Gabby Goodwin and her mother, Rozalynn, had a problem: Even after careful styling, barrettes (发夹) kept slipping out of the 5-year-old's hair. Gabby hated losing bows, and her mom was tired of buying replacements. As Rozalynn shared her frustration with other parents on social media, someone suggested that the Goodwins try creating their own barrettes.
"I was super excited," said Gabby, now 14. "I was nagging (唠叨) my mom every single day about these barrettes." Gabby's persistence persuaded her mother, and they began to deal with the problem.
First they examined Gabby's hair bows to see why they were falling out. Then they came up with a design for a double-face, double-snap barrette that attaches securely to hair.
When the Goodwins first showed their design to business investors, it was rejected. The product wasn't the right fit or the business plan wasn't good, companies told them. The setbacks made Gabby more determined.
Gabby and her mother didn't give up, and in 2014 they began selling the bows online. The barrettes were so popular that the Goodwins received a patent. Today Gabby is chief of Confidence by GaBBY Goodwin, and the barrettes--called GaBBY Bows--are available online and in 74 Target stores across the country. In 2018 Black Enterprise selected Gabbyas its Teenpreneur of the year. The following year, Gabby and Rozalynn set up a virtual academy to help girls learn business skills.
If you watch Gabby deliver a speech on a Facebook video, it's hard to imagine the South Carolina eighth-grader as anything other than confident. But learning to be the public face of her company was "really hard at first," she said.
Over the years, with a lot of practice speaking to audiences, Gabby grew more comfortable in her role.
She offers this advice to kids: "Keep doing what you're passionate about, then you'll be able to grow in confidence."
