This Mother-Daughter Duo Is Inspiring Girls Through Entrepreneurship

You know the saying “train up a child?” Well, when I hear that I think of all the women in my mom’s old hair salon. When I was a kid and wanted to get my hair done, my mom would make me work for it. I used to wash hair, clean up, run errands, answer phones, you name it.

All the ladies in the salon would tell my mom how happy they were to see me working and earning. All I wanted was a blow out. Even though I didn’t understand what she was doing, other than abusing child labor laws, I understand now. She was instilling hard work in me and even showing me how helping others will make me a better person. She was showing me that to get what I want, I have to work for it. 

I watched my mom motivate, inspire and uplift so many women in that salon. The beauty salon was so much more than a place where you went to get your hair washed. It was a place for women to exhale, laugh, eat, and cry. I’m so happy to have been a part of that. 

Fast forward to 2020. I want to spotlight a young 8-years-old girl and her mother, motivating and inspiring just the way my mom did. Maybe not with a blow dryer in hand but in their own special way. Today, I want to introduce you to a mother-daughter duo that’s inspiring and uplifting young girls in New Orleans and hopefully, around the world. 

Meet Mother and daughter Windy & Peyton. They started their own brand, Peyticakes, with a mission of inspiring and empowering girls all over the world. I had a chance to sit down with them and learn more about what drives them and their goals with this amazing mother-daughter venture. 

How did Peyticakes come about and why did you start the business?

I have always wanted to transition into entrepreneurship but was never quite sure what direction I would take because I had so many ideas. After having my daughter all of that changed because she instantly became a source of inspiration. As she got older, I realized that we shared a lot of the same passions, so it was inevitable that she’d be my business partner. The name has been around for a while as it was a nickname given to her by my family. 

I decided when my daughter Peyton was around a year old that one day we’d have a business called Peyticakes, but didn’t realize how involved and influential she would be on the brand. One night we decided to create vision boards. Peyton included that she wanted to be a Fashion Designer and own a business, amongst a few other things. After our vision board party, we started to play a game called “I Am.” I asked Peyton to say words of affirmation to describe how she saw herself. I started with I Am Beautiful! and she followed with I Am Strong. We continued to play this until I think we both ran out of words lol. Then Peyton looks at me and says, “Mommy let’s put that on a shirt.” 

As a proud mom, I lit up like fire and told her this could be the start of her fashion design career and running her own business. I told her not only will she become a young entrepreneur, but she would also inspire other girls just like her to know how to speak words of affirmations about themselves too. I made her understand that this will guide those girls to remind them that they are worthy and valuable. We both agreed on 5 statements that could be the launch of her I AMCollection. 

I will say, since we’ve been working on this, she has not been shy to share with the world that she knows that she is enough! She has become a mini advocate, so we also decided to turn the collection into a movement. The “ I Am” movement encourages and teaches girls the fundamentals of knowing what their value means! We love using influence to inspire.

Why is the Message so Important? 

When I was my daughter’s age, I didn’t know what value meant or that I was ok just the way I was created. I didn’t know that being enough at the moment could be real. Generations have definitely changed over time and it’s quite different from my childhood. She’ll be faced with situations that weren’t as prominent while I was growing up. Therefore, I want her to be secure in who she is during every season of her life. 

I want her to know that she will change and evolve, and her value will increase during each stage of that evolution. I can’t say this enough: It is easier to build strong kids than to repair broken adults. The message is important to me because it’s part of my way of breaking generational cycles. It’s important for her because she will be the new generation that will lead and learn in a different way and I want her to continue to share that legacy. 

Why is education so important to you? 

Education is the foundation in building, grooming and preparing our children. I firmly believe that child development starts in the home, but the academic structure given to them teaches them what they need to learn in order to progress in life on levels that will only get by being in school. 

I instill in both of my children that education is the blueprint of their future and how they navigate through life. It’s the building block that stimulates their brains and prepares them for whatever is thrown their way. I explain to them that education is power and no one can strip you of what you know. No one! I want them to continue feeding their minds about any and everything. It’s their birthright and I want them to know how privileged they are to learn freely. I do not take that lightly. I want them to know that they are our ancestors’ wildest dreams and never take learning for granted.

What message do you and Peyton want to share with young girls? 

The message that we both want to share is for every girl to stand tall, stand strong, and to always believe in themselves. I take pride in showing Peyton how to push through when she may feel like giving up or if things aren’t so good at school one day. Because she knows that I’m here to encourage her, she wants to do the same for other girls too. My daughter is pretty confident and I love that about her. 

I want her to share her confidence with other girls to inspire them so they’ll know that they are beautiful, smart, loved, enough, worthy, awesome… The list can go on and on lol! The mission behind the Peyticakes brand is to create products, projects, and movements that will help girls embrace their beauty, talent, worth and strength and to be ok with who they are!


Learn more about Peyticakes here and follow them on instagram @peyticakes.

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