NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — For 12-year-old Blaine Hensley, his dream was pretty simple.
"I wanna make my own money, and I wanna make my own profit," says Hensley.
His mother knows that isn't always easy.
"There's not a lot of opportunities for kids," says Chasity Hensley. "So we decided to Google a lot of different things, and this was one of the things he could find a tutorial on, and we watched it, and it just really kinda came together."
The "it" is making earrings.
Blaine got a $300 loan from his parents in January, bought the materials he needed, and launched "BWW Ear Swag" in March.
He brought his twin 11-year-old brothers into the fold as well. Making this an unusual – and youthful – manufacturing group.
"It was a hard thing for him to get at first because there was a lot of material wasted as he tried to figure out what we needed to do for it to stick, but eventually, he had enough to do his shop, and it was really exciting to watch him figure it out.
"(The) girls (at school) were all for it, but their dad was so excited. I know he really supported them. He makes a lot of Hobby Lobby trips, but now that they're making money and stuff. Their friends are asking how they do it, and they've expanded. It's not just earrings now."
Blaine and his brothers have sold more than 400 pairs of earrings and bracelets in just six months.
Getting some attention and drawing sales from all over the country while getting a boost with a little word of mouth around their Nicholasville home.
"It was kind of overnight. I don't think we expected it. I think they sold out their first week," says Chasity.
Blaine adds, "I'm grateful, and I'm very much still amazed by all the feedback we get."
Chasity says the boys are responsible with their earring earnings and paying their cellphone bills. Not surprisingly, Blaine is investing his money. He's achieving one dream so he can one day make another come true.
"As soon as I get out of HS, I'm going to go to Greece, and then after I return home, I plan on getting my own homestead whenever I'm able to move out."
That's several years away.
In the meantime, there is a fast-growing business to nurture. BWW Ear Swag just registered for an LLC, and they've worked a deal to set up shop at the Summit in Fritz Farm once a month.
