Detroit’s Youngest Entrepreneur Has Been Doing Business for Nearly a Decade

Being named the youngest entrepreneur in the city of Detroit comes with a lot of notoriety and responsibility. BLACK ENTERPRISE’s 2019 Teenpreneur of the Year, Asia Newson, 16, takes great pride in it. By the age of 4, Newson was learning how to make candles with her father while her older siblings were at school and mother was at work. And by the time she was 5, she began to sell them with her dad.

“We would go door to door and sell candles. He taught me a pitch—and we would sell people candles at their homes. I was making a lot of money!” says Newson.

Soon after, Newson decided that she didn’t want to just sell candles, so she founded Super Business Girl. Newson shared the idea with her parents and her mother, LaTasha, who also serves as the president of her company, decided to create a community around the work that they were doing to help other black girls become bosses. And from that idea, the Super Business Girl Youth Entrepreneurs Workshops was born.

[RELATED: TEEN RECEIVES A BEAUTY BUSINESS AS A GIFT FOR HER SWEET 16]

During the workshops, participants are paired with mentors, learn how to craft a sales pitch, and how to improve their communication. They also get hands-on instruction on how to make candles.

“With the candles that they make, we go outside and I assign kids to their mentors and we start selling candles. Once it’s over, we come back to my office and we talk about the experience; what we learned, and what we could have done better,” says Newson. As a result of the workshop, participants make money and gain sales experience.

Newson’s entrepreneurial work has landed her on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, America’s Got Talent, Disney World’s Cinderella Castle stage, MSNBC, 20/20, ABC News, and NPR. And with all of her accolades, she is thrilled to add one more award to her trophy case.

“It feels great to be Teenpreneur of the Year and be a role model!” exclaims Newson.

-Editors’ note: This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 edition of Black Enterprise Magazine. Order the magazine today.