Teenager Startups - 13 year teen business owner Kierra Perkins from Nashville Tennessee

The 13-year-old CEO is an 8th grader at Strive Collegiate Academy, Nashville. Kierra is a brilliant student. Along with studies, she effectively runs and manages her venture, called KANDLES BY KIERRA. Also, she provides services as a  candle vendor for a local store called Mama's Modern Touch. She has been offered the opportunity to be the featured vendor at several Pop-Up shops at Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids in Green Hills. She wanted to indulge in something that she could do all by herself. So, she followed her passion. Today her venture KANDLES BY KIERRA is registered as a formal entity and also has a registered domain. 

Not just this, the young entrepreneur also loves to sprinkle motivation on others, which made her take up motivational speaking for kids. The package is not just limited to this; Kierra is also a junior dragster racer since the age of 8. There is only one word for her, 'WOW!' 

Kierra Perkins' one of the favourite things to do in her free time, is to spend some quality time with her family. Kierra's love for her family laid the foundation of this excellent venture. She wanted to do something different for her father, uncle and grandfather on Father’s Day, and she came across some fantastic candle making videos on YouTube. She tried her hands on it and made beautiful milk candles and chocolate cookies. Kierra's mother took a picture of her with the candles and posted the photo on Facebook. She received a lot of positive responses, so they finally decided to kick-start their business, since that day, Kierra hasn’t looked back.

Kierra's parents were always supportive and guided her throughout her journey of entrepreneurship. One of the biggest challenges Kierra faced during her entrepreneurship journey was managing time between her school activities and business. Kierra told us, "Mom taught me how to manage my time between school, extracurricular activities and to run a business." 

As the saying goes, 'Your mother is your best critic, and yet your strongest supporter.' Kierra seems to have taken it in the most profound sense.

When we asked Kierra about the key differentiator of her business, Kierra replied that her young age and the candles being handmade make all the difference. The 13-year-old teenager's motivation and driving force to remain seated through this bumpy ride of entrepreneurship was the positive feedback she received for her first candle.

Kierra's candles are a treat to the eyes as well as olfactory senses. One look at the candles, which look and smell no less than flavoured cupcakes, would instead make you want to have a bite of it. These candles will surely enhance the environment and light up the room.

The young lady's future planning is to continue growing her venture with more effort. And the next destination of her business is to see her kandles in major stores or start her store. And at the pace she's running, it's not that far, and in no time she'll be there smiling and looking forward to her next destination. 

Talking about Kierra Perkins' achievements, there is a big list. Still, we will mention some of her important and prestigious recognitions. She received the Who’s Who in Nashville award from Dr. Bobby Jones on his TV Show. Also, she received the Entrepreneur on the Rise award in 2019 from Hustle N Heels Conference. She was also nominated for the "2020 Entrepreneur on the Rise"  award and for the "2020 Women Who Rock Nashville" award. All praise the young lady. She was awarded a $500 Gift Certificate from Genesis Diamond at the Women Who Rock Nashville event. The best is yet to come for this beautiful young businesswoman.

Along with this Kierra also enjoys delivering motivational speeches for kids.  She spoke in front of the 2019 interns at the Kennedy Law Firm in Clarksville, TN.  She always encourages children by telling them, “If you want to start your own business, don't let anyone discourage you.”  Her motto is, "A young creative mind can grow a business, and you don't have to wait until you are an adult to reach her goals.".

We saw that she plays such a significant role as the CEO of the company. Now let's look at her interests as a child. She has been a race driver since she was eight years old. She drives her beautiful blue Spider-Man Jr. Dragster Racecar. Kierra loves competing against her opponent racers, especially boys who think that a girl cannot win against them, she loves to prove them wrong. Along with this, she also takes part in many other extracurricular activities.

Kierra says, "Sometimes I get overwhelmed and want to give up, but I never do." The support of her family and positive feedback of her customers keeps her from ejecting out of this ride.

Her favourite quote for motivation is, "A young, creative mind can grow a business, and you don’t have to be an adult to achieve your goals."

Every daughter wants to become like her mother and Kierra also thinks of her mother as her role model.  "My mom is my role model. She always supports and motivates me."

Kierra is undoubtedly a source of inspiration for many budding entrepreneurs out there. Stick to your goals and grow!

Source:
Parts of the story and images have been gathered from https://kandlesbykierra.com/

Additional Information:

Company Website: https://kandlesbykierra.com/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/kandlesbykierra/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kandlesbykierra