18 Year Old Entrepreneur Looks To Community & Partnerships to Expand Hot Sauce Brand

It has been a bit over a year since our daughter Skye a/k/a “The Selfie Queen” took over the “Family Brand” The hot sauces which can be found at this link Natural Hot Sauce (9lazykidz.com) has been our product of choice. We are proud of the work Skye has done in preparing, marketing and shipping. The brand continues to thrive which is surprising given that none of us knew at the time, we would be dealing with a pandemic never seen before, protests to support the rights of who we are as a family and what our beliefs and values stand for which is equality for everyone. As a black owned, woman run, entrepreneur brand we envisioned the combination would be the death of our brand. Surprisingly, the young entrepreneurs, those that understand what the protests were really about supported and continue to support the family Brand. Skye is 18 and graduates high school this year. Michelle and I have and will continue to supply Skye with the tools and resources she needs to be successful. However, we need you, the community, the hot sauce lovers, the supporters of young entrepreneurs, black, LGBT and small business to get behind us and support our youth.  

When I was growing up in the age of chisel and rock and my kids like to refer to it, we went to school, graduated, got a job or went off to college. If you went out and got a job, it wasn’t enough to move out on your own and if you went to college, the student loan debt would crush you or your parents leaving you to stay living at home to save up. We encourage our kids to be entrepreneurs, to build their own wealth through ideas and handwork. Not everyone will be a doctor, plumber, lawyer or engineer. We need to and must promote independence for our children so they have a life.  

The pandemic, protests, civil unrest, storming of the Capital and the unemployment rates are a sign, an indicator if you will that the path forward is one that we create for ourselves. We have an obligation to teach our children how to feed themselves and not be dependent upon others to paint on our blank canvas or fill our blank pages. Our children are the artists, the writers and as such we need to be the mentors, the inspiration, the hand that reaches down to pick them up when they fall and whisper “it’s ok” It is with this mentality that we see the family brand doing just what we outlined. We need to support our young women and minority entrepreneurs with a share of their content, a purchase of their product, a few words of inspiration and encouragement. Why you may ask? Being an entrepreneur, young entrepreneur is scary. Do you remember your first day of school? Your first dance? Your first kiss? Your first arrest (some of us)? Your first rejection? All trigger a sense of fear. We fear what we don’t know and what is the first reaction for many? Retreat, pull back. If we provide our young people with the right support system, we are encouraging them, cheering them on as you would a runner at the Boston Marathon. Skye needs the community support to not only to believe what may seem impossible but to catapult over the hurdle of doubt to the arms of success. Support 9 Lazy Kidz and Skye Ervin by sharing, liking, buying. Our dreams are only limited by what we believe to be possible. Help a young mind see that there is more beyond what they have experienced already!  And of course, in the below, I get the eye roll.     

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