Tweens and teens tend to get a bad rap but the honest truth is that there are so many doing incredible things that deserve to be shared. Last week when my Mother’s Day gift guide went live, I introduced you to Loopholes Boutique. This earring business is the entrepreneurial venture of a tween and teen sister duo whose story is worth storing and there’s no better person to tell it than proud dad, amazing storyteller, and my good friend, Jeff Bogle from Out with the Kids.
By Jeff Bogle
I could never have imagine it would become what it has when, back in the spring of 2017, my youngest daughter, then a precious 9 year old, carried a slew of homemade earrings to the end of our driveway, scribbled “$5 each” onto looseleaf paper, and tried to sell her unique jewelry creations at the neighborhood yard sale.
Image courtesy of Loopholes Boutique
We got rid of some baby clothes and a set of old golf clubs on that Saturday morning, but no one coughed up a fiver for a single pair of earrings.
Undeterred, both of my daughters then began making more and more earrings, both clip-on and pierced, and making them better and better than before. They understood that the crowds flocking to yard sales may not have been the target demographic for handmade jewelry, but those who have the Etsy app on their phone may just be! A brand name was picked, a url purchased, an Etsy store created, and suddenly, Loopholes Boutique was a real thing! Suddenly, I had a couple of ladybosses in my house! And it was awesome from the word go!
Quickly, Loopholes Boutique became a family thing, led by an entrepreneurial teen and a tween.
I take the photographs and break down the economics of it all (always finding teachable moments!), my wife helps with quality control, the tween uses her eye and unique style to create new designs, and the teen works on marketing strategy, the Loopholes Instagram account, creating coupon codes, and the back-end management of the Etsy store.
The girls have enjoyed a steady string of Etsy sales over the past 12 months and this spring they sold their first wholesale order of 30 exclusive pairs of earrings and a stunning wooden point of sale display to a local independent toy store, donating $1 from each pair sold to a local animal charity near and dear to their hearts.
After only a month, reports are that more than a third of the store’s supply has already sold and the Loopholes dynamic duo are now working on a sample set of what will be a higher end line of earrings and necklaces with a narrative angle inspired by recent travels to Norway and Italy.
Me? I’m just a dad in awe of my daughters’ talent, creativity, and partnership as sisters in life and in business.
Image courtesy of Loopholes Boutique
I don’t know where Loopholes Boutique will be in a year or in five years. I don’t know if they are the next Kendra Scott as some have eagerly predicted, but I’d be honored if they’ll continue to have me as a part of their entrepreneurial and charitable endeavor(s).
For more information about Loopholes Boutique and to shop their affordable line of earrings, visit their Etsy store and follow them on Instagram.
Loved reading this, wish the girls best of luck in their endeavor and hope they have plenty of sales. Thanks for highlighting this Etsy shop on your blog, I will be sure to check them out.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this feature! I always think it’s fabulous when today’s youth take on entrepreneurial ventures and was happy to support them by sharing their story with you on the blog!