Students receive peek into world of entrepreneurship
Girlpreneur Expo provides chance to showcase businesses
Bailey Cochran, 13, started her business when she was 5 years old, and she is now a part of an entrepreneurship program that is designed to help young people create their own business plans.
The program is called Young Entrepreneurs Academy, which is an initiative of the T. Rose Foundation, a Detroit-based nonprofit that helps young people prepare for their futures through positive and healthy development. The academy programming teaches young girls and boys from ages 10 to 17.
Even though the participants are young, these budding entrepreneurs are performing like adults. Each student receives a workbook that teaches how to write a business plan, make a marketing strategy, manage finances, determine pricing and assess profits. They also get to make an executive summary guide and learn how to make grant proposals.
“The mission and the vision statements are, from what I feel, the most important because once they gauge that they can do everything else because they just keep referring back to it,” said Theresa Randleman, founder and CEO of the T. Rose Foundation.
“So, basically, it’s writing a basic business plan for them, but their minds are young, so their minds are open. They actually receive it probably easier than adults because our minds are congested and going in different directions. So being younger, at this age, I think it’s a great time for them to learn this,” she said. All programming takes place at Wayne State University, and there were two cohorts this summer.
During the program, participants come in each day and set up their desks as if they are out selling their products or services at a business pop-up shop. The young entrepreneurs lay out a tablecloth across their desk, often with a label to show off their company’s name. They then decorate the space, place their products out and get ready to learn what it means to be a business owner.
“It gives them a sense of ownership of actually being a CEO of their business,” Randleman said.
Soon, it will be time to show off the skills that they have learned.
The program leads to an event called Girlpreneur Expo, which is a pop-up shop for young girls to showcase their businesses. The free event will take place Saturday at the Durfee Innovation Society, which is at 2470 Collingwood St. in Detroit, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The fifth annual expo will showcase the businesses of over 20 entrepreneurs, founders and authors that are all under the age of 18.
“I want it to be very, very well attended and supported,” Randleman said. “It’s a platform for them to build their business, and financially, the goal is for them to reinvest in themselves. The vendor fee is minimum — $20. Once they make that, I want
everything else to go back into them.”
Filling a need for young entrepreneurs
Young business owners like Cochran will be participating in the expo. She is entering eighth grade and is the owner of Be Balm, which sells custom fanny packs and T-shirts, along with lip gloss and lip balm. In a July 31 interview during the academy program, Cochran hoped to learn more about running a business, managing finances, presenting marketing and networking.
“I came up with the idea of Be Balm to inspire people and be brave,” Cochran said. “My main slogan is: Be bold. Be brave. Be beautiful. Be you. I came up with that because self-esteem is real, especially now, it’s really impacting.”
In the future, she sees herself running her business in a large building with her feet up on the desk as she drinks her Starbucks coffee. “And I’ll be telling people what to do with the brand,” Cochran said.
Randleman has been mentoring Cochran since she was 6 years old. Cochran now volunteers as her assistant and sees Randleman as a “blessed person.”
Another expo participant is Kendall Witherspoon, 16, who started her business, Kendall’s Creations, five years ago. She was inspired to start the business because her mother and grandmother own jewelry businesses. Her grandmother also sews. Witherspoon and her family members often sell their products at pop-up shops.
Witherspoon, who is entering the 11th grade, makes earrings and bracelets.
“This is my second year doing the program,” Witherspoon said. “I thought it would be interesting to get information from people who’ve done this for a while and people who give information for me to grow and get further than I am.” She hopes to one day sell her jewelry online and in stores.
Randleman felt inspired to help young people like Cochran and Witherspoon when she entered the entertainment industry years ago. She started teaching young girls about self-care, self-love and self-esteem. She officially established her foundation in 2019, and started hosting workshops and conferences.
Five years ago, when Randleman launched the Girlpreneur
Expo, she took notes on what she found young people needed to learn about entrepreneurship and later started the Young Entrepreneurs Academy. She hopes to grow the program by including more young participants and expanding the length of the academy by hosting six-week cohorts and a summer camp.
More business expo event information
Before the Saturday business expo is a panel discussion at noon at the Durfee Innovation Society, at 2470 Collingwood St. in Detroit.
There will be a discussion about the CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.
The bipartisan act eliminates race-based hair discrimination for Black Michiganders and it was introduced by state Sen. Sarah Anthony.
The panel will feature Mary Sheffield, Detroit City Council president and director and mentor at First Step Mentor Program; Vaneshia Cezil, COO of the Michigan Department of Attorney General; Robyn McCoy, immediate past president of the Black Women’s Lawyers Association of Michigan; and Zenell Brown, DEI consultant and author.
For more information about the Girlpreneur Expo, go to Eventbrite.com and search under the Business events tab.