get your insights on that because you guys are the ones in it and participating in everything because we take you to everything. Layla, would you like to start? I know this morning we chatted a little bit in the car and one of the main things you talked about was, I’m just going to get to start with the topic Communication.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah. In schools, like whenever we do projects, you have to like talk in front of the class. And I used to be really nervous because like, it was scary, but now because I’ve talked in front of a lot of people before, it’s not as scary because it’s like it’s just people. They’re just people. And so, yeah.

Renee Dierdorff: And you talk to them at the Expos.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah. To like, sell stuff, like you have to talk to them.

Renee Dierdorff: What about you, Austyn? Have you had that same. Have you noticed that in school as well?

Austyn Guest: Not too much in school, but starting with talking to people at the Expos, interacting with them to get them to buy something or just interacting with them in general has definitely improved since I have first started talking to them. It since all the workshops and the Expos since we started them talking to adults mainly has gotten much better and easier since then. Talking to them quite often.

Renee Dierdorff: Yes.

Layla Dierdorff : I’m talking to people. Like people just walk by me, not even looking at me, but like if I talk to them, I usually get a sale because now they’re interested.

Austyn Guest: Interact with them.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah. Like, you know, I can make a lot of money if you don’t talk to them and bring them in.

Amy Guest: Right. Sales are key, Right.

Renee Dierdorff: So you’ve learned sales skills as well. Yeah.

Amy Guest: That coincide with those communication skills?

Austyn Guest: Yes. They definitely go hand in hand.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah. And today we were at a networking group and you were walking around talking to everybody. And I think you actually got complimented on your.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah. They were like, I know children who, like, would never want to talk in front of adults. I know adults who don’t even want to talk in front of other people. And yeah, I used to like, never want to talk in front of people, but it kind of happened slowly anymore.

Austyn Guest: Slowly.

Amy Guest: Slowly.

Layla Dierdorff : Not like judgmental robots there also people, of.

Amy Guest: Course, also.

Renee Dierdorff: People. That’s a really good point. And also we were talking about how those skills just not only in sales, but moving forward in your life after high school, interviewing places and things like that, not just like ordering at a restaurant, but, you know, those kinds of things will help or the communication skills will help you and less nerves going into like presentations and stuff.

Layla Dierdorff : Like we had to do a whole like award ceremony and we had to stand on a podium and talk in front of the entire class. I not know, nervous.

Renee Dierdorff: That’s great. I think when you’re with like group members and stuff, she’s part of a group. They always have her talk because they’re all in front. You should encourage them to talk about this. Yeah, that’s cool. What else can you think of? Anything you need.

Layla Dierdorff : To talk about? We were talking about school teaches teamwork, like working as a team, but this is taught networking. It’s not like going, like, helping each other and then getting help in return, because that’s not what school teaches. Being able to teach other.

Renee Dierdorff: People, it’s not an environment to do that. It’s teamwork, which is still important.

Amy Guest: But it’s it’s a it’s on the same level. You’re taking that concept from school of working in groups and teamwork and applying that. And now in the business area, when we go to these networking events to work as is is, you’re essentially can work as a group as well because you’re benefiting each other. So it’s laying that foundation.

Renee Dierdorff: Mm hmm.

Amy Guest: What about you, Austin? What do you think your biggest takeaway?

Austyn Guest: Definitely about back to communication help. That is definitely improved since we first started doing this. And also sales skills have definitely improved since the first time. Just getting all these interactions and with the workshops and the Expos and even some of these networking meetings that I’ve gone to have really helped confidence, I guess.

Renee Dierdorff: My confidence.

Austyn Guest: With all of that.

Amy Guest: Yeah, because the first couple networking events that we brought you to, you refused to speak and then this morning you did it without even thinking.

Austyn Guest: So yeah, I saw Leila said her intro and so I was like, All right, she can do it, I can do it.

Renee Dierdorff: But I think also the workshop we did back in September on creating your sales pitch helped with that because you narrowed in, you know what to say, your unique selling point, and I think that will definitely repeat next year. But you know, talking about the workshops in general, we’ve come a long way with those and we’ve learned what people want and what is helpful and beneficial in like what’s more attended in those kinds of topics. And I hope you guys have other than that one or is there, are.

Amy Guest: There any other ways that you’ve which ones stuck out the most? Like what do you think you learn the most from which workshop or what topic?

Layla Dierdorff : I think it was like your target audience. Okay. Like learning how to like children aren’t going to want this stuff. And usually adults with children don’t like they’re busy trying to manage their own kids, usually like older people.

Amy Guest: So learning how to target your audience.

Renee Dierdorff: Okay, What.

Amy Guest: Topic did you like?

Austyn Guest: Austin Like Leila said, the sales pitch was also very helpful to me, along with time management.

Renee Dierdorff: Oh my God, yeah.

Austyn Guest: That one was very helpful to me because I am personally not very good at it. So that is that one was helpful, cutting everything together and making sure I had enough time to do everything. And then the sales pitch, making sure I get people interested, but then don’t bore them with a long speech about what my thing about what my product is.

Layla Dierdorff : And the time management thing. It’s like for me, it’s like three weeks prep to get this done. It’s like, I didn’t think I was going to take that long, but it’s a lot doing all the labels and.

Austyn Guest: The there’s a lot that.

Layla Dierdorff : Go into every song. Like it’s a lot to do more than I thought.

Amy Guest: Pay attention to all the details.

Austyn Guest: Budgeting was also very helpful to make sure that you don’t spend too much money on something that doesn’t sell very well and to make sure that you are getting more products of what people buy more often than not.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah, why should we say what you guys do? Oh yeah. Might be helpful. Okay.

Amy Guest: Yeah. What’s your sales pitch?

Austyn Guest: I am Austin with crafty creations and I make resin products such as tumblers, keychains, trays. Really? Anything that you can put into a silicone mold and you can customize it in any way. I can put a logo on it, I can put a name on it, any color, any type of glitter. Some other examples are jars, jewelry, jewelry.

Layla Dierdorff : Some earrings. I have a few necklaces from you.

Renee Dierdorff: You still have them.

Austyn Guest: Lyla. How about you?

Layla Dierdorff : So, like, my shorthand pitch is I’m dip it good and I make handmade, dried dip mixes more into depth as I have nine flavors, and eight of them are savory. One of them is sweet, and therefore parties events.

Renee Dierdorff: Like on chicken and things. It’s not just.

Austyn Guest: Delicious. Like very good.

Layla Dierdorff : A lot of people say that like Fiesta on chicken.

Austyn Guest: Chicken rubs, mix it with sour cream and cream cheese, not together separately, separately. Sweet one is cream cheese. All the others are sour cream.

Renee Dierdorff: So because we’re talking about your businesses and taking a cue from our topic this morning at our networking group, what have you learned in this year that you want to whether it’s like what’s happening with your business, negative or positive, and how are you going to implement new strategy next year?

Layla Dierdorff : So for me, I get very overwhelmed because a lot of people come at one time and I’m I’m two sets of hands. What one pair of hands? And like, it’s hard to like give like five people a bunch of pretzels and open lids, then package them. So one of my friend name is Lily, thinking of hiring her as an employee to help at the Expos, maybe to like help with the prep work. And I also want to do a lot of people ask like, can I eat this now? And I have to say, no, we make it at home. And I’m thinking of like those like.

Amy Guest: Ready to already made.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah. So it’s like a like a paper bag. Yeah. Paper boats, that’s what they’re called. And then put like some pretzels and some dip. So like Lilly or I probably Lilly is like that’s easier could. Be running that while I do the samples. And so like you would walk in, it’s more interactive and more interesting. I love that because like, you get to walk in and like, look at all the stuff.

Renee Dierdorff: It’s. Good job with that. So you’re going to change your setup?

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah, I think of like I do an L right now outside than in. I want to do.

Renee Dierdorff: Like, like you.

Layla Dierdorff : Maybe like in the middle.

Austyn Guest: Have a table set up, like.

Layla Dierdorff : A walk in, like a stair step.

Renee Dierdorff: Like do. Okay.

Layla Dierdorff : Inside the tent. Yeah. So it’s like once you walk in to the left, on the side will be samples. Middle will be the. To go stuff and then like behind the like in the line will be like where I put like all this, like all the storage inventories.

Amy Guest: It’s a good strategy.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah. Are you going to change flavors.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah. One two of them aren’t selling great. I’ve been experimenting with some flavors. My add, some fun.

Renee Dierdorff: I know. You mean she keeps talking?

Layla Dierdorff : Another sweet one I want. Key lime.

Renee Dierdorff: Pie. Buffalo chicken. Yeah.

Austyn Guest: That would be really good.

Amy Guest: I want you to make that three.

Layla Dierdorff : Really similar ones, so I’ll probably exchange one of those for Buffalo Chicken maybe. And then I’m going to add key lime pie.

Austyn Guest: So I try that myself to test.

Amy Guest: Your quality control.

Renee Dierdorff: That’s the best part of all this. Yeah. You don’t get to test it. And then when we can we come back from expose Your dad is like we’re. Don’t throw those dips out to keep them in the fridge for a few days.

Layla Dierdorff : Maybe like one third of them is gone because people are like, I don’t. I don’t want to take too much. Take all.

Renee Dierdorff: You take as much as you want. Plenty. Because the ratios we don’t make, we make the whole thing 116 ounce. We’ve we’ve even been playing around with different ways of setting up the samples because right now.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah, it’s like a big, like skinny float looking thing with ice in it. And then we put the containers. If the ice melts, you have to take it all out, dump it somewhere. That’s why I like being on the outside.

Renee Dierdorff: So I don’t.

Layla Dierdorff : Make noise.

Renee Dierdorff: You have anybody behind you? That would be rude. Yeah.

Layla Dierdorff : Like being behind grass. Cut the grass. So.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah. What about you, Austin?

Austyn Guest: So I have recently decided to rebrand next year to a new business.

Amy Guest: Take a pivot.

Renee Dierdorff: Bit.

Amy Guest: Into a different direction because you have new interests and.

Austyn Guest: New interests. And I love doing the resident work, but it just hasn’t really been selling as much as I had wanted it to. And the I am going to rebrand to a mobile photo.

Renee Dierdorff: Booth.

Austyn Guest: Which is just going to be like a little camper where you can go in and take a couple of photos, some selfies with props and backdrops and backdrops and everything. And so I’m moving from resin to that. Hopefully within the next year would be ideal. And the goal?

Amy Guest: That’s a big change.

Austyn Guest: Yes, it is a very big change to working in my epoxy room where I have a ton of things everywhere to a small camper camper where I just set up everything and people can go in and take selfies and really just take any kind of pictures that they would like.

Layla Dierdorff : Would they take the picture themselves or will it be like one of those machines that like.

Austyn Guest: Going to have one of the machines inside the camper? But you can also take some with your phone if there’s something else that you want to do, like maybe outside the camper or if you want to do, I don’t know, something where the machine can’t see you, then either way it would.

Renee Dierdorff: Well, you have the this is the first time I’m hearing about it. So my my question. I’m sorry. Well, not hearing about it. Just. You know what I mean? Like like when you were like, I’m. I’m picturing it at expos, I guess. So in my mind. Do you have you have a way for people to book for like a birthday party or something?

Austyn Guest: People can reserve it for an A type of event for a certain amount of time, and it is just free for them to use however they would like. Or it’ll be at an event where you can go in and take pictures.

Layla Dierdorff : Would you like would you, would you like drive? Not you driving, but like would you guys go over there and like just kind of chill out there and.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah, you kind of help. Yeah.

Austyn Guest: Yeah. We’d be at the event to help them go through it and bring it there and back.

Layla Dierdorff : I know you liked the old timey photos idea. Would you like to expand into that.

Austyn Guest: Maybe costume eventually be able to go into that? But for starters, just a photo booth type thing. But the old time photos do look very good and I would like to expand into that. Maybe in the.

Renee Dierdorff: Future. Yeah. Yeah. I think the people like doing. Would you, would you charge at the Expos or is it more of a promotional thing to get parties?

Austyn Guest: Probably. It would be nice to get parties, but if I did bring it to expose, it would probably be like just per photo that you take. And then if it’s an event probably per hour.

Layla Dierdorff : What if, like how many people like if there’s like ten people, would that be more than like two people?

Renee Dierdorff: Well, yes. Yes, I know.

Layla Dierdorff : But she said that.

Amy Guest: That we are still in the planning stages. We don’t have exact specifics. But yeah, that’s the goal. Like to find whatever that happy medium is for a charge like quote unquote admission, you know, maybe for like a mini session, like an event fee and such like that, like.

Layla Dierdorff : Like something under is free then like child and adult, right?

Amy Guest: We figure out, like, the best, most practical way that people would be willing, you know, if it’s $5 up to five people or whatever, you know.

Renee Dierdorff: Just only so many can fit in it.

Amy Guest: Yeah. And it’s little anyway.

Austyn Guest: It’s gonna be very small. So we can’t do, like, huge parties.

Renee Dierdorff: I’m happy for you. So you are going to do your resins all next year. Just kind of use what you have.

Amy Guest: Yes. Get through the inventory.

Austyn Guest: Get through the rest of my inventory and then that will.

Layla Dierdorff : Also give you some money to play with for props and backdrops and.

Austyn Guest: Stuff because that is.

Renee Dierdorff: Much needed investing.

Amy Guest: Learning.

Renee Dierdorff: How to do well. So taking all of that, you notice how we’re talking about the resin business? No, she never said it failed. Nope. You know, I mean, it’s you’ve learned what I mean. Even over the last year, you’ve changed your inventory based on what you learned, sold and didn’t sell. You made more of certain things, which you’ll do next year. But it’s not like we were talking about the car. They’re not. They’re just lessons you learn and interest change and.

Amy Guest: There’s nothing wrong with that.

Renee Dierdorff: You just move, you know, be happy.

Amy Guest: Yeah, You change directions and you find what works best for you and what you can do.

Austyn Guest: Yeah, my inventory is definitely changed since I first started as much expanded and changed based on what people buy more and what doesn’t take as much time to make as well. Yeah, but mainly what sells the best.

Layla Dierdorff : What’s interesting for me is that like I want my to experiment, like for like half the time I would like be like, this is like, this is my favorite. It’s selling really well and then this flavor and people always, like, chose the one that I was promoting.

Renee Dierdorff: Mm hmm.

Layla Dierdorff : Over. So, like.

Amy Guest: Power of influence. Yeah. Like.

Renee Dierdorff: It’s like I’ve got a lot of this. I need to push this one today. Yeah, I need to get this inventory sold.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah, Like, sometimes I have, like, eight leftover, then I make 30, and I’m like, that’s way too many. I need to, like, sell that one.

Austyn Guest: But out the one you have more of.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Layla Dierdorff : The first one I didn’t and my perfectly perfect sold the best. So, so you know that one’s kind of like if I don’t have any influence.

Renee Dierdorff: I was going to say you don’t have to influence that one at all because people will.

Layla Dierdorff : Buy that one. Yeah, I try to get them to taste it because like all the other ones are like really interesting now it’s just like, perfect.

Renee Dierdorff: It’s amazing. It’s you do sell online and are there any is there? Do you want to do more of that next year? Just kind of keep it the same.

Layla Dierdorff : Every sale I make, I give them a card or like this, like long sheet where I’m like, if you go to this every single time, if you go to this Facebook page, you can order online, it’ll be shipped to your house. And that’s like what I’ve been doing and I’ve been getting a few after the Expos, maybe trying to, like, push that more.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah, absolutely.

Austyn Guest: Exactly.

Amy Guest: If you have an employee, yeah. To help you work on that can.

Austyn Guest: Also be very convenient for some.

Renee Dierdorff: People. Yeah. Speaking of that employee, Shanna, his daughter Lily is the one that she’s talking about. And she was participating in the Expos as a business owner selling shirts. And she’s decided that it’s not for her, but she enjoys the helping part and wants to help her.

Layla Dierdorff : She likes she likes the, like, prepping and like that stuff. She doesn’t say she does a.

Amy Guest: Behind the scenes.

Layla Dierdorff : Or she doesn’t like staying there and trying to like, talk to people and selling it. She doesn’t like that part. That’s why I’m like, You can I can hire you, you know.

Renee Dierdorff: That’ll be pretty great. She and I talked at length about how she’s learned so much. Even still. Yeah. Yeah. And as an organization, we’ve learned that we’re not only it’s not that people are because we want to still be able to reach the Lilly’s out there and we want you to.

Amy Guest: Be a business leader. Owner? Yeah. Forever, right?

Austyn Guest: You don’t have to only be the one.

Amy Guest: Talking to learn where you.

Renee Dierdorff: Fit. Yeah. And and our goal is to create a space for them to learn life skills they wouldn’t necessarily have the chance to do. But the the vehicle is through entrepreneurship. So there are some kids that have this passion and want to do it. And we have the workshops and that’s where they’ll fit in there to, you know, learn more. But then also that’s why at expos we have some kids that have poster board signs and some that have real like real banners and like more marketing because they’ve been doing it a long time. And I love the eclectic feel and the just the randomness of all of it when we’re at the things because it makes it it’s real, you know, it.

Amy Guest: Gives them a chance to experience what that interest may be and whether or not they want to pursue it. Yeah, in a safe space. In a.

Layla Dierdorff : At the beginning it was handwritten posters and now it’s like full on, like.

Renee Dierdorff: It’s.

Austyn Guest: Actual banners and.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah, and you just learn as you go and, and the prep work ahead of time I think is something that a lot of people learn and I think it helps them with project management down the road. Yes.

Layla Dierdorff : It’s helped with school projects like knowing that I kind of need to get this done, like I need to start sooner.

Amy Guest: Time management.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah. So it’s more than just learning how to start a business. It’s the life skills that you apply to other things in your life. That’s the entire goal that we have and any other things that stand out to you guys now that we’re our brains are warmed up because.

Austyn Guest: So many things we’ve done.

Layla Dierdorff : Trying to, like, go through like all like, like the workshops in my head.

Austyn Guest: There’s been so many very helpful.

Renee Dierdorff: Yes. Oh, you know how we did go planning in January last year? Yeah. Have you still have any of that information? I would be. It’d be interesting to look at it and see if we.

Amy Guest: Achieved any.

Renee Dierdorff: Of those goals. Yeah. Like what your plans were then compared to where you end of the year and next year’s.

Austyn Guest: Plan, I believe I still have it, but I’m not sure if I accomplished those goals. I think that rebranding next year was definitely not one of the goals I had at the beginning of the year. I think the main goal I had at the beginning of the year was to get my stuff into small stores. That’s true was that main goal. And now my main goal is to rebrand to a different business.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah. So yeah, I’ve just.

Amy Guest: Shifted.

Austyn Guest: Changed since then.

Renee Dierdorff: Do you want to try to get into stores?

Layla Dierdorff : I think I don’t know. I don’t think dips is something I want to do forever, Of course. Definitely not. I don’t know. I just want to make enough money to have the option to do something else.

Amy Guest: And that’s all it has to be. You know, it gets you through, you know, helps you save for your first car. It helps you do the things.

Layla Dierdorff : To save to account for.

Amy Guest: That. Yeah. Until you get to a point of what you can decide what you want to do. It’s a starting point.

Renee Dierdorff: It gives you freedom. I was going to say, talking about money, you bought yourself a switch.

Layla Dierdorff : Recently.

Renee Dierdorff: And a phone and she hated my phone.

Layla Dierdorff : Appropriately broke it in.

Renee Dierdorff: So she bought her cell phone and a switch, but she wanted to buy the switch. And it’s funny because she knew she had 30 days she could return it and she spent pretty much every one of those 30 days trying to decide whether or not that investment was worth it.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah, because.

Renee Dierdorff: It’s a lot of money. Yeah. So, you know, you when it’s your money, it hits different. It hits different when you spend a good chunk of it on something that you’re like, Do I need it? But I was like, You play it. You enjoy it. Like because you don’t really buy a whole lot for yourself with it.

Layla Dierdorff : As a hard time buying things for.

Amy Guest: Myself.

Renee Dierdorff: You saved. A lot. You know, it’s okay to spend something on something fun.

Layla Dierdorff : I was more like, concerned about the switch because, like, I already paid for the phone at that time. So it’s like it’s going to be $600. It’s already gone in like a month.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah, it happens.

Amy Guest: That’s what happened.

Renee Dierdorff: Life had replaced my age fax system. It happens. Yeah, but it’s a lesson learned, right? Like, that’s kind of my point, is that you’re learning those things.

Layla Dierdorff : You have money to.

Renee Dierdorff: When you’ve earned it.

Amy Guest: The value. Yeah.

Austyn Guest: Should be proud.

Renee Dierdorff: Of yourself.

Layla Dierdorff : Like.

Amy Guest: That. You had that. Like how many 13 year olds can say that they had this much money because they earned it and are able to do that? That’s impressive.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah. Stops me a lot is like what? I’d rather have the $12. Or would I rather have the shirt?

Renee Dierdorff: Right.

Amy Guest: Like some of us in the room are more impulsive.

Renee Dierdorff: And.

Austyn Guest: Not to point fingers.

Amy Guest: I didn’t point a finger. I’m just stating.

Austyn Guest: I believe there’s more than one person in this room.

Amy Guest: Oh, you are not wrong. There are a couple of people in this room that are more impulsive and less equipped to save.

Renee Dierdorff: To save like that.

Austyn Guest: So on that topic, the budgeting workshop was very helpful in that effect to make sure I didn’t spend too much money on new molds and new stuff to make the products rather than just using what I have that still sells well.

Renee Dierdorff: Those ask you, do you? I know. I guess for the fall when you made some fall type things, whenever you did things that were more geared towards holidays, did those sell or is or not as much like.

Austyn Guest: I recently did some Christmas ornaments in the most ornaments in the most recent one that we had. And those did sell pretty well because you were sort of getting close to Christmas at the time.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah.

Austyn Guest: Holiday themes. Yes. And I didn’t sell. I did sell a couple of the fall things that I had, but not all of them, because not everyone changes out everything for every holiday or every season. That’s just not everybody. But some people. Yes, that is what they did. They had bought some fall things or I had a couple Halloween things or a bunch of Christmas ornaments sold that day.

Amy Guest: Keeps a good variety.

Layla Dierdorff : I want to make holiday themed dips like one for each season. You should.

Austyn Guest: Do a.

Amy Guest: Peppermint.

Austyn Guest: Peppermint, cinnamon, gingerbread.

Renee Dierdorff: Peppermint. You got fall covered. Yeah, I know.

Austyn Guest: Pumpkin supplies.

Renee Dierdorff: Fall.

Layla Dierdorff : Like pumpkin winter, maybe summer and spring.

Renee Dierdorff: I think we need to work on a place. So I’m not using the Home Office as much anymore. I think that needs to be dipped central so we can store your stuff in there. It makes a difference because if you’re going to have that and.

Austyn Guest: Crafts, having a space definitely makes a difference.

Renee Dierdorff: It does. Well, food, I mean, we don’t keep the food down. We don’t keep the ingredients down there. We just keep the.

Layla Dierdorff : Packaging and storage.

Renee Dierdorff: Supplies. Yeah.

Layla Dierdorff : Everything you need, which is a lot, apparently.

Renee Dierdorff: Yes, a lot of.

Austyn Guest: Work goes into making your dips.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah, but I mean, I think that it’s not trying. I mean, there’s a lot that goes into it when you’re starting something up, but people can do it on a budget when they’re just starting out.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah, we’ve like upgraded materials. Like at first it was just like cheap stuff to see if I even liked doing this for sure. And now that I like it, we’ve upgraded to more high quality stuff so it’ll last longer.

Renee Dierdorff: Buying more in bulk.

Austyn Guest: Bulk less bulk is very helpful.

Renee Dierdorff: So kids that are thinking about getting into it and parents out there listening that have want to get their kids involved. I think a good workshop might be next year to have these two run one and it be a big brainstorming session, bringing kids that are wanting to get into it and helping them give ideas or give ideas on what they could do, explore their interests. And then we obviously be there to talk about the parents side of things and just kind of I think we should do that more than once.

Amy Guest: Yeah, we do get a lot of we don’t know where to start or we my kid wants to do something, but we’re not really sure what direction to go in, like what they could do.

Austyn Guest: With a couple of those.

Amy Guest: So outside of going beyond the lemonade stand and finding what interests and specific things that kids can target, because that helps. Obviously, if they have a passion for something, how do we turn it into a business?

Austyn Guest: Yeah. I also think that having other kids, teaching them where to get started and how to do it in that different ways you can start different things might also help to do that a couple of times.

Amy Guest: And shows that it’s it’s possible you guys can do it.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah. And you guys can talk about if somebody brings it up, you know, the kind of the things we talked about today that you learned a lot, you know, specific to that business part of it, but you learned a lot and things like that. What?

Layla Dierdorff : Go ahead. I have an idea for the workshop. I’ll tell you later. I like like really cool.

Austyn Guest: New ideas are always coming.

Renee Dierdorff: Yeah, that’s great. So you guys have any other.

Amy Guest: Final.

Renee Dierdorff: Thoughts, final thoughts on the year or final thoughts? Any encouraging words to parents to get their kids involved?

Austyn Guest: These past workshops that we have done this year have been really helpful to help me continue my business and expand my business, and they’re even going to be very helpful for me to rebrand next year. And I am very excited to see the new ones that we do in the upcoming years to help other kids start up their business and keep theirs going and expand and see that they don’t have to only be an adult to start a business. They can start it now and create really anything.

Layla Dierdorff : Yeah, I like that kid expo. It shows that kids can’t like don’t just have to do lemonade, babysitting and like dog walking. Like you can do so much more.

Austyn Guest: Than what you can.

Layla Dierdorff : Do on a budget. Like with everything, you can do a lot, a lot more passion. Think yeah and be happy. Don’t do something that you don’t want to do.

Renee Dierdorff: Absolutely.

Amy Guest: And learning that now rather than later in life.

Austyn Guest: Much more.

Renee Dierdorff: Helpful very help you in life That’s great. Helped a lot. I really appreciate you girls being here today. I should just for the audience, they’re 13. They are eighth graders here in Cherokee County. And they, along with their sisters, have been they were our inspiration for the organization. And so we appreciate you guys being here today and giving your feedback. Yes, I.

Layla Dierdorff : Think it started this like sixth, seventh grade.

Renee Dierdorff: Like I was some of them in.

Layla Dierdorff : Seventh grade. And you started in sixth grade?

Austyn Guest: We started when Avery did, but Kid was was our.

Amy Guest: Seventh grade.

Renee Dierdorff: Year. Yeah.

Amy Guest: But you guys have been on this for a little bit longer than that.

Renee Dierdorff: Yes.

Layla Dierdorff : Since the beginning. Old pros. Yes.

Renee Dierdorff: Veterans.

Amy Guest: Veterans.

Renee Dierdorff: Thank you.

Amy Guest: Yes. Thank you so much.

Renee Dierdorff: Everybody would like to learn more about the organization. You can find us on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook at Kid B’s Expo and online at Kid B’s Expo. Com And we will see you for the next one by my.

 

Tagged With: Kid Biz Expo

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