Mermaid Mom – Helping a Teen Start a Business

My mermaid daughter.

There are soccer moms, dance moms, and hockey moms. There are stage moms and pageant moms.

I’m a mermaid mom.

When I take my girls to the beach, I hear little children running to their parents almost immediately.

“Mom!!! I saw a mermaid! A real live mermaid!”

The parents are confused at first. Then they see the tail on my Adventurer.

“Oh wow look at that!”

It started with H2O, an Australian show about teen mermaids. Swimming like a mermaid (using a monofin and fabric tail) has become an international sport known as mermaiding. In the photo above, she is pictured wearing her swimable mermaid tail, shipped all the way from Germany.

I expect the craze to arrive full force in the US any time now. It arrived here in our house last year. And now I’m a mermaid mom.

Around the same time as my daughter’s new obsession began, I sat down with each of the kids and asked them a couple of simple questions.

What do you want to learn about?

How would you love to spend your time?

Their answers were many and diverse. The Adventurer rapidly responded with a long list. One of her ideas was to start her own business.

We looked closely at her interests and hobbies. We came up with a way for her to start a business related to something she loved. Mermaiding.

She started out by creating a blog about mermaiding. It’s pretty popular, considering she doesn’t write there all that frequently. She also decided to design mermaid inspired jewelry and accessories. They aren’t all available yet, but they will be in her Etsy store when they are ready.

Mermaid inspired necklace.

Many homeschoolers encourage their teens to start their own business for the experience. Creating a business based on something they love will ensure that they won’t get bored. It can also help them connect with other people that enjoy the same interests.

My mermaid daughter on a rock in the middle of the Housatonic River.

Here are a few things she has learned:

The basics of market research.
How to create a profit / loss report.
How to create a website.
How to use WordPress for blogging.
How to set up and use an Etsy account.
Jewelry design – from sketching ideas and finding the materials to creating and finishing the product.
How to set a fair price for a jewelry piece and make a profit.
How to calculate international exchange rates.
Basic photo editing.
Reading and understanding traffic stats on her website.

Additionally, her blogging experience has helped her connect with readers (mostly her own age) all over the world who share her passion for being a real live mermaid.

Overall, starting this small business has been tons of fun and learning for us as a family. Never once has it felt like drudgery or work. And I’m looking forward to seeing where she takes it all from here!

For more information about all things mermaid, you can find her at Blue Moon Mermaid.

http://janinehuldie.com/ Janine Huldie

This was so impressive to read and love hearing how talented and creative your daughter truly is. I love how you have taught her not only to blog, but even set up her own Etsy shop. And the Mermaid outfit is truly awesome. Really enjoyed this post and learning more here about some of the opportunities homeschooling has afforded your kids
Mary Anne Payne

OMG OMG OMG Can’t wait to see her jewelry! Such a cool thing I HAVE to try!
http://www.facebook.com/TToombs08 Terrye Toombs

That is really exciting! And SO cool! What a fantastic idea! I hope she has much success and more importantly, fun!
Rachel Harper

This is so cool Amy. Kudos to her for being forward thinking but also beating to her own drum. I love it!
http://twitter.com/OhBoy_Mom Emily Cappo

Wow, I’ve never heard of mermaiding…it looks so cool and good for your daughter and her business — that’s awesome!
Audrey Howitt

I love it! I love the idea of mermaiding and I love that you are helping her with it!
http://www.thedestinymanifest.com Heather O.

That is awesome! Your daughter is a lovely mermaid and it’s like such a fun idea for fantasy and business!

I wonder if your daughter has heard of Twig the Fairy? She’s a performer who visits Renaissance Faires year-round in the US… she’s become a beloved figure to our family and we look forward to seeing her every year at the Faire. She also performs as a mermaid and sells photos/calendars. I thought your daughter might be inspired by seeing another mermaid who seems to be doing very well… Twig’s store is here: http://store.twigthefairy.com/products/twig-the-fairy-and-the-mermaid-misadventure and you can see more of her mermaid pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantbrummett/sets/72157627910333979/
clarkfarley

very cool.
The ‘you have an interest, here are the tools, find your (own) path’, that is the theme that I get from your Post. I seem to recall reading somewhere once, that the true intent of a liberal education (aka Liberal Arts) is to teach how to learn. This (Post) sounds like a great example of that.
Janet Dubac

Amazing! This is a very good way to teach your kids about business. I love it that you are totally supporting your kid’s passion–not a lot of Moms do that today. Being there for them 100% really means a lot to them. Best wishes to the both of you!
Melanie Chisnall

I just had a look at your daughter’s website and all the interest she’s received from her posts. Wow! And even more so what she’s able to do. I wish I’d been able to learn all of that at her age….then again, websites and blogging wasn’t that big back then, but still. I think it’s great that you ask your children what they want to learn about.
http://jdeneen.com/ Julie DeNeen

Good for her! That picture is beautiful!
Cyndi

Whoa. This is fantastically, totally cool. You both are incredible and your daughter has an ETSY STORE!? Wow! That is fabulous!
http://amylandisman.com/ Amy

She’s just getting started with the Etsy store. She had so much fun designing the jewelry…and putting it all together was so fun! She let me help, but she had to keep reminding me that it was her project (and to not be offended if she didn’t care for my ideas!).
http://amylandisman.com/ Amy

Thanks! I really want them to find something they LOVE to do and will pursue with all their energy. She has a few things now that she’s passionate about and it’s so fun to see where it can take her. Most of us wait well into adulthood to find something we love to do with our lives and actually try it. I did.
http://amylandisman.com/ Amy

Thank you Janet!
http://amylandisman.com/ Amy

Yes! That’s exactly it! Once you know how to learn and realize that you CAN learn anything you want, you can do anything, right?
http://amylandisman.com/ Amy

Thank you! We will definitely take a look at Twig the Fairy!
http://amylandisman.com/ Amy

Thanks Audrey!
http://amylandisman.com/ Amy

I’m convinced that mermaid tails will be all over the place in a year or two! Whenever she takes it out to the beach or lake, people stop her to ask where she bought it and if it’s hard to swim in etc…and it’s an amazing workout. Not that I’ve tried it! But she’s typically exhausted after “mermaiding!”
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