As teens, we all have a dream of on our 16th birthday walking outside to a brand new car in the driveway. Bella Weems-Lambert, just like all of us, had that dream; however, she wanted to make sure that her dream became a reality. At the age of 14 Bella decided to use her crafting abilities to make jewelry and sell them to her friends and family. Bellas jewelry was unique because it was customizable. Her first product was a locket. Bella had a base locket but then she let people pick and choose tiny charms and accessories to put into their lockets, making them 100% customizable to the customer. This hobby soon became much larger than she predicted. After selling thousands of lockets, Bella started to realize that people wanted to share her lockets with friends and family as well. So, in 2010, her company became a social selling company called Origami Owl. As a social selling company, she had thousands of different “designers” as she called them who owned their own independent Origami Owl business and would receive commissions from each sale. Bella’s mission for Origami Owl is for people “to be a force for good; to love, inspire and motivate people of all ages to reach their dreams and empower them to make a difference in the lives of others.” She does this by empowering their designers, teaching them business skills, and allowing them to impact their local community.
Bella achieved her dream of getting her first car, but she has also has impacted and bettered the lives of thousands of people. We all should learn from Bella. She is the prime example of how a hobby can become a very successful business, but also she shows us that we should always look for opportunities where we can use our business to impact and use it to be “a force for good.”
Bella and her first car!
It was really interesting reading about Bella! I found it particularly enjoyable to read about how focused she was on making a positive impact, right from the start. She really seems to be a humble, down to earth girl and I am so happy she is doing so well for herself.
I also liked reading about her product idea. It seems so simple, and yet it created such a huge, positive impact to thousands.