glo Girl : Jade Henry

glo GIRL

JADE HENRY

Age: 13

By Kristin King | Photo by Tim Brumbeloe

With an impressive resume already under her belt, Jade Henry is well on her way to creating a bright future for her business and herself before she even enters high school. At the age of 9, her grandfather, John Dortch, (affectionately known as Pop-Pop) gifted her, her own LLC, which she named More Than Just An Art, to encourage her to continue her growing craft of bracelet making. She began just a few years before, constructing bracelets out of rubber bands and selling them at local events where Dortch would speak. Jade notes, “People always purchased my bracelets when I was hanging with my Pop-Pop because I was a kid I guess, and they thought they were cute!”

Dabbling in painting and drawing as well, Jade is a multi-talented artist, but she says that bracelet making was always what she felt most passionate about. So with her new business underway, she decided to look towards new trends to build on the foundation she had started.

“I experimented with wooden beads, glass beads, and plastic beads to make bracelets,” Jade says, “I would wear them wherever I went, and people would buy them off my wrists.”

With the popularity of her bracelets spreading, Jade began setting up booths at local events and markets to promote herself. She remained working closely with her Pop-Pop as he was able to provide her with platforms to speak to her success as a young entrepreneur.

Her community ties expanded, and she became involved in Junior Achievement camps and programs that helped with providing resources and support for her growing business. It was through JA that she was nominated for the Believe in a Dream grant by her mother, Andrea, and was chosen in July 2021 as a recipient. This gave her access to funds that would help further support More Than Just An Art’s materials, vendor fees, and exposure. A few months later, she was selling her bracelets to JA for their annual BEL Awards.

On top of creating products for and running her own business, Jade is also a dedicated volunteer, offering her services to community programs, such as Harbour Assisted Nursing Home, Parkview Pediatric Wing, and St. Mary’s Thanksgiving Day Clean Up. It can be hard to believe that she also has the time to attend middle school at Memorial Park and enjoy moments with her friends and family as a teenage girl.

Her plan for the next 4 years is to use her profits from More Than Just An Art to save for college (of which she plans to attend a Historically Black College & University where she’ll be majoring in none other than business, of course!), buy a car, and continue to invest in her future.

This summer she will be upping her exposure at local festivals and markets so make sure to keep an eye out for her as you explore the city!

In her spare time though, she’ll be spending time with her friends, riding her bike, swimming, writing, and just soaking up her brief moments as a kid. a • Moving Forward

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