Announcing BellaRa + Co. A Handmade Business with a Cause
I am so excited to share the news that my oldest daughter and I have launched a new beaded bracelet business, BellaRa + Co. My special-needs daughter, Bella, has been asking me to help her with this for a couple of years now. While, I gave it a whirl two years ago, I had to put it on the back burner because I was also running my own creative business and I simply did not have the time or bandwidth to run two handmade businesses. However, I have since laid down my wreath-making business in an attempt to be more available to both of my girls as my oldest transitions into adulthood and my youngest prepares for graduating high school in the spring and heads to college next fall. Having laid down my business, I now have the space to help Bella make and sell bracelets.
Teaching My Adult Special-Needs Daughter About Money
After launching BellaRa + Co. with my special-needs daughter, I quickly began seeing the educational gaps between concepts she needed to understand. One of which was what happens to the money when it comes in. She loves getting paid, but she struggled to understand why she wasn’t receiving the full amount of each bracelet. So, I created a chart to help her understand the journey of the dollar as it makes its way into the Bellara + Co. account.
Here is a quick look at the chart I made her using Canva!
While she knew she was being paid, she had a difficult time grasping that she wouldn’t receive the full amount from each bracelet or bracelet set. While I attempted to explain the ins-and-outs of the money I could tell by the look on her face it wasn’t clicking. So, I created the above chart to help her understand that the money from each bracelet and/or set of bracelets would be put into an account. From there, I explained she would get paid for the hours she worked and that we would also pay for our cost of goods, shipping products to our customers, as well as pay for the “less fun” things like bags, envelopes, stickers, and even booth fees should we decide to set up at a farmers market or holiday market down the road.
Upon seeing the chart, I could tell she was able to better understand the process of how the income is divided into categories to enable the business to go and grow. She now has it hanging above her work space as a reminder.
Teaching My Adult Special-Needs Daughter About Goal Setting
In addition to helping Bella understand the journey of the dollar from the sales of the handmade goods we create, I saw a very common struggle occur in her, that occurs in all of us - the struggle to keep going even when we don’t feel like working. (I don’t know about you, but I know this one hits me hard!)
So, wanting to help her overcome this common struggle—of doing the work even when we don’t want to—I decided I would create a GOAL CHART using one of her goals as well as a color-in thermometer to help her visualize her progress. While Bella is able to purchase most of her clothing and some spending money using the income from her 4-6 hour a week job working in the church nursery, she has a bigger goal. She wants to visit Discovery Cove and swim with the Dolphins. So, after some quick research on ticket prices for the park, airfare, food, hotel, and spending money, I put together a chart to help her see what she needs to raise to pay for her portion of the trip. Here’s a look!
Now, to her these numbers don’t mean much. She does know that $100 equals an American Girl Doll and so if counting AG Dolls she could get 16 of them with this money. Ha! But, I wanted her to have a visual that would enable her to see that her work and savings were adding up. So I created this color-in goal chart for her to track her savings.
Turning Abstract ideas into Concrete Realities
Now, every time she meets one of these goals she can color in her chart! As of today, she is able to purchase her Discovery Cove park ticket, and almost pay for her portion of the hotel room. She loves getting to see her progress add up. And I love that we are able to take an abstract idea and make it more concrete for her brain.
These charts help her so much. In fact, she is always asking if she has received any additional orders. And on pay day, she immediately pulls down her chart and asks where she is at on it and how much she can color in.
Needless to say, I love how BellaRa + Co. is creating an opportunity for her to do something she enjoys, save for a dream of hers as well as create opportunities for her to learn and grow.
For those who have supported BellaRa + Co. thus far, we thank you! For those interested in our products, stop by our little online shop and know your purchase is helping my daughter learn about life, money, and how we make dreams come true! We can’t wait to serve you!
Til next time,
