Connecticut Youth Entrepreneur Symposium (CT-YES)

My girls were invited to be guest panelists at the CT-YES in New Haven last week.  The symposium, held at Gateway Community College, was designed to be both inspirational and informative for local high school students interested in starting a business.  As a parent, I was thrilled to see so many interested kids!  We’re in tough economic times and gone are the days when kids expect to go to school, graduate and find a company that will take care of them for life.

The keynote speaker, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, was running a little late and the event coordinator asking my daughters to go up in front of the group and give an impromptu presentation on their pre-wrap business.  It was a proud-mom moment for me.  I had hopes and dreams for them, and watching them be calm, cool, and collected in front of an audience was just fantastic.  They presented their product, told their story, gave a demo, and answered questions.

They met other young entrepreneurs – a personal trainer, a computer technician, and two young ladies that opened a salon.  Most of our business is online, so it was a lot of fun to be out and about.  And of course, the girls were happy to be skipping school!