I want to take you back a few years—to when I first started my small business.

It was 2021. I was 11 years old, and my little sister was 9. We had just arrived in a nearby neighborhood with trays of soap samples in our hands and a few boxes left in the car.

I glanced over at my sister and saw her put on her sweetest smile, trying to hide how nervous she was. She stood a few feet behind me as I walked up to the first house and knocked on the hardwood door.

The seconds felt like minutes as we waited, mentally rehearsing the sales pitch we had practiced over and over at home. Through the blurry glass window, I saw a figure approach.

An older man opened the door and looked at us, waiting for us to speak. His expression seemed to say, What do you want?

We froze; I felt tightness in my throat and swallowed it down.

“Hi, my sister and I make—”

Before I could finish, he cut me off.

“I’m not interested.”

Just like that, the door closed in our faces.

I felt defeated. I quietly said, “Thank you,” and walked away with my shoulders slumped. Looking back toward the car, I caught my mom’s eye.

“Keep going,” she said with an encouraging smile.

So my sister and I walked to the next house.

I took a deep breath and knocked again.

This time, a middle-aged woman opened the door. She greeted us with a warm smile and asked what we had for her today.

For the first time all afternoon, I felt hopeful.

I looked at my sister, smiled, and began again.

“Hi. My sister and I make homemade shea butter soaps. We’re trying to raise money to buy Goldendoodle puppies. They’re $2 each. Would you like to smell them?”

She said yes.

That simple yes changed everything.

For the very first time, someone handed us money for a soap that we had made ourselves. It was only $2 a bar, but at 11 years old, those small dollars felt like a fortune.

Nothing had ever been more exciting.

In that moment, I wasn’t just selling soap. I felt accomplished. I felt proud of myself. Most importantly, I realized that if I was willing to keep knocking on doors after hearing “no,” eventually someone would say “yes.”