In November I wrote an article for Feeling Success on fellow Canadian womenpreneur Kelly Lovell. Before writing this article, I did not know much about the entrepreneur, but after researching her and reading more about her start and her story, it truly was inspiring to read such a beautiful success story of one of Canada's female youth who is changing the world by living her dreams and making a difference.
As an aspiring entrepreneur and business owner, I was intrigued to learn how Kelly has launched business and the steps she takes to overcome the challenges of being an entrepreneur.
1.) The first lesson was to never let her age define her potential.
At age 12, Kelly asked her father to teach her how to play poker, as she had an avid interest in learning more about games with strategy. Later that summer, her skills were put to the test when she attended a family BBQ, and was allowed to sit and play at the table as family members thought it was a cute way to include her, and assumed she would be out in a few rounds. Little did they know, she knew the game, and ended up winning the entire tournament. “Rather than be intimidated by the challenge, I was motivated to have the opportunity to grow my experience, and I found the doubt of others added extra fuel to my fire.”
2.) The second lesson was to never let others take advantage of her.
When she was 18 years old, she held her first independent fundraising campaign event after a Canada wide campaign that was set to be launched at a local mall. The day before the event, the mall manager called Kelly to say that the event was cancelled. The lady had assumed that Kelly was older as she portrayed herself as a professional adult, in which she was shocked she was only a youth when they met. Kelly tried numerous times to try and rectify the situation, but was left with a continuous stream of unanswered voicemails. Kelly did not take this sitting down. She took it upon herself to go above the mall manager, call another person in a greater position, explain her platform and her disappointment to the cancellation because of her age. To her surprise, within 30 minutes of the phone call, she received an email stating that the fundraiser event was back on. “This experience taught me a crucial lesson on the necessity for a leader, at any age, to know their worth, speak up and overcome adversity.”
3.) The third lesson was to always remain her authentic self. People in many industries fear the need to conform in their workplace in order to fit in and be accepted by their peers. The people who stand out are often criticized or not taken seriously, especially if you are young. Although many think that being different is a weakness, Kelly learned that her style, personality and quirkiness were what made her more memorable and stand out in ways that actually benefited her. She dealt with her fair share of eye-rolls and smirks as she is young and has a very unique personality and look, but eventually these were the things that made her leadership more credible. “While it may be easy to conform, it is just as easy to lose yourself and your uniqueness in the process. In my experience, being authentic to who you are is an important step to building credibility and respect as a leader.”
You can read the rest of the article by following the link to the Feeling Success website: https://www.feelingsuccess.com/kelly-lovell-bridging-the-gap-and-empowering-the-worlds-youth/
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