- May 4, 2024
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Bradenton’s Vivian Ford loves going to Lido Key Beach in search of the perfect shells.
She tries to go with her grandmother Lynn Sorbel, of Lakewood Ranch, at least once per week to add more shells to her collection.
Ford, who is 6 years old, is using the shells she finds to start her own business, Vivi’s Sea Style, which sells seashell hair clips and pins.
Ford will be at the Kids Mart Nov. 4 at Braden River Library in hopes of selling out her stock of clips and pins.
Kids Mart gives children ages 5 to 14 the opportunity to become entrepreneurs and sell their own arts and crafts.
Meet a few of the business owners:
Ford spends about an hour and a half on her beach days searching for pretty shells to turn into her hair pieces.
Her favorite finds are lightning whelk shells, which have spirals of colors on them and are big at the top and get skinner toward the bottom.
In preparation for the Kids Mart, Ford and Sorbel have been playing store. They practice Ford’s sales pitch and making change.
Sorbel said Ford has a knack for choosing the perfect hair piece based on someone’s hair.
“She has an eye for design,” Sorbel said.
Since learning about the Kids Mart last year, Sorbel said Ford has tried making various products including bracelets and hair bows but none of them kept her interest.
It was the seashells that sparked a passion, especially given Ford likes to pretend to be a mermaid when she’s swimming.
In mid-September, Ford was trying out her mermaid tail for the first time at the beach. She said a school of small fish surrounded her and started nibbling on her toes. It wasn’t long before the seagulls noticed and began diving into the water to catch the fish.
Ford hopes to have another mermaid moment at the beach if she’s able to sell enough of her product at Kids Mart to buy the rainbow mermaid tail with two fins for which she’s been saving her money.
In preparation for Kids Mart, Bradenton’s Cymia Martin said her biggest challenge is stopping the design phase for her mugs, cups and tumblers and starting to actually make them.
She has enjoyed seeing her ideas become a reality in her products, with her favorite being a cup with a rainbow and flower on it.
“My favorite part is I can do what I feel like doing and not be restricted with what I can put on my cups,” said Martin, who is 12 years old.
With Martin spending at least two hours per day after school working on her products, she said she realized she was one busy bee. That inspired the name of her business, Beezly.
Martin said Kids Mart will give her an opportunity to conquer her fear of speaking to new people and will also give her the opportunity to make new friends.
She’s also looking forward to hearing customer’s feedback on her products.
Bradenton’s Rayna Bird never thought she’d be starting a business at just 11 years old.
She’s nervous yet excited to bring Beads by Ray to the Kids Mart.
Byrd is hopeful people will like her jewelry, which includes bracelets, necklaces, earrings and keychains.
She said she’s done her research to prepare for Kids Mart, looking online at what types of jewelry people like and have been buying lately.
Throughout her jewelry making process, Byrd said it hasn’t always been easy because the beads are so small and she can sometimes get frustrated when she drops them. But her perseverance has kept her going as prepares her jewelry for Kids Mart.
Some of her pieces have surprised her, she said. For example, when she was making a necklace with rainbow colors, she wasn’t sure if it would look good, but once she was finished making it, she loved it.
