The Replica Story

In my spare time after work, I designed a product in hopes of creating a second income stream and needed to photograph the prototype. Unfortunately, I didn’t have good natural light in my apartment and my kitchen countertop wasn’t the right look. What I needed was a lightweight, realistic backdrop I could photograph outside or next to a window. 

I scoured the internet but couldn’t find one that had all the qualities I needed. That’s when the cartoon lightbulb went off! I scrapped the other product and set out to create the backdrop I was looking for. Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2018 (this photo is actually from that campaign), Replica Surfaces became a reality. But the story starts way before that, so let’s back up a bit.

I got my first job when I was five years old: delivering newspapers door to door with my parents’ help. Remember newspapers? No? Alright, my age is showing! Four years later (at the ripe old age of 9) I started my first business called “Accents!” Yes, there was an exclamation point in the logo and yes, I used this very serious photo on my marketing materials! I sold handmade beaded necklaces to my classmates for $4.50 each. Because it was the mid-90s, that covered my costs of materials, labor, and time spent biking to the bead store.

Providing a service felt incredible and over the next few years I also dabbled in lemonade stands, yard sales, and babysitting. By age 11 (around the time this photo was taken), I felt it was time to convert my years of experience into content for my classmates that also had entrepreneurial leanings (adorable, right?) 

That year I launched a monthly newsletter called “Young Entrepreneurs.” I charged $5 for each subscription and made a whopping $35 (shout out to Becca Abshoff and Ross MacDonald for the support)! This experience showed me just how challenging content creation could be and what it meant to have an obligation to your customers.