What Happens When Kids Spend 5 Years at a Values-Based Camp in Maryland

For the past five summers, a group of girls has grown up inside Perfectly Me hero Camps in Maryland. Meet Ella, Rebecca, Charlotte, Millie & Florie — The 9-Year-Olds Running a Business to Change the World.

You already know about the bracelet trio. You already know about Ella Eats. Well — hold onto something. What started with a bracelet stand and a birthday snack drive has grown into something beyond what any of us could have imagined.

Move over, Uber Eats. Step aside, DoorDash. There's a new operation in town — and it's being run out of a camp lunch table by five nine-year-olds with a cash register, tiered pricing, and a mission.

Meet Ella, Rebecca, Charlotte, Millie, and Florie.

All five have been part of Perfectly Me Hero Camps in Maryland for five years. All five started as tiny SuperHero campers. And all five just decided — completely on their own, without a single adult asking them to — that they were going to raise money and snacks for the campers in our community who can't afford them.

I did not assign this. I did not suggest this. They came to me.

Let me tell you what these girls are running.

How Five Kids at Hero Camp Built a Real Business from Scratch

Last summer, the bracelet trio inspired Ella to start her own enterprise raising money for community camp snacks. That was the seed. This year, they took that seed and built an actual company.

They've reopened the Bracelet Store. They've set store hours — daily. They've got a cash register. They've got open and close signs. They've got a tiered pricing model — the more complex the bracelet, the higher the price. Because of course.

And at the top of that pricing tier? Florie's bracelets. Florie has been making bracelets longer than anyone in the crew — she's the master craftsperson — and her pieces command the highest prices in the store. As they should.

And they told me — in no uncertain terms — that they need a Venmo.

Their reasoning?

Nine years old. Reading the market. Identifying friction in the customer journey. Requesting digital payment infrastructure.

I cannot make this up.

Millie, meanwhile, checks in with me daily — daily — to ask whether I've pulled the cash out of the cash register yet. That is not a suggestion. That is accountability. She is on top of it.

Five years of HeroValues gave them the confidence to lead. The bracelet store gave them the vehicle.

What Scaling a Business Looks Like at a Maryland Kids Summer Camp

Here's what really got me: production was too slow. So they started teaching classes to other kids on how to make bracelets — expanding their workforce so they can meet demand.

That's not a lemonade stand. That's a business scaling its operations.

They market during the summer camp before-care and aftercare. They sell during lunch and recess. And once a week, they meet with me for a committee lunch meeting — where they walk in with targets, goals, and assignments — and then go execute for the rest of the week without me.

Yes. Nine-year-olds. Having lunch meetings. To plan their week's projects.

I have adult clients who don't run this tight a shop.

They Also Understand the Unsolicited Upsell

The other day, they brought me a bracelet in the Perfectly Me brand colors.

I did not ask for a bracelet.

They said, "We made this for you." Beautiful. Sweet. My heart, full.

Then they told me the price.

These girls aren't playing. They saw a customer (me), identified a personalization opportunity (my brand), created a custom product, and closed the sale — all in one motion.

I paid. Obviously.

This Is What 5 Years at Perfectly Me Looks Like

Every single girl in this crew — Ella, Rebecca, Charlotte, Millie, and Florie — started off in SuperHero Camp. Five years ago. Tiny. Learning HeroValues for the very first time.

Today, they are scattered across the Perfectly Me Hero Camp Universe.

Some are in SportsHero. Some are in STEMHero. A couple are still holding it down in SuperHero. And two are stepping up as Hero Helpers in KindergartenHero Camp — pouring into the next generation the way we poured into them.

Different programs. Different summers. Same mission.

Change the world.

That's what they said. Not "make some money for a good cause." Not "help out a little." Change the world.

This is the fruit. This is what five years of showing up, believing in HeroValues, and being trusted as leaders actually produces. Not compliance. Not cute participation. Ownership. A cash register, a Venmo request, a lunch boardroom, a birthday snack drive, and a plan to feed kids they've never met.

Every negotiation, every lunch meeting, every bracelet they made for a kid who couldn't afford a snack — that's HeroValues in action.

Ella, Rebecca, Charlotte, Millie, and Florie — thank you. Thank you for reminding all of us what a hero actually looks like. You didn't wait for permission. You didn't wait to be older. You saw a need, you built a business, and you got to work.

So watch out, food delivery industry. Ella Eats is in the building — and she's brought her board of directors with her.

They're not just delivering snacks. They're delivering hope.

And they've got weekly targets to hit.

Want to support Perfectly Me's community camps or partner with these young leaders, contact us today at pmsuperheroes@gmail.com or (443) 977-4911.