Paige Drury has been in business for nearly five years. She purchases materials, fabricates product, organizes and markets her wares, calculates shipping and pays taxes on her profits.
That may not sound unusual since many small business owners must complete those tasks, but Paige is barely 16.
She designs and makes fabric headbands and beaded jewelry and sells her wares at a local boutique and online, earning enough to buy her first car.
“We’ve tried to instill a work ethic in our kids,” said her mom, Tasha Drury of the Bloomsdale area. “We provide for their needs, of course, but if it’s something you don’t need, you have to make the money for it. And she’s done that. We are so proud of her.”
Tasha and her husband, Marc, also have three sons: Wesson, 10, Bennett, 7, and Casen, 5. Tasha is a stay-at-home mother who homeschools the children, and Marc has his own construction business.
Why pay more?
Paige said she got her start at age 12, when she began sewing under the tutelage of her grandmother, Marl Drury of the Festus area, who taught a sewing class at Faith Baptist Church in Festus.
“One day my mom and I were in one of our favorite stores, and I saw this super-cute headband, but it was expensive,” Paige said.
A casual suggestion from her mother in that moment put Paige on the road to entrepreneurship.
“I just said, ‘Hey, you could make these yourself, and even sell them on the side,’” Tasha said. “She just ran with it.”
Paige said she has four headband styles, which she makes in a variety of fabric colors and prints.
“I do a normal one, a twist, a knot, and then baby bands,” she said.
She started slowly, selling at first just to family and friends. Her start-up costs were covered by her parents.
“We did a lot of math on what materials cost and how much you should then charge,” Tasha said. “She learned to put money aside out of her profits to pay for more supplies. At first, I inspected every headband she made, to make sure it was good quality and workmanship. But once she got consistent, I didn’t really need to do that anymore.”
As Paige’s business grew, she branched out, adding bracelets to her repertoire and upgrading her sewing machine. She began selling at a local boutique as well as online.
“She had to learn all about shipping costs, about how to set it up to take payments,” Tasha said. “She had to learn about filing taxes. It’s been cool to watch.”
Paige said the number of items she makes varies widely with her schedule. She is active with her church, plays piano and guitar, takes dance lessons and has a part-time job at the UPS Store in Festus.
“How much I do kind of depends on how busy I am with other stuff,” she said. “I can make 40 items in a week. But it’s always different; I can make $300 in a day one time and then only $80 in a whole week another time.”
A long-term goal
Not long after she started her business, Paige says her parents suggested she put part of her profit toward a long-term goal: saving for her own car.
“My mom mentioned it, and I thought, ‘How cool would that be?’” she said. “A lot of my friends, their parents would buy half, or they’d give them the money and the kid would work and pay them back. But I wanted to buy my own. I thought it was a cool accomplishment.”
Paige recently paid cash for a 2007 Ford Edge.
“It’s my age but I love it,” she said. “It’s super cute.”
Paige said things haven’t always gone smoothly on her path to build a business.
During the pandemic, several items she shipped got “stuck in the pipeline” on quarantined trains or ships. She ended up giving customers their items for free and absorbing the shipping costs.
“It was very stressful at times,” she said.
But the family saw those situations as just another learning experience.
“It was an opportunity for her to learn that, as a small business, you’re going to lose money sometimes, and you have to handle it,” Tasha said.
Paige said another skill she had to develop was customer relations.
“You have to learn to talk to people respectfully but holding your own,” she said.
Paige said she is grateful for the support she gets from her family, friends and the community.
“I pay for everything on my own, but my mom is a superstar,” she said. “If I have a lot going on, she’ll help me with orders. She and I sometimes will sit and listen to an audiobook, talk, relax and make bracelets together. It’s kind of our detox if we’ve had a busy week.”
An eye to the future
Paige hopes to continue as a business owner into adulthood.
“I definitely want to expand,” she said. “I plan to go to college for business and management, and I want to buy my own boutique. The ultimate dream is, I want to start branding my stuff, have my own line.”
For the next couple of years, though, she’ll continue to make and sell her wares, learning as much as she can along the way.
“I think my prices are affordable,” she said. “I make a good profit.”
She typically sells her headbands for $5 each, with bracelets running from $3 to $8.
“Sometimes I feel bad telling people the prices,” she confessed. “But then they say, ‘That’s it?’ because they’re used to buying the overpriced stuff. So people are willing to buy more of my stuff, and they’re spreading the word. I’m always getting people who say, ‘Hey, my friend told me about this.’”
Tasha said her daughter’s success has motivated other kids, especially young girls.
“Everywhere she goes, we hear how she’s such an inspiration,” Tasha said. “Other kids her age have reached out, too, asking where to start to create their own business.”
Paige said she would recommend the experience, with a few caveats.
“It’s better to start small and gradually build,” she advised. “You’re going to profit quicker and not get into debt.”
Paige also cautions that the responsibility of being head honcho can be daunting.
“You have to have the willpower and the strength,” she said. “It’d be easier if I had somebody telling me what to do every step of the way, but then it’s cool to make your own decisions. You’re benefiting from your own work.
“But make sure it’s something you enjoy, or it’ll be too hard. Push through – the benefits outweigh the cons. I always feel so accomplished afterwards. And I have cash!”
Paige acknowledges she couldn’t have done it on her own.
“I’ve learned a lot from my dad,” she said. “It’s kind of cool seeing how he does things and taking his wisdom. And I’m so grateful for everyone who’s helped me, supported me, helped my business grow.
“I’m really excited about the future. This is definitely something I love.”
For more information about her business, check out “Paige’s Page” on Facebook or visit her booth at Belle’s Book Boutique, 118 S. Main St., in De Soto.