Entrepreneur: Lily Sandler (13 years old)
Business:  BLAMtastic®
Website: www.blamtastic.com
Facebook: Blamtastic Lip Balm (Official)
Twitter: @blamtastic

Back in 2007 when I was just 10 years old and my sister, Melanie, was 9, my mother, Renee, read in the paper that only 12 of the Fortune 500 CEO's were women when more than 50% of the American workforce was comprised by women.  She wasn't very happy about that so she challenged my sister and I to come up with our own business idea and she said she would fully support it.  Soon after, I was having trouble finding my lip balm.  I said, "Mom, where's my lip blam?" Lip BLAM? Brilliant.  My mom said that would make a great name for a lip balm company. So, BLAMtastic® was born.  

We began cooking it in our kitchen where we tried to make a better formula than those on the market.  We tested our original flavors on our friends and family and they all loved it.  We moved to selling in the schoolyard which was a great success.  From there we began selling to retail stores.   We have been very fortunate and Blamtastic is now featured in more than 1,000 retails stores around the country and we export to Canada and South Korea.

Some priorities we have carried with us as we grow is to remain aware of how our business affects our community and our country.  So we remain committed to manufacturing our products in the USA.  Doing so has allowed us to employ more than 25 different companies in the USA and keep Americans working.  We're super proud of that.

Independent Youth wants to know...

What is your Business Tip for Teens?
1.  Keep it Original
2.  Find something you are really interested in
3.  Work hard at it

What's the Best Part of Being an Entrepreneur?
1.  The feeling of accomplishment.
2.  Traveling around the country meeting cool people.
3.  Free Lip Balm!