 |
 |
 |
 |
Kelly Reinhart may be a fifth grader at Atkinson Elementary School
in North Andover, Massachusetts, but she is not your ordinary fifth
grader. With the help of her parents, she turned a simple idea into
a
million dollar business.
It all started on a rainy weekend, five years ago. “When I was
eight,” explains Kelly, “my five brothers and sisters and
I were all inside on a rainy day. We were driving my parents crazy,
so my dad sat us down and had us all draw an invention. He said that
the best idea would get a prototype made.” Sparked by a western
television show her dad had been watching, Kelly came up with the idea
for the T-Pak, a small thigh pack that looks like a holster, designed
to carry a cell phone, camera, or keys.
Kelly’s dad selected Kelly’s idea as the winner. After
having a seamstress
sew the initial design and the prototype made in China, Kelly took
all her
allowance money and purchased 100 T-Paks. “I was really
nervous,” Kelly
remembers. At a fair at her middle school, Kelly sold all 100 packs.
She
then used the sale proceeds to invest in another 500 T-Paks. “My
dad and I went to a trade show and those sold out, too. Then someone
ordered a container load of 100,000 pieces at a show in Vegas.” It
was at this point that Kelly’s
father, Bob, decided to quit his day job and work for Kelly on a fulltime
basis.
The success Kelly has had at such a young age has not caused her to
lose
touch with her peers. She started a foundation to help other kids bring
their inventions to market and is currently working with her brother,
Adam, on a product he invented. Kelly’s eagerness to help others
is
directly influenced by her mother’s kindness. “I see my
mom walk for
hunger and cancer…helping people. When
I get older I want to be Senator or President, so I can really help
people.”
Kelly’s mother, Lori, finds her daughter’s outward nature
fascinating because she herself was very shy as a child. “As
a kid I was very shy. I mean, you‘ve never seen a case of the
shy worse than my case. But, because I was such a shy, quiet kid, I
was determined that my children would have
their own minds and be able to think and speak for themselves. I am
so proud that Kelly is not shy. She is a not a follower. She is a leader.”
More information on Kelly and her business ventures can be found at
www.kellyreinhart.com. |
|
| "Entrepreneurs have to be willing
to lose time and money. If you can't do that, I don't think you're
a true entrepreneur." |
|
