Tamika Heard and Kristian Wright
Tamika Heard, manager of locally owned and family-operated Makeda’s Cookies, comes from a family of entrepreneurs. Her parents, Maurice and Pamela Hill, opened Makeda’s in 1999, and, not much later in 2003, Heard joined the team. However, she wanted to embark on an entrepreneurial venture of her own.
Thus, she dreamt up 901 Kidpreneurs, a program that would give children in the city an opportunity to create and sell their own products while learning business, communication, marketing, and customer service skills.
Heard had been a youth minister for seven years and a substitute teacher for two years, and she wanted to get into full-time teaching, but her path took a different turn. “I still wanted to do something with the kids,” she says. “I wanted to be an inspiration, and I wanted to empower them in some way.”
Heard kicked off the program in 2016 with a summer marketplace at Makeda’s Cookies on South 2nd Street, where, under her guidance, kids sold an array of products including jewelry, energy drinks, and body sprays and lotions. Since then, Heard has continued to host seasonal marketplaces in the spring, summer, fall, and winter.
Kinyah Bean, a successful 9-year-old kidpreneur from Memphis, has been selling her lemonade, B Chill Lemonade, at marketplaces throughout the country, including 901 Kidpreneurs. “I believe [programs like 901 Kidpreneurs] help kids by giving exposure and creating networks,” she says.
Kinyah Bean at 901 Kidpreneurs marketplace
901 Kidpreneurs has an official Facebook page, which serves as a year-round platform for young entrepreneurs to communicate with each other and to promote and sell their products. The page has more than 1,000 members and is steadily growing.
Eleven-year-old Kalen Johnson is one of 901 Kidpreneurs’ newest Facebook members. This year, Johnson’s wire and beaded jewelry company, Kalen’s Exquisite Pieces, set up shop for the first time at Cooper-Young Festival and another children’s entrepreneurial marketplace, and he looks forward to participating in his first 901 Kidpreneurs marketplace this fall. “I started making a name for myself around May [of this year], and I’m really excited for this opportunity,” Johnson says.
Kalen Johnson
Another jewelry maker, 10-year-old Marlon Yates of the vintage beaded jewelry company Racin’ Designs, has participated in 901 Kidpreneurs marketplaces since the fall of 2016. “Two years ago, I qualified for the Junior Olympics [for track and field], and my mom asked me to brainstorm 10 ideas to make money to fund it. One of the things I chose was to make jewelry,” says Yates. “I ended up being able to go to the Junior Olympics last year and this year.”
901 Kidpreneurs also sponsors and helps support kids with other talents like singing, dancing, and magic. One such member, 13-year-old model, actor, and singer Kristian Wright, has seen plentiful successes that include appearing in local plays, fashion shows, and films like Last Stop (2016) and Indivisible (in theaters now).
In addition to hosting quarterly marketplaces, Heard hosts monthly game nights and annual dinners for the kids. “We don’t bring any phones or electronics to the game nights — just straight board games — so we have to interact with and speak to one another. It teaches communication, which is a big part of entrepreneurship,” she says. “And the dinners are our way of thanking the kids for participating. It’s also almost a strategic planning business dinner, where we talk about the upcoming year.” Heard plans to begin organizing workshops for the children in the near future.
Heard hopes to expand the 901 Kidpreneurs marketplace to other venues such as the Hickory Ridge Mall, and she has been working on a possible collaboration with the Shelby County Schools system. “I’m working with a young lady who works with the youth department with the government,” she says. “They’re trying to get some things together to bring an entrepreneur program to Shelby County Schools.”
Until then, Heard is happy hosting 901 Kidpreneurs events at Makeda’s Cookies. “It’s a quid pro quo deal. When people come in and shop with the kids, they smell the butter cookies, and they’re definitely going to come over to the cookie case,” she says. “And then when people come in and shop with Makeda’s, they’ll be like, ‘What’s going on here?’ And they’ll go around and talk to the kids. It’s really a good relationship for the 901 Kidpreneurs and Makeda’s Cookies family.”
Any children wishing to participate in or attend future marketplaces can follow 901 Kidpreneurs on Facebook. The next marketplace will take place at Makeda’s Cookies, located at 488 South 2nd Street, on December 22nd.