Teenage Hamilton entrepreneur uses revenue to help hearing impaired

Great entrepreneurial ideas sometimes come from the youngest of minds. For 14-year-old Hamiltonian, Olivia Lail, her bright idea was born from a personal mission.

Lail makes custom charms out of hand-crafted polymer clay, and she likes to have the charms resemble cool looking cookies and pastries.

So it was only fitting that she team up with Hamilton’s Almond Sisters Bakery to sell the jewelry for a cause that is important to her.

Lail is donating 10 percent of her sales to the Cincinnati Children’s Hearing Aid Trust (CCHAT), which provides Ohio children, from birth to age 3, with their first set of hearing aids for free.

Her inspiration came from her 8-year-old brother, Aidan, who suffers from a hearing impairment.

“I am inspired by my little brother. He is hearing impaired and wears hearing aids. Not every family can afford hearing aids,” Lail said.

Jenni Hubbard, co-owner of the Almond Sisters Bakery, said the business was happy to help the young artist.

“She is so talented. She came in during Ice Fest to give me a thumbprint cookie necklace and I said she needs to make more. So she came in and presented an assortment of her handmade products,” Hubbard said. “To see this young, humble girl working so hard and joyfully inspires me.”

Now other Hamilton businesses have agreed to sell Lail’s charms.

True West Coffee, Unsung Salvage Design Co., LahVDah and Future Great Comics will also be carrying her custom charms soon.

Robert and Lindsay Lail said their daughter has always been artistic and they have tried to help nurture her talent and ambition.

“We really try to foster that. Her passion for art and our faith are some of the reasons we home-school her. We are teaching her the importance of time management, and that school work comes before clay. I believe the most important lesson we teach our children is to put God first, then others, then yourself,” Robert Lail said. “We believe if you live your life like that you’ll go far.”

Lindsay Lail stated that Olivia lives the philosophy of others first everyday and that is one of the reasons she wanted to sell her clay pieces to help CCHAT, which meant helping others.

“Olivia wanted to help children in need who were hearing impaired like her brother,” she said. “We are blessed by her giving and kind spirit daily and we are so proud.”

Besides the custom charms, Olivia also makes necklaces, backpack pins, key chains, and doll house accessories.

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