Fatima Bey: 0:02

MindShift PowerPods. This is Mind Shift Power Podcast, the number one critically acclaimed podcast where we have raw, unfiltered conversations that shape tomorrow. I'm your host, Fatima Bey The MindShifter. And welcome everyone. Today we have with us Leah K. Ellis, and she is out of Kansas in the USA. She is an author and the founder of the Society of Child Entrepreneurs. And this woman is a powerhouse woman, and I cannot wait to have this conversation. How are you doing today, Leah?

Leah K. Ellis: 0:42

Not too bad. I don't often get called powerhouse, so that's kind of cool.

Fatima Bey: 0:46

Oh, you must not look in the mirror today. So you you you are. I've talked to you enough to see it. So and I hopefully the audience will hear it too. So you are doing something. I could not wait to talk to you because you're doing something I wish every community in the world was doing. I wish I could replicate you and put you all over the world. So tell us, what do you do and why are you on this podcast?

Leah K. Ellis: 1:14

So I founded the Society of Child Entrepreneurs, which is a nonprofit specializing in teaching entrepreneurship, leadership, and financial literacy to kids. And I start at six years old and go all the way up to 17. So I'm teaching these kids how to run their own businesses, how to make their own money, what a business plan is, and how to write it. And then they actually get to keep all the money they make, which is every kid's favorite part.

Fatima Bey: 1:36

Of course. I would like it to. And how why are you on this podcast is pretty obvious. We're a youth, you know, youth-centered podcast, and that's what you do. And I have a particular passion for teaching youth entrepreneurship. Um, I really think that most of our youth should be entrepreneurs. So I I love what you're doing. So tell us a little bit about how you go about this. What does your program do in particular?

Leah K. Ellis: 2:02

So we start out by taking kids who have a glimmer of an idea, a thought, a mission, maybe, and helping them figure out how to format it, how to build it, how to create it, how to sell it, how to market it, how to talk to customers about it so that they can actually have this experience of being an entrepreneur, creating something, solving problems and the pride that comes along with that. Um, and then all the other skills that they learn that they don't realize they're learning when they are doing this. My favorite thing is seeing kids who are like, I don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. And then explaining to them that, like, no, an entrepreneur is a completely valid career. Most of our economy is run on the back of small business. And if you're solving a problem and you can make money doing it, then you don't need to go out and say, what do I want to be when I grow up? Because you're already doing it.

Fatima Bey: 2:54

I love that. So do you find that you are the do you find that you are able to pull out the dreams in our in some of our youth that they don't even realize is just sitting there?

Leah K. Ellis: 3:08

I think what I I don't know if I ever get to pull out their dreams of what they want someday, but I think I get to pull out their confidence. Like they have this little they have this little thing that they're like, I'm kind of good at it, and sometimes I like to do it when I'm bored and I'm able to pull out and be like, no, people will pay for this. This is something you can make money off of. This is something that can fund your new skateboard or fund a new car. You know, this is more than just a hobby, and it can be a hobby, but if you want to push it, this is worth money and worth pursuing.

Fatima Bey: 3:42

Absolutely. I've personally I truly believe that any quote unquote hobby can become a career. It's just a matter of figuring out how.

Leah K. Ellis: 3:51

Right.

Fatima Bey: 3:51

You know, and the how is not always conventional. It's not always, there's not always a model to follow. You might be the first one, but there's always a how. Uh, can you give us an example of the difference that you've been able to make in in a young life?

Leah K. Ellis: 4:05

So it's a little bit younger, kiddo, but we had a 10-year-old who really, really, really did not want to be near customers. She really wanted to stand at the back of the booth, customers pick what they wanted and hand her money and her not have to talk to them at all. She was very shy, very, very introverted. Just wanted you to say nice things about her product and then leave with no small talk. Um, and after a few children's business fairs, after doing some workshops with me on public speaking and things like that, she's on our junior board of directors now. And she has stood on, stood up and talked about our organization. She talks to customers, she's been consigned in local gift shops for some of our attractions here that bring people from out of state to visit our area. She really kind of blossomed into believing in herself and that what she had to say mattered, all because we wrote a mission statement for why she makes pins. So she makes the cutest little pins, and she was like, it's just pins. Then she decided they weren't just pins. Your pin is a way for you to silently gesture to what's important to you. And so she's like, it's not just a pin. I'm helping people express themselves.

Fatima Bey: 5:19

That's awesome. So what I'm hearing is you mind shifted her into confidence.

Leah K. Ellis: 5:25

Right. Very similar.

Fatima Bey: 5:26

And that's a part of the drawing out that I was talking about. You mind shifted her into recognizing the gems that she was already holding.

Leah K. Ellis: 5:35

Yeah. Well, and being confident that she could talk about it because she was so pulled into herself that she was afraid. You know, we are all so afraid of rejection if we say the wrong thing, especially in our adolescent and teen years. And for me to be able to tell her, like, no, this isn't the wrong thing. You can say this loud and proud, and then her to realize she can go talk about how your pen is a silent way for you to portray who you are. And especially with like the little charms she puts on them, they really express what you're interested in, who you are, what you love, with just the pen you use to write your name.

Fatima Bey: 6:09

That's awesome. I love, love, love that. Um, that's so awesome. So let me also ask you this you work with these young entrepreneurs and and becoming entrepreneurs. What do you find is the most challenging part of working with them?

Leah K. Ellis: 6:26

Well, they're teenagers, and teenagers like adults, have the sometimes they don't want to listen. Um, and I think the hardest part of being a parent or an educator, especially with teenagers and adolescents, is that they want to learn things the hard way. And sometimes I want to grab them by the shoulder and tell them they don't need to reinvent the wheel because I have already can tell them what's going to happen and it's okay to trust me. Um, so I think the hardest part is just them wanting to learn things the hard way instead of just listening.

Fatima Bey: 7:03

And I get that because sometimes we want to, we don't believe it unless we experience it. Just general, generally speaking, as human beings, and the more strong-willed we are, the more true that is. Um, and unfortunately that does mean the harder our heads have to bang against the wall before we realize we shouldn't bang it against the wall.

Leah K. Ellis: 7:21

Right.

Fatima Bey: 7:22

Right. Um, and so let me ask you, so that's the most challenging is they want to learn the hard way. And then we also add that, like you said, that's not unique to teens because some adults are still learning and banging their head against the wall. Um, what is your absolute most favorite part of working with these young entrepreneurs?

Leah K. Ellis: 7:45

Uh, the first time they have a paying customer that's not related to them. That first time a stranger walks up to them and says, I value what you have done enough to give you my hard-earned money. And they realize that this business of theirs isn't grandma pity sales. It's legit. And that's the moment. Like that moment, the the look of pride on their face the first time they get a stranger's money. That's my all-time favorite thing.

Fatima Bey: 8:15

Oh my God, I would love that too. I would just like I could watch a compilation video of just that.

Leah K. Ellis: 8:19

Oh yeah, it's amazing.

Fatima Bey: 8:23

Oh, that's so awesome. And yeah, it is because when you honestly, I know there are some adult entrepreneurs who can also relate to that, not just teens. When you are going out on your own and you're trying to do whatever you're trying to do, or for the first time making your first sale, it is a big deal. It is like, oh my God, uh, this works. Oh my god, this has value. I have value. And that's that's a huge statement for a person to kind of see for themselves. Right. So I I know that you that must be so rewarding when you work so hard to build what uh what you've built. So let me back up a little bit about speaking about what you built. How did you get started with your nonprofit?

Leah K. Ellis: 9:06

So I had an in-home daycare, and I taught three-year-olds engineering, and I loved it. I love being a teacher, I love molding young brains. It's one of my favorite things in the whole entire world. But my house flooded, and we had to move into a hotel, and you cannot run an in-home daycare from a hotel. That's just nobody wants that. So we shut down temporarily, we thought. Well, our grand reopening was March 17th, 2020, which happened to also be the exact same day that the county of Los Angeles entered into their stay-at-home orders. So nobody came to our open house, nobody enrolled. And then the city opened a free-for-essential workers' child care within walking distance of my house. So that was kind of the final nail in the coffin of okay, we're not reopening right now. Like maybe in the future, but right now this this daycare is not reopening and I need to pivot. I need to find something else to do. So my husband and I decided to start a financial coaching company, and he was deployed at the time. So I was home alone in the middle of COVID with a one and a half year old and a four-year-old. And I was watching business training videos on the TV in the living room so that I could watch the girls play while I was learning. But then slowly my four-year-old started doing less playing and more watching the training videos with me. And then she came up to me and she said, Mommy, I want to start a business. And I laughed and was like, You're four. No. And if you've ever spent any time with a four-year-old, you know that their favorite word in the entire world is why. Which is what she needed to ruin. And I didn't have a good reason for why she couldn't start a business. I mean, we were trapped at home with nothing to do anyway. So what was it gonna hurt for her to try and start a business while I was? So I let her start her business when she was four and a half. Uh, she's 10 now, she still has that business. She has rebranded it. Um, she's continued to build on it. But watching her become an entrepreneur made me realize all the things that we weren't offering child entrepreneurs. And so after a couple of children's business fairs and a cross-country move, I was like, you know what, forget it. This is gonna happen. And I convinced some friends to support me in founding a nonprofit. And so now I teach entrepreneurship and leadership to kids by letting them go out, make real money, sell real products, and be impactful in their communities right now instead of waiting.

Fatima Bey: 11:27

Oh, that's so awesome. So what I what I also hear is that a circumstance started everything. It wasn't circumstance alone, obviously, but a circumstance. Sometimes our circumstances can be difficult. We can get mad at them, or we can turn them into profit. Turn them into something profitable or not just financially profitable, but life profitable. And I absolutely love that. That you I also want to point this out right now, because this is this this is really for teens, but this little segment right here, I want to say to parents. One of the things I want to extract from what you just said is your four-year-old said, Mommy, I want to start a business. Because she had a lot of business stuff in front of her. She had a lot of productive information in front of her, not just a bunch of soap opera sexy garbage, which is mostly what's on you know, streaming on TV. She she had stuff in front of her, and that she was drawn to that stuff, and that stuff happened to be something that was good for her. So sometimes we do need to think about what are we sitting in our kids in front of, but adults, what are we sitting ourselves in front of? Because it doesn't end in childhood. I'm off my soapbox. I just wanted to add that.

Leah K. Ellis: 12:51

Right.

Fatima Bey: 12:53

Uh, because it's just way too true. Um, so what are your future plans with this organization? First of all, how long have you had it since you 2021, you said, right?

Leah K. Ellis: 13:06

So 2020 is when my daughter started her business. We did not found the Society of Child Entrepreneurs until the summer of 2024. So we will be two years old this year.

Fatima Bey: 13:16

Oh, okay. We are a little baby now.

Leah K. Ellis: 13:20

Yep. Okay, we're little babies.

Fatima Bey: 13:22

But you are, but you you really are uh to in my opinion moving fast because you've been able to accomplish a lot, and that's a very short amount of time. Um so I I think that's wow. So kudos to you for that. That's awesome. Thank you. Uh so what are your future plans with the with this with this nonprofit?

Leah K. Ellis: 13:41

So in November, we released our first book, Astra and Zeke. Um and within the next few years, that book will turn into 36 books. That'll be a full school year long curriculum where a school can take one of our books every week for the entire school year and teach a full curriculum on entrepreneurship and leadership. But in order to facilitate that curriculum and more people having access to this next week, I'm so excited. On Monday, January 12th, we are launching our online um platform. So people from around the world will be able to join in and have camaraderie, support, friendly competition from child entrepreneurs around the world. So that launches next week. I'm so excited.

Fatima Bey: 14:27

So I the the link for that is gonna be in the show notes. Um, but just audience know that it's it's available after January 12th. You sent us a date?

Leah K. Ellis: 14:37

January 12th is our official launch party. That being said, it is available to join now. It's just still building. So it will look prettier next week.

Fatima Bey: 14:46

Okay. I'm I'm still gonna put it there so that more people can at least hop on board. Well, I I knew about the book, but I didn't know the the whole series plan like that. That is really freaking awesome. Like really, that is so amazing. Um, I hope, I really genuinely hope that a lot of schools do pick it up, but I especially hope that homeschoolers pick it up.

Leah K. Ellis: 15:09

That's so we're starting a pilot program on Friday with um a homeschool co-op. So I start Friday teaching, teaching their pilot program there. It'll be the first group of students to have me as their teacher go through this curriculum.

Fatima Bey: 15:26

Wow. Um audience, I did not know that about the homeschooling. I just happened to say that because I believe it. So that was not planned. Um wow. That's wow. Yeah. So we're gonna be able to do that.

Leah K. Ellis: 15:40

So that's my goal. I I was a homeschool mom. Uh, when we lived in California, I wasn't comfortable sending my kids to our local school. I just wanted them closer to home. So I was a homeschool mom. So part of what we've built is so that homeschool families can pull it into their family, homeschool co-ops can pull it into their co-ops, and public schools can pull it into their schools. And regardless of the teacher's experience level, everything is laid out in a way that's really easy to uh teach it to the kids.

Fatima Bey: 16:07

That's oh my God, that's so awesome. I'm really happy to hear about that. Um so let me ask you this. I I'd like for every guest to give some advice to youth of the world. So, what advice do you have for the youth of the world today?

Leah K. Ellis: 16:27

Don't let society force you into apathy. It's really easy as what does apathy mean? Apathy is just not caring anymore. So we know like sympathy is feeling other people's sadness, and empathy is or sadness is fe sympathy is feeling sad for them, empathy is feeling their sadness with them. Apathy is feeling nothing and just saying, I don't care anymore. I don't feel it anymore, I don't have the energy to care anymore. And it's really easy, especially as a youth, when you say, This thing is making me so angry, and somebody looks at you and says, You're just a kid. You don't get to have an opinion on that. You're not old enough for X, Y, and Z. It's really easy to let society force you not to care anymore because they keep telling you that they don't care. Um, and so don't let them do that to you. Keep caring, keep talking about it, keep shouting it from the rooftops if it matters to you. Um, and look for places that will listen because there are places where teen advocacy does matter and we do want your opinion, and there are places that will build for you. Um, but if you stop talking, then we don't know what you want. So just be vocal.

Fatima Bey: 17:39

I agree. And this podcast is one of those places where I want teen voices to be heard. It's more I'm doing what I do. And I do think it's very, I mean, I know that we both, you know, we had the conversation briefly before we recorded. Something that Lee and I have very much in common is we truly, truly believe that teen voices have value, big value. And we don't want you to shut up, we want you to talk loudly. Um, let us know what you're thinking. And talking loudly means it doesn't mean yelling at people. When I say talk loudly, it just means speak up because problems are focused on and solved with a conversation that you have to speak up first. It's one of the things I'm always talking about. And I'm gonna piggyback off what Leah just said. Stop believing everything you're told. Period. Like stop just automatically believing everything you're told and question some things.

Leah K. Ellis: 18:42

And just because this is the way it's always been done doesn't mean it's a good reason to keep doing it that way.

Fatima Bey: 18:47

Yes. It's I'm saying this as an adult.

Leah K. Ellis: 18:52

There's a hero. Uh the lady, the little girl sees her mom cut the end off of the ham before she puts it in the oven. And so the little girl says, Mom, why do you cut the ham, the end off the ham? And she says, Because grandma always did. So she goes to grandma, why do you cut the end off the pan? And she says, Because my mom always did. And so she goes to her great-grandma and says, Why do you cut the ham off, the end off the ham? And she says, because the pan was too small to fit the whole ham. Like this generation after generation, they're just doing it because that's what grandma did. And grandma did it out of necessity, and it's not necessary anymore. So when things change, the situation changes, the pan gets bigger, stop cutting the end off the ham.

Fatima Bey: 19:33

You're wasting food that you could be eating. I I remember that story, you know, where I first heard it in church many, many years ago for real. Somebody was they were there, they used it in the pull foot as a part of the sermon, you know, to make the same point that that you're making. Um, but I I think it's an excellent, excellent example of stop just following what you're told to do, because that's how you. End up just beneath yourself, beneath where you should be. Um, and less of who you should be is just listening to everything you're told and just following suit and believing it. And I really hate to see that. So I would encourage all of you youth, question things, discover them for yourself, find out if what you've been taught is actually true. Um so you're the Society of Child Entrepreneurs is a nonprofit. How can the listening audience help you with this nonprofit?

Leah K. Ellis: 20:35

Uh the two most important things for us always, always, always, is if you have it to offer your time, talents, and treasure. Um, that means if you have money, we will use it. Um, we take donations, it's a tax write-off, it's a great thing for you, it's a great thing for us. It gives me the opportunity to write curriculum, to be in classrooms, to make copies of worksheets. I mean, all of this stuff is things that I need money to be able to do. Um, but also if you don't have the money to share with us, then share us with other people because the more people know we exist, the more people we can help. And if we're really lucky, the more people who can help us.

Fatima Bey: 21:12

Yes. And how can people find you?

Leah K. Ellis: 21:15

Uh so we're on Facebook and Instagram is Society of Child Entrepreneurs. Our website is S O C E I C T dot org. And then starting next week, we'll have our new online community that they can join, the Sochi Circle.

Fatima Bey: 21:29

I want to ask you one more question. Um if someone's out there in the world, and I mean in any country, not just the US, and they want to start something for the youth around them and their community, in their small town, village, or their part of the city, what advice do you have for them in principle? Because our details are going to be different per culture, per country, you know, with different laws, different cultural rules, etc. But what can you say that everybody in the world can relate to so that they can be a miniature Leah Kellis? I'm sorry, Leah K. Ellis.

Leah K. Ellis: 22:11

You're good.

Fatima Bey: 22:12

Then they can be a Leah Leah Ellis in their community.

Leah K. Ellis: 22:16

Uh, so it's twofold. The first one is if you're going to start a program for the kids, like I already said earlier, like Tima has said it matters. You're going to start a program for the youth, shut up and let the youth talk. Don't start a program where you tell them what to do. Start a program where you ask them what they need and then provide them the tools to do it. Um, and the second one is don't force them into your cookie cutter. Uh let them guide what you want, what you provide for them and what they want their program to look like.

Fatima Bey: 22:52

I don't have anything to add because you worded it so perfectly. And I always have something to add. So no, really, you really said that so well. And I just love that. And the way you explained it is I think anybody in the world can relate to that. So whether you're in Taiwan or Zimbabwe or Guatemala, you know, that's those are principles that everybody can relate to. Um, yes, listen first. Listen first, then then do, because then you can be effective instead of just saying, look, I did stuff and I'm a grown-up. Like we need more than that.

Leah K. Ellis: 23:26

Right. Well, and we all we all know what it was like to be a kid and be told no, or that we couldn't, or that we didn't matter. I mean, I have a story that I tell sometimes about the truth of what my parents told me when I was a kid. Um, but that doesn't have to define what we provide other kids. Like we're grown up now, so we have resources that we can provide to the youth. But in order for us to provide kids with the things that they need, we have to know what they need. And that's not by going back and saying, What do I wish I had? Because what I wish I had is not the same thing as what they wish they have.

Fatima Bey: 24:00

Yes, you gotta listen first. Uh that's you you said that so well. Um well, Leah, thank you so, so, so, so much for coming on. It has been a joy talking to you, and I do wish we had more time because there's a whole lot more I could talk to you about. But this has been great. And um, for all of you listening, please, I would love it if you would go and support Leah because she's really doing what I wish I could multiply myself and her and just go across the world and do. Um, and I think it's so important. The most, the one of the best things we can teach our youth is to do for themselves and to advance themselves because when they advance themselves, they advance all of us. And Leah is a part of making that happen. So thank you again, Leah.

Leah K. Ellis: 24:46

Thank you so much for having me.

Fatima Bey: 24:49

And now for a mind-shifting moment. I want to point out something that Leah said earlier that I think is extremely important. She said that her daughter came up to her after watching hours and hours over and over again of business learning stuff on the TV and said, I want to start a business. Her daughter was influenced by what was in front of her face because her daughter is human. Likewise, if you're an adult, if you're 14, if you're 85, it's still true for you too. What are you putting in front of your face? Weigh that against your expectations. Are you expecting your children to produce greatness when all that's in front of them is silly, shallow fluff? Are you putting anything in front of your kids that is going to help them to be successful as an adult? Are you expecting to be successful in your life and all you watch is soap opera garbage? What are you feeding your mind? What are your kids consuming? I'm just gonna leave you with that. Think about it. You've been listening to Mind Shift Power Podcast for complete show notes on this episode, and to join our global movement, find us at FatimaBey.com. Until next time, always remember there's power in shifting your thinking.