What better way to teach your kids that they can be entrepreneurs than by reading children’s books about real entrepreneurs who are children? And if those books are written by an author from Paragould, Arkansas, that is even better. What a role model! Erica Swallow collected stories of kid entrepreneurs and then selected four stories to turn into books working with Li Zeng who created the illustrations. The kids in the stories are diverse and real – just like our state. Learn about Gabby who invents the perfect hair bow; Sebastian, who creates a sock company; Jason who saves the environment with entrepreneurship; or Rachel who turns her passion into a business.
At the 2017 Empowering Entrepreneurship Education (e3) conference in Springdale, Erica shared her story with the teacher participants. Erica was a first generation college student who lived in a trailer house with her mother. She loved reading. She subscribed to 17 different magazines and poured over them nightly. Her 5th grade English teacher helped her cultivate her love of reading and writing. Her mother, a factory worker, always told her she could do anything she wanted. Erica had smart friends who made good grades so she competed with them. That competition paid off. She attended New York University where she studied international business and marketing with minors in East Asian studies and Mandarin. Her first job was with the New York Times as a social media manager. She left the Times to join Mashable, a tech site. She studied entrepreneurship and innovation at MIT before returning to Arkansas to work with Noble Impact and writing her Entrepreneur Kid books. Follow Erica’s blog to learn more about kid entrepreneurs.
Watch Erica share her books with the educators at the 2017 E3 conference.
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