So sweet as Adele’s hard work pays off
WHAT started out as a clever and creative concept by Milltown Secondary School student Adele O’Brien, has finished up in a cheque presentation worth €500 to Pieta House.
Adele was extremely busy these past few months taking orders for her popular idea, ‘A Happy Bag of Life’ which is an assortment of trinkets symbolising important life messages and a lovely card explaining the significance of each one.
She put a clever marketing strategy in place that saw ‘Happy Bags for Life’ appearing at socials, functions, in shops, parties and all kinds of social gatherings. And once Adele told the story behind the bags, the bags sold themselves.
“I was helping my granny clear some clutter one day and she found an old shoebox with little items in the bottom of the box and she started telling me why she kept each piece. We had a great laugh as she remembered a funny story behind each thing! I just thought it would be nice for everyone to share a little memory and realise that life is too short to be sad because life is for living. This is how it all started,” said Adele.
But success doesn’t happen without hard work and since last September Adele has found the experience of starting her own business very challenging. But as time progressed and the business grew, she found the experience of securing a loan, selling her product, and being able to pay back her business loan a satisfying one.
“The experience enhanced my organisational skills and gave me an insight into how a successful business can be very rewarding, both financially and emotionally. I gained valuable interpersonal and communication skills as I had to approach shop owners, members of the public and people from the charity Pieta House,” Adele said.
Adele is now looking forward to her next venture – the Enterprise Awards which will be held in the IT Tralee on March 31 where she will showcase the outcome of her business idea.
“I hope that my ‘A Happy Bag for Life’ - containing a collection of eight little household items - will give people of all ages a moment of happiness and put a smile on their faces,” she concluded.
To find out more about Adele’s great product, you can email: adeleobrien03@gmail.com or visit the Facebook page ‘A Happy Bag for Life’.