YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – A woman and her 10-year-old daughter are taking their entrepreneurship to a new level by opening their second business.
Aurielle Irizarry and her daughter Amari Washington opened their business Mommy and Me Lemonade in 2019. Now they have expanded by opening a new cleaning business called Mommy and Me Extreme Clean.
“There’s more to just clocking in and out of a 9-5, you can work for yourself. For her to see it at such a young age, and see what we’re doing and making good money. It’s a good thing to teach her at a young age,” Irizarry said.
They focus on cleaning commercial buildings, apartment complexes, party clean-ups, and more.
Irizarry says her daughter loves being a part of the businesses even at 10 years old.
“She’ll go help or take her little kit and say, ‘I’ll do this while you work on that. She gets excited,” Irizarry said.
Irizarry said having the family businesses helps guide her daughter in positive directions.
“With a lot of things that go on in the city, she sees things as she gets older. She goes to school and comes home and is like, ‘well, we have somewhere to go,’ or ‘we have lemonade to make.’ So, it keeps her focused on trying to do better in life,” she said.
Irizarry says her own mother is in on the business too, so it’s become a family thing. They opened the business in February, so it’s been running for about two months. Irizarry says it’s been going very well so far and they’ve picked up several clients since opening.
She said she has some advice for anyone else out there thinking about taking a risk and starting something of their own.
“Go for it. It may not rise right away, but eventually, if you put in the hard work, you’ll get it,” she said.
You can follow along with Aurielle and Amari’s journey and learn more about their businesses by following their Facebook page.