14-Year-Old RVWA Member Discusses Her ‘Roasty Toasty’ Biz – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
Fourteen-year-old Olivia Irvine is the youngest member of the RV Women’s Alliance (RVWA), which is impressive in itself, but even more impressive is the fact that Olivia started her own business when she was just 11 years old!
“When I was 11, I started selling firewood at the end of my road for $5 a bag,” Olivia shared, but prior to that she read a ‘financial book’ with her dad and said that inspired her to start making her own money.
The name of Olivia’s business is Roasty Toasty Campfire Company — a name she and her grandmother came up with together. A few months after starting her business, she expanded it to include sweatpants, T-shirts, heated chairs, metal signs, fire pits and fire rings. She has a website www.roastytoastycampfire.com, and while she is based in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada, she said orders can be shipped to the United States.
Olivia said she and her parents, Sean and Lisa Irvine and her two younger sisters live in town, but she described it as “cottage country”.
“People come in the summer and camp at the cottages,” she explained.
She said she and her family do a lot of camping in the summer, which was what gave her the idea to start selling firewood. At first the wood she sells came from trees on her property or her neighbor’s properties, but the second year she bought a load of logs. She said her dad helps cut the wood and her sisters helps bag the wood.
Olivia thought she may have made a profit of $20,000 last year and said most of it goes back into the business and she’s saving some for college — which was the main reason she began her business.
When asked how she got involved with RVWA, she said last year she went to the Toronto RV show. “They had a meet and greet breakfast and I won tickets to the Chicago Learning Symposium, so I went and became a member. I’m the youngest member. I learned a lot and made good connections with the people there,” she said.
When asked how being a member of RVWA benefits her she explained, “It helps me meet new people and network and learn ways to expand my business and promote my business.”
Olivia has a mentor in Stacey Robinson of Great Canadian RV, Peterborough, Ontario.
“I met Stacey before I became a member of RVWA. She’s the one who brought me into RVWA,” she said.
Robinson lives about two hours away from Olivia and she helps her with product development and promoting her business. Olivia said she’s been to a few RV shows and she supplies other RVWA members.
When asked what her friends think she responded, “My friends have been very supportive — a few come to the shows and help out.”
Her future plans include continuing to be an entrepreneur—maybe as an interior designer and to go to college, “Possibly for business.”
Olivia said it “feels pretty cool” to be the youngest member of the RVWA.
She had this advice, “If you think you can do something and you put your mind to it, you can do it and don’t let others say you can’t.”
Great advice, Olivia!
