Sumer Strawbree inspires in return to Kid$ Bi$ Children’s Business Fair
The past year has been life-changing for Sumer Strawbree since the release of her first coloring book filled with affirmations for girls of color, and on Saturday she returned to the children’s business fair where she first showcased it.
Wearing strawberry earrings and a hot pink blazer, the 13-year-old, whose real name is Lauryn Jones, stood proudly at her booth inside the gym at Milwee Middle School in Longwood, where she gave out signed copies of her first book, “Black, Brown & Beautiful,” along with her two most recent books.
Photos were strewn about the table, showing the faces of customers happy with their copies of the first book that sold more than 5,000 copies in the last year and led to an appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
“It’s life-changing for me,” Strawbree said. “I think it’s great to help change girls’ self-esteem and I’ve reached a big audience so far. It’s been a very exciting last year.”
It was the success story of last year’s Kid$ Bi$ Fair, which returned bigger than ever with 80 booths packed inside the gym, where kids exhibited their products from Boba tea and beauty products to new books and custom woodwork.
Put on by Orlando Bal Vihar, it provides a platform for young entrepreneurs to gain exposure for their brands and learn what it takes to operate a business while their parents step back and observe.
Following last year’s event Everett Jones, Strawbree’s father, has seen his daughter grow from a child attacked by bullies at school to a confident young, up-and-coming businesswoman.
“She went from being sort of an introvert and having been bullied, and now it’s like she’s the face of positivity,” Jones said. “She’s taking that energy and running with it, and seeing her walking in her purpose at 13 is amazing.”
Strawbree’s two most recent books, “Glow Up” and “My Career Glow Up,” follow similar themes as her first, including positive affirmations for young girls learning to express and accept themselves and to pursue their dreams. And as the books grow more popular, she said she’s heard stories from other kids who have been bullied and feel understood with her work.
“It’s pretty surprising,” she said. “I didn’t ever think I’d be sharing my story with other people, and it was great to learn that I wasn’t alone.”
Organizers of the fair hope Strawbree’s story is the first of many as she mingles with other kids, who look up to her success and hope to have a similar impact in the years to come.
“Lauryn set the bar pretty high, but she’s also a good success story for other kids to learn from, like for example creating a brand for yourself, how to socialize, how to be on social media and using the positive affirmations that she’s been using to create a positive value for herself,” said Adity Gandhi, president of Orlando Bal Vihar.
The fair featured another young author, Sameer Jani, who with his mother self-published three books about Chocovela, an alligator who learns to persevere and overcome fear as he practices how to surf and play soccer and tennis.
Chocovela comes from Sameer’s imagination while Zalina Jani, his mother, brings it to life on the page as the two work together to create the stories. The books also come with a vocabulary list for kids learning how to read and expand their lexicon. And at 4 years old, Sameer was one of the youngest entrepreneurs at the fair.
“The message of our books is every child can succeed in whatever they dream with persistence and a growth mindset,” Jani said.
Jonathan Ponce, an 11-year-old custom wood worker who learned the craft from his father, like many other kids was at Saturday’s fair for the first time. He first learned how to work with tools at 8 and received his first order last year for his company, JP Designs, where he crafts custom signs, dog bowls and key chains.
As his father observed from a distance, the child schmoozed with customers, telling them all about his process and jotting down orders. By the end of the day he made hundreds of dollars in sales and pre-orders of designs he says take about three days to a week to make.
“It was really nerve-wracking at the beginning because I didn’t think I would make anything today, but I read people all wrong,” Jonathan said. “It was an emotionally and physically exhausting experience, but it was worth it.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the gym, a group of friends, led by 10-year-old Isabella Contreras for her company The Boba Team, prepared drinks for lines of eager customers. Their families sat in the bleachers while the children, dressed in colorful hats and aprons, got to work in different stations — one would take the order, another prepared the order while a third handled the money, and so on.
The group had been making Boba for several months ahead of the fair, which comes with a chance, Isabella said, to put smiles on people’s faces.
“It was really fun and I get experience I never thought I’d have,” she said. “It also means I get to hang out with my friends more often.”
The opportunity to show off their brands at the Kid$ Bi$ Fair also comes with learning how to expand their ideas once the event ends. Many of the booths at the event Saturday are likely to return next year.
Strawbree hopes to expand her creative reach into animation and musicbasedontheideasinherbooks given their growing popularity.
Being back Saturday was a blessing, she said, and a chance to pay respect to the platform that elevated her to her current success. But she, like many of the entrepreneurs at the fair, is not resting on her laurels.
“I already sold books in 39 states, Germany, Sweden and Canada,” Strawbree said. “I want to reach girls from all over the world.”