We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Karlie King a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Karlie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

When I thought of creating Mini Queen’s, I did not think it would turn into a family business. I knew I would need help from an adult with my age, but I did not think my family would be on board. It has actually turned into one of the best decisions for the business. I love to work with my family. I work with my mom the most. She handles all of the business items, while I work on the creativity and serves as the face of the business. Since I am only 10 there are a lot of things I can’t do yet, so it helps to work with someone I trust. She also understands my learning style so she can explain things to me so that I can grow with our company. A general event day includes working with all of the queens in my life: my mom, grandmother, aunts, cousins and godmothers. Together we have created an assembly line to make our tasty mini donuts. Our customers get the opportunity to engage in the process, share experiences, see & feel the love, create memories and enjoy our donuts of course. There are several businesses within the community that are family owned and are thriving. I would like Mini Queen’s to do the same.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Yes, of course! My name is Karlie King and I am 10 years old. I have a passion for dance and I love to travel. I really enjoy creating memories with my family and friends (I am the silly one in the family). At the age of 8, I had the idea of starting my own mini donuts business after watching a kid’s baking challenge on tv. My mother challenged me to create a business plan to show her it was something that I really wanted to. I took on the challenge and presented her with my business plan a couple of days later. She was surprised that I actually created one but told me she believed in my vision. I was scared because I didn’t think anything would come of it because we were in the middle of the covid lockdown. My mom and I began researching everything you could think of and began making my dream a reality. It has not been an easy journey but it has definitely been worth it. It was truly just an idea which has allowed me to have some success moments and even moments of disappointments. I am motivated to learn more and strive to achieve more goals. There is so much more in store for Mini Queen’s that I can’t wait to see it all one day. For now, I will continue to have faith & patience, be willing to learn from others, be creative and determined.

Mini Queen’s is so special to me. The name explains who I am. I am a Queen and of course the mini is for our donuts. My hope is that my brand inspires other girls/women to wear their crowns proudly and work towards their individual goals as I am. My team is made of all women who have made a difference in my life. They inspire to me the best version of myself while holding me accountable. My brand represents a safe place for girls/women to be themselves, be creative, to learn and to grow. We create the space for all to create lifelong memories to carry with them through the love of our sweet mini treats.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I can never forget my first event. I was so excited that I would get the opportunity to share my donuts with everyone. The night before I helped my mom pack up everything and checked our list multiple times. When we arrived, we got everything set up and even made our first batch of donuts for a customer. As we were making the second batch the machine stopped working. I was devasted! I didn’t know what was wrong. My mom wasn’t sure either. I felt defeated and embarrassed because I had supporters come out and we had a line of potential customers. My mom reminded me that this was just a test and how we respond will make a difference in how things turn out. I grabbed my business cards and began networking throughout the event with my godsister. My supporters remained with me the entire time and promoted my business for upcoming events also. Later that evening we figured out it was a simple fix, and we were back in business. I received an invite for another event that same day from the networking that I did when the machine went down. I learned to remain positive, use every opportunity as a way to network, stay positive and have faith. If I would have given up, I may not have every tried again. That day resilience won!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson I had to unlearn was that social media does not determine the success of my business. While social media plays a big part in promoting it is not the only way to evaluate success. When I first started, I would spend time on social media looking at others in the field and compare my business. I saw their success but not their journey. I had to learn that everything we want comes with a journey that must be taken. The journey is important because it allows you to value your work more and create another level of respect from your customers because they have seen your different milestones. I now use social media as a way to connect, be inspired and learn about my community. It is not the answer for all.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Miniqueensdonuts
• Facebook: @Mini Queen’s Donuts
• Phone: 904-438-8007

Image Credits
Ashley Williams – Girl Boss Branded