Starting a business at 18 years old in her sister’s memory: Conversation with Melanie Barrett of Bailey Bug, LLC
Hello, everyone, and welcome back. I am so super excited to talk with one of my closest lifelong friends, who is a young entrepreneur studying business management and opera performance at Wittenburg University. When her sister Bailey passed away in 2017, Melanie began the process of starting a business in her sister's honor to help those in wheelchairs like Bailey was in 2018, Melanie's business was officially an LLC. So, Melanie, thank you so much for being here with me today
Melanie Barrett
@melbarrett10 · 2:02
First off. Thank you so much for for having me on here today. I feel so honored. But, yeah, getting the business off the ground. So I actually had an interesting start that I don't think many other people will have. But when I first started Baileybug, it wasn't supposed to be a business. It wasn't meant to be something that made money
Wow, Melanie, I mean, that's amazing. And just to clarify for those listening, Baileybug LLC makes Wheelchair Capes for people in wheelchairs, which is an ingenious idea. And the way that the business this came about is really beautiful and really unique. So to those listening, definitely check out the website which I linked here. And Melanie, you mentioned that school Wittenberg helped you in getting your business up and running, but does it also add onto the stress?
Melanie Barrett
@melbarrett10 · 4:10
What a great question. I actually get asked this very frequently, as you can imagine. And so there are four main things that I do in my life. For right now, I break it into these four categories. So I'm double majoring in business management and opera performance at Wittenburg. I'm running Bailey Bug LLC. I also work full time in memory care facility as the memory care event coordinator. So I plan to implement all the activities for the residents there
Wow, Melanie. I mean, thank you so much. I really appreciate your positivity and your ambition. I mean, this business and the way that you manage your time and the perspective that you have in managing your time is such a beautiful way. A for Bailey's life and Bailey's memory to live on. So I'm curious, how did your sister Bailey inspire you for this business in the first place? And how do you see her life within this business
Melanie Barrett
@melbarrett10 · 3:31
And so we gave her the animal of a ladybug, which is where Bailey Bug came from, because that's what we called her, since her animal is a ladybug. And so we could do things like Ladybug fabric to really bring out and show her personality. And it was a way for us to connect with her as well. So things like that. Also, if a zipper were to get stuck, we couldn't help her with her seizures
Thank you so much, Melanie. I mean, that response was so incredibly wholesome. I really appreciate you sharing that deep connection that you continue to have with your sister even after her passing. Connecting what you have done for Baby, with what you are able to give to others through this business. What are some of the social justice issues that you hope to positively impact through Bailey Bug, LLC
Melanie Barrett
@melbarrett10 · 1:01
We all have hearts. We all have brains. We all have the same ability to love on the inside. I think Bailey Bug is going to be really important in that aspect as well as we can just help people understand, and hopefully with understanding can come acceptance and can come equality and love for everybody. And that's the goal in the end. So that is definitely something the Bailey Bug stands by
What would you say to yourself when you were 18 and had this idea kind of come to fruition and you began kind of exploring this without really even knowing that it would turn out into what it turned out to, what is somehow that you wish someone would have given you, that you hope to give to others. Now
Melanie Barrett
@melbarrett10 · 2:54
And I wish that I would have had someone there saying, you have a dream. Okay, you can do it. You're powerful. You're you you have the resources around you. If it's what you want to do, go do it because I'm here now, and I feel good. I'm still on a path of success and that's with at the time, no support system. So sometimes I think to myself, I wonder if I could be if I had the support
Melanie, the optimism and positivity that you brought into this conversation is truly inspiring and is definitely needed during a time that seems really limiting and really difficult. So Melanie, again, thank you so so much. And I hope you and everyone listening has a wonderful rest of their Sunday evening
