Tallahassee’s Kid Entrepreneurs.
Michael Rubin (Left), Zoe Rubin, Matthew Lombardi and Abigail Hofmann (Right).
Photo submitted by Kaiya McIntosh
The neighborhood lemonade stand is a thing of the past.
Kids are adapting to the entrepreneur life and developing their own businesses. These new kidpreneurs are creating more innovative elements to launch their small businesses.
Tallahassee has some kid entrepreneurs who have found their niche in designing items to display their creative sides.
Matthew Lombardi, 11, has been handling his business for some time now, as certain parts of his business were passed down from family members. He has set up shop at a few events including Market Days, an annual church pumpkin patch, and other local festivals.
Matthew sells a variety of handmade, including Lego and domino magnets, poker chips, earrings, and what he calls “fits.”
“Fits are basically yarn aliens, and when you get mad you throw these ‘fits,’ instead of yelling and stuff,” he said.
Matthew created fits to help control anger in any situation. There are differently themed fits that have their own designated color scheme.
“They all have a different theme; this one is for politics (red, white and blue), here is one for hunting just in case you miss your shot (Army fatigue) and there are Christmas colored ones,” Matthew said. “So if something happens that you get really mad about, instead of yelling and screaming, you throw a ‘fit.’”
Abigail Hofmann, a 12-year-old artist, is another local kidpreneur. Her business, Abby’s Art, showcases one of a kind hand-painted pieces that she created herself.
“I’ve been painting since I was really young. I’ve always liked to paint, its just a way I like to express myself,” Abigail said. “Sometimes it's all colors, and sometimes its darkness, I think painting is a good way to express feelings.”
Abigail’s work ranges from many different animals, patterns, and designs created with bold and bright colors with a certain twist of dark colors.
LoomTastic Rainbow Loom Creations is a business that was created by 11-year-old Zoe Rubin. After she enjoyed a little success her 13-year-old brother Michael Rubin joined in.
“We like being entrepreneurs, it makes me feel more prestigious,” said Michael.
The brother-sister duo create and sell handcrafted rubber band jewelry, other items including coin purses, charms all made with rubber bands.
“For my birthday I got some rubber bands, and I started going way overboard making so much and decided I should sign up for a business,” Zoe said.
The Rubins aren’t your average kidpreneurs; they have business cards, a business Instagram page, and a YouTube blog that has different tutorials teaching their subscribers how to create rubber band jewelry.
All of these entrepreneurs said they hope to further grow their businesses.