Kamara and Jessica were in elementary school the first time Friends of the Children - Boston paired them for an outing together. This July, they stood behind a table in the Seaport selling jewelry from a business they built. Two other Achiever-owned businesses were there with them.

Last month, three businesses owned and run by our Achievers set up at the Seaport x Black Owned Bos. Outdoor Market. One table held handmade bracelets and crochet birds. Another held crochet plushies. The third was booking car wash appointments to be filled the same day. Achievers priced their own inventory, staffed their own tables, and talked with customers about what they had made. It was our second year at the market.

The businesses started in March, when the Young Entrepreneurs program opened for the year. Over about twelve weeks, participating Achievers worked through ideation, branding, product development, budgeting, and financial planning, then pitched what they had built. Production ran from there straight through to selling day.

Meet the Brands

JK Jewelry | Kamara and Jessica

Kamara and Jessica sell handmade bracelets and crochet birds. Both have been making things since they were small, and JK Jewelry came out of combining what each already did on their own. They have grown up alongside each other here, first paired together for outings in elementary school, then back together through middle school and high school. This spring they became business partners.

Pure Auto Clean | J'yaire

J'yaire runs a mobile car wash. Customers booked him at the market and he came to them. The idea started with a Friend (professional mentor) who would not stop complaining about the state of his car. J'yaire listened to the complaint and built a service around it.

Melon Jelly | Mordecai*

Mordecai makes crochet plushies by hand, no two the same. They picked up crocheting young and have been creative for as long as the people around them can remember. Melon Jelly took a skill they already had and gave it a price list.

One of our Achievers looked at the table with their own business name on it and said, "Wow, I have my own business at 18, that's crazy."

Kamara has had three Friends in twelve years. Mary Kate Sullivan was the first, back when Kamara called her "Mary Cake." They spent six years together through Kamara's elementary years, including a long stretch when she was commuting in from New Hampshire for school and weekly outings, and a season during the pandemic when their visits happened on Kamara's front porch. Shane was there through middle school. Kadijah has been her Friend for the past two years, sitting with her most afternoons while Kamara draws and they talk about who she wants to be next. That is what twelve years actually looks like. Friends change as a young person grows. The commitment does not, and Kamara has never had to start over with a stranger.

How this work happens

Friends of the Children - Boston pairs young people facing the greatest obstacles with a paid, professional mentor called a Friend, starting as early as pre-kindergarten and continuing through high school graduation. Friends are not volunteers. Mentoring is their job, and they stay for the long haul, through school changes, moves, and everything else a childhood contains. Programs like Young Entrepreneurs sit inside that relationship. An Achiever gets to try running a business because there is already someone in their corner who has been there for years and will be there afterward, whether the business takes off or not.

Thank you to Black Owned Bos. for making room for our Achievers in the community and for making sure they had what they needed to be successful.

Kamara has been part of Friends of the Children - Boston for twelve years. She was named our 2026 Achiever of the Year in May, and this fall she starts college as a chemistry major. Jessica has been here since elementary school too. When Kamara and Jessica were paired for outings as small children, nobody could have guessed where it would lead. That is the whole point of staying twelve years. We do not know what a young person is going to build. We just make sure someone is there when they build it. 12+ years, no matter what.

Next March, a new group of Achievers will start with nothing but an idea. Your support is what puts a table under it.

*name changed