A dad, a daughter, and a book
That's Charlotte and her dad, John Barrows, at her first book signing. When Charlotte was six, the two of them sold cookies door to door, and she turned what she learned into a children's book: 'I Want to Be in Sales When I Grow Up.' Now she's fifteen, and she's turning that book into the Future Founder Project, a way to hand other kids their own first business.
Before the book, there were cookies
Charlotte's first taste of sales was a box of cookies. She asked her dad to share her order form with his network, and he told her she had to earn it, she had to give people a real reason to buy. So they made a video, worked on a pitch, and went door to door. Year one, she outsold everyone in town. Year two, they added objection handling and knocked on even more doors. That's where she learned that sales done right is about people, not pressure. The book came from everything she figured out along the way.
The book that started it all
“I Want to Be in Sales When I Grow Up” follows a girl named Charlie who has to write a school report on sales and decides the only way to understand it is to try it herself, one batch of cookies at a time. It teaches kids that sales isn't about pushing people, it's about listening, solving problems, and showing up. Charlotte and her dad wrote it together, based on everything they lived through selling those cookies. The goal was simple: change how kids think about sales before anyone tells them it's something to avoid.
Now it's other kids' turn
The books sat in the garage, all 2,160 of them, long after Charlotte outgrew Girl Scouts. At fifteen, she decided they shouldn't just sit there. What if every one of those books could start another kid's first business, the same way selling cookies started hers? That's the Future Founder Project. A sponsor funds a kid, the kid gets a box of books and $100 to launch something real, and they learn what Charlotte learned: you can make money and make a difference at the same time. For a kid who doesn't have much, it's a first shot at being their own boss.
Be part of the story
Charlotte turned a box of cookies into a book, and a book into a movement. Now you can help the next kid start their own. Sponsor a young founder, or apply to become one yourself.