Cutie Patoot, a creation, by my creation! Haha. What I mean is that Cutie Patoot is a jewelry business started by my daughter, Jamelah. I am very proud of my daughter for many reasons and this is one thing that I hope she sticks with.
Jamelah has always had an artistic mind that has driven her to create. From early on she was drawn to being read to until she could read herself and I think her passion for books is what allows her creativity to flourish. As a parent, I want better for my child so I encourage her to live the way she wants to live and to do her best. I let her know that I think she is great, but she is still required to work hard to continue to progress. Well, a couple of years ago she came to me and asked if she could participate in the next Small Guy Promotions vendor event.
Since September of 2014 I have held a quarterly vendor event where small businesses, non-profit organizations, artists, etc. could come together and promote their business directly to the public. Jamelah got her start with jewelry after she received a Rainbow Loom as a Christmas gift one year. For those of you that may not be familiar with a Rainbow Loom, it is a kit that comes with multi-colored rubber bands that you can use to make bracelets. For us, we probably assumed it would be just another childhood fad that would fade away weeks or months after she received the gift, but that was not the case. Her excitement for creation only grew after that point and she had begun to experiment with other ideas. When she asked for a spot in our events I was more than happy to agree to it.
By the time Jamelah asked to participate we were only a few days out from the event and I wasn’t sure if she would have enough merchandise to put on display. With the help of Mitzi (My wife and her mom) she was able to complete enough items although after quality control we pulled a couple of the items. Nonetheless, Jamelah was excited to present what she had made. There was not a huge turnout for the event and she only had one buying customer at her table. Jamelah sold a whopping $7.50 of merchandise and it was on that day that my young entrepreneur was born! For you and me $7.50 may not be much, but for a 7 or 8 year old with the ability to dream it was just the beginning of something that could one day be great. I see it as a “Can’t Lose” situation. She gets the opportunity to do something that she enjoys doing, she can experience the joy of accomplishing something that she set her mind to do, and she can make a little spending cash. Even if she doesn’t make money she can still learn from it all.
To this day Cutie Patoot participates in every vendor opportunity that Small Guy has to offer and she has a good time whether she makes $20 or $0. Cutie Patoot currently does not conduct business outside of our vendor events, but maybe one day she will. Previously, I wrote about my wife being a Licensed Massage Therapist and Licensed Cosmetologist so I wanted to also tell my daughter’s story because I am so proud of her. Family comes first with Small Guy and I couldn’t continue to write articles about local businesses without mentioning the things that those closest to me are doing. Small Guy’s house is filled with Small Guys! Well…girls.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this article!
Special thanks to our cousin, Charlene Kelly-Hill, for being the first customer of Cutie Patoot.
Sincerely,
Small Guy Promotions
