Only 8, but she’s already running a business

Not too many third graders can say they are running their own business. But for Triton Elementary School student Ruby Kellogg her business is all in a day’s work.
Kellogg, who is a student in Mrs. Voxland’s class, has been selling jewelry, with the help of her mother, through a direct sale company, similar to Mary Kay, she said.
Most of her jewelry sells for $5, Kellogg said, although she said she has some “kids’ stuff” that goes for $1.
The young entrepreneur explained she watched a friend who had a business and decided she wanted to try it also.
She was so persistent in asking her mother for permission, Kellogg said, that finally she said yes.
She sets up her display at craft shows and similar venues as well as other locations such as when she recently set up at Prairie Meadows in Kasson where numerous residents and visitors paid her a visit. She also has done home parties.
She does her events with her mother, Luann Mahan, who is also at the events with her own business, Prairie Girl Designs that sells “wood blooms and more.”
The 8-year-old “does really, really well,” said her mother. “I’m really proud of her.”
Kellogg could be found with her mother at craft shows and last summer’s Marigold Days. During the MEA school break this fall, her mother brought Kellogg and her display to Prairie Meadows in Kasson where she was displaying her jewelry for the residents.
“I just like to come here,” Kellogg said of her visit to Prairie Meadows.
She does the set up of the display, she said, talks to people about the jewelry, handles the sales and if anything needs to be mailed the packaging is her responsibility.
She chooses which jewelry items she wants to buy from the company, her mother said, and then she makes a commission from the sales.
Her mother sees it as a learning experience for Kellogg and it is also something the third-grader enjoys. She does the math, her mother said, in learning how to interact and talk with people and is learning some marketing lessons.
“I let her do it because when she sends out an order she writes ‘you are beautiful’ on it,” her mother said.