GIRL BOSS UPDATE! HOW THE GIRLS WE PROFILED IN OUR FIRST TWO BOOKS PIVOTED IN THE PANDEMIC
Find out what Sara and Emma have been up to since we last featured them in our books.
We love hearing from girlpreneurs. So, when we had the chance to catch up with our past Girls Mean Business contest winners who were profiled in our first two books, we wanted to know everything! And we’re happy to report that these two young girl CEOs have nothing but good news to share.
2019 Winner Profiled in The Startup Squad – Sara Robinson from Sara Sews
Sara learned how to sew when she was just 7 years old. Now about to turn 14, Sara continues to sew her popular colorful aprons and grow her Georgia-based business. When the pandemic hit last year, she paused operations to focus on face mask production. Her efforts paid off: “Thanks to some teachers, family members, and friends from school, we were able to sew and donate almost 5,000 cloth masks to local businesses and medical workers. The NBC station in Atlanta interviewed me after the city council named Sara Sews a Hometown Hero. That was a real honor!” And because Sara sells her wares on Amazon, her startup was recognized as a Small Business Doing Good after the Amazon team saw the NBC interview. Thanks to this recognition, Sara was invited to do a live stream on Amazon and showcase her aprons. The exposure helped Sara experience her biggest sales day to date! Fast forward to 2021, and Sara’s startup shows no signs of slowing down. Sara Sews continues to stand out and do well on Amazon by accepting apron personalization requests and fulfilling orders within three business days.
Support Sara’s online shop.
2020 Winner Profiled in The Startup Squad:Face the Music – Emma Shelton from Earrings by Emma
12-year-old Emma empathizes with people whose ears are prone to allergic reactions. She has sensitive ears herself! That’s why ever since she was 8, she’s made it her business to come up with the safest earrings anyone with the most sensitive ears can buy. Through her biz, Earrings by Emma, Emma sells fashionable plastic-post earrings that one can wear all day without discomfort. She also joins numerous trade shows and craft fairs in Oklahoma to reach her customers and drum up sales. But when the lockdown happened in 2020, Emma knew that she needed a new game plan if she wanted her startup to stay afloat. With her mom’s help, she improved her e-commerce site and doubled her FB Live sales efforts. These online strategies worked! As shared by Emma’s mom, “We worked on building up a VIP Group on Facebook and then started doing Live sales once or twice a week. Sometimes our sales would feature never-before-seen earrings, sometimes best sellers or themed sales, and sometimes clearance deals as low as $2 a pair! Our customers ate this up! Thankfully, the sales replaced the trade show income we had lost and brought us new shoppers to our online store. Our 2020 sales from online combined with live sales comprise 85% of our total sales, much larger than our 50% goal!” Best of all, thanks to these virtual hangouts, Emma built a stronger community of Earrings by Emma fans and got to know her customers even better.
Support Emma’s online shop.
We’re so proud of these girlpreneurs! They continue to be remarkable role models for budding young girl entrepreneurs everywhere. If you’d like to know more about Sara, Emma, and their respective businesses, you can read their profiles in our first and second books. Their social media accounts, here and here, have the latest promos and announcements. Speaking of news, we, too, have an exciting one to share! Come March, we will reveal the girlpreneur who will be profiled in our third book! You and yours will be able to read her profile in The Startup Squad Book #3: Party Problems, which comes out on May 4, 2021. Pre-order your copy here.
