PrintOwner: Shannon Kelso, 23
Current business: Mini Concepts, an Oklahoma City-based online seller of floral decorative accessories made of Capodimonte porcelain, an Italian specialty. Items range from long-stem porcelain roses to centerpieces priced at $5 to $300, all crafted at a family-owned factory in Nove, Italy. Receiving, repacking, and shipping are handled in Oklahoma City. Kelso runs the business from a home office in Italy, where her husband is stationed with the Air Force and where they live with their daughters, ages six and two. She's preparing to open a retail outlet in Oklahoma City.
Revenue: $200,000
Employees: Five part-time
Year founded: 1996
Previous life: Sales job in financial services
Why she went into business: I had a job at a financial-services company where I had to work all day and meet with clients at night. When my first daughter was two-and-a-half, I realized I'd missed those two-and-a-half years and I didn't want to miss any more. So I quit my job and took the plunge. I said, "I don't care if I have to live in a shack, I want to be with my kids."
Was most scared about: Failure. I think that's everybody's fear: putting everything you have on the line and losing it.
Best thing about being your own boss: Flexibility. It allows me to be home with my children. And since the business is online, I can take it anywhere. That's important with my husband in the Air Force, because we never know where we'll be going next.
Miss about working for someone else: Having a set schedule. Now the work never stops. Because we're online and worldwide, it's 24 hours a day. The business constantly consumes me.
Average day like: We get up at 5:00 a.m. I drive my older daughter 15 miles to the school-bus stop and then drop my husband at the base. I get home around 7:30 and work until about 1:00. Then I take a nap with my two-year-old. My daughter gets home from school at 4:30, and we pick up my husband at the base around 5:00. After the kids go to bed at 7:30, I spend some time with my husband, until 8:30 or 9:00, and then I work until midnight. I arrange my schedule around everyone else's.
Biggest daily challenge: Deadlines — making sure the product is shipped on time. Holidays are my biggest challenge, because customers place last-minute orders.
Best source of advice and support: My husband. He's so supportive; I couldn't ask for more. I'm extremely aggressive and he's extremely conservative, so he balances me. As far as a business mentor, it's my father.
Separate business and personal life by: The wonderful thing about my business is that it is my life. My customers have become friends, and my children are around while I work. It's not just that I can be with them all day, it's that I'm teaching them that you don't get something for nothing. They're learning to appreciate things more. When I was growing up, I never saw any part of my Dad's work life. I thought money grew on trees. Being in Europe has been great, because the lifestyle is simpler, and it teaches you that little things are important.
Reward to self: Turning off the computer and spending an evening on the couch watching a movie on TV. Sometimes my husband and I take a three-hour getaway. We go to a little Italian coffee shop and enjoy the people-watching.
Hopeful retirement age: 40. My kids will be college age, and my husband can retire from the Air Force when he's 39.
— Francy Blackwood