Today we’d like to introduce you to Geneva Bernoudy.
Geneva, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
The Marietta Children’s Business Fair was established to encourage children to showcase their talents and creativity. The creativity of children should be captured and developed in some way to set a foundation for greatness. This fair teaches children about the responsibility of being a business owner while having fun! The Director of Geneva Bernoudy, along with her niece Toi Bernoudy, who is the Child Liaison, decided to host a Children’s Business Fair in Marietta. The plan was to give Toi a venue to showcase her creativity and make money. Toi made and sold slime at the first fair in 2019, and plans to continue building her product diversity with her business name Toi’s Slippy Slime.
Ms. Bernoudy as a life coach and business owner, provides business training to the participants on how to create a business plan and market their product. The fair in 2020 was postponed and developed into a virtual fair with plans for 2021 fair planned to be in person. With the partnership with Acton Academy, a guide to help host and a free website was given to start and introduce this fair to the Marietta community. Acton also supports the fair by providing funding after the fair based on the number of children businesses registered. This helps provide a financial base for the next fair.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This process was challenging in all aspects of organizing an event from the beginning. First, being able to find a venue that could support the idea of a business fair was hard. I also had to find out if there were any certificates or permits needed in Marietta. Many of the county and city properties don’t allow events for children to sell items. Also many affordable places don’t allow outside events due to space and parking. However, once I was connected with the Marietta PAL association, things started to change. The next challenge to overcome was getting participants and people to come and buy from the children. Social media and passing out flyers around the city helped but we still have a goal to have a larger and more attended fair in the future. Many people who hear about the fair love the idea, but making sure the date and venue are conducive to the flow of traffic is difficult.
Marietta Children’s Business Fair – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Marietta Children’s Business Fair was established to encourage children to showcase their talents and creativity. With the partnership with Acton, we are able to introduce this fair to the Marietta community. This fair teaches children about the responsibility of being a business owner while having fun! This event is designed to give children the experience of selling a product or service. Children selected to have a business booth are encouraged to think creatively to provide a non-food based product or service to present to patrons. Such items should fall into the categories of Original Art, Original Music, Handmade Product, or Service.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment was when all of the 2019 child vendors set up their business and were excited to see people come and patronize their booth. During the training and learning about setting up a business plan, the children were engaged and asked questions to get clarification. The fair was also able to be set up virtually during the pandemic crisis.
Pricing:
- Booth Fee for registered children’s business $25
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.childrensbusinessfair.org/marietta
- Email: mariettachildrensbusinessfair@gmail.com
- Instagram: @mariettachildrensbusinessfair
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/MariettaChildrensBusinessFair
Image Credit:
Geneva Bernoudy and Perrena Bernoudy
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