An Early Start

Hi! My name is Ria Kumar and this is my first blog on topics which are near and dear to my heart: Financial Literacy and Small Businesses for and by our youth.

  I remember when I was a child and I would pretend to be a store owner selling all sorts of wares to my stuffed toy customers. I sold leaves, kitchen towels, fruits and vegetables from my family fridge, and anything within easy reach. I was also enchanted with heels and always made it a point to sell with shoes that had heels, something about the clacking sound of heels on the floor made me feel very important. My parents saw my developing interests and decided that any chance to incorporate Math is an opportunity. They bought me my first box of prized, even if fake, currency bills and coins – it had shiny squeaky pennies, dimes, quarters, crisp dollar bills of different denominations, and even a Benjamin, perhaps just to make the Math more interesting. I never used the fake Benjamin then, but I have since had the privilege of owning at least one real hundred dollar bill earned from my future businesses. 

I grew an strong sense of doing business, although it was to cute plushies and my little sister. I hence always had happy customers.

  As I got older, I grew out of playtime with a pretend store and pretend money. I realized that real people and their happiness means a ton. Also, real money could buy me yummy cold sweet milky tea with squishy slippery boba pearls. The lure of the boba was very enticing. I formed my first sole proprietorship, taking my love and interest for music to my community, hoping that I will continue to have happy customers. Stay tuned to hear that journey in another blog. All these young experiences made Business and Investing my future aspirations, with the reward of Happy Customers and Boba as pots of gold.

Ria Kumar

March 24, 2025