Halls of Fame – A family of entrepreneurs

Imagine having a family of entrepreneurs living under one roof.

That is the reality for the Hall family, whose children are both former winners of the $20 Challenge.

Bernella Canes-Hall is the mother of Michael Hall and Cheyenne Hall, both of whom are past winners of the $20 Challenge, said she was made aware of the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation’s $20 Challenge when she was a teacher at the Ursuline Convent. She told her husband, Kevin Hall, it was an excellent opportunity for their children to improve their public speaking and confidence.

“At the time, the fourth formers were doing the Challenge and I realized that it was something I could incorporate into the curriculum. There were so many skills the students could learn,” she said.

“For example, public speaking is on the life skills curriculum – they have to learn that for an interview or even sell products to customers. I realized the Challenge would be beneficial for my children as well, so I decided to enter both of them.”

Why did her family decide to support her decision to participate?

 

Husband, Kevin Hall, indicated that when his wife suggested that this was an opportunity for their children, he agreed it was a good idea. As a family, they all decided to get on board.

“It was because of my wife’s involvement,” said Kevin, “When she explained the benefits, as soon as I heard them I liked the idea. So, as a family we got involved. Mine was a supporting role which I enjoyed. I watched our children grow and develop throughout the eight weeks of the $20 Challenge,” he said.

The two parents shared how they felt about their children’s entrepreneurial success:

Kevin said he was extremely proud when Cheyenne and Michael won the $20 Challenge in 2017 and 2019 with their businesses Timeless Treasures and Road Tennis Warriors, respectively.

“It was pretty amazing. Although I assisted, I did not tell them what to do. I asked them what ideas they had and how they could develop those ideas.

“We spent hours developing their business plans. You would be surprised when you engage children the ideas that they have.

“I even saw their confidence building during the entire $20 Challenge process,” he reflected.

 

Daughter Cheyenne operates Timeless Treasures, a company that sells personalized clocks.

She is currently studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography at Buckingham City University in the United Kingdom, so she decided she wanted her business to focus on something she was passionate about – photography.

Thus, she thought it would be a great idea to offer clocks that had a photograph of the client on the face. So supportive was her father that he continues to run the business on her behalf while she is studying overseas.

But it is his son’s invention that was the showstopper.

 

Michael, a student at The Ursuline Convent, developed a portable road tennis game in partnership with two friends. This concept for the indigenous game propelled them to be one of the Micro Enterprise Champions in 2019.

“Doing the business whilst balancing schoolwork was demanding. Our goal for Road Tennis Warriors was to inform people about Barbados and our national sport. We made the tennis rackets ourselves; we attended different competitions to see the range of racket models, then looked to see if we could make any adjustments to our design,” he said.

His mother, Bernella, explained that what made the concept unique was the equipment which allowed persons to have all of the tools to start a road tennis competition anywhere on the island. The customizable bag contained the collapsible net, road tennis rackets, a ball and chalk.

With that, the proud mother wants to encourage all parents to register their children for the $20 Challenge.

“Everybody can’t win the $20 Challenge, but they all can learn something. When I entered my two children, I was not thinking about winning at all. They got to learn various skills like public speaking and business development, so to me that was one of the best things that came out of the exercise.

“Also, the confidence that the $20 Challenge instills impacts other areas of their lives – they begin to think they are capable of doing anything.

“So, for all of these reasons, parents should get their children involved. It would definitely benefit them,” she said.