Young Millionaires of P.E.I. take pride in building local businesses

Nine-year-old Jacie But stands behind her Puffy Clouds booth at the Charlottetown Sunday market, where she sells crocheted phone bags and pouches. Photo by Judith Mendiolea /Special to The Guardian

(Story originally published by PNI Atlantic News on July 22, 2025)

One afternoon in 2023, 11-year-old Mark Nakuleh brought home a crumpled flyer from school. His younger sister, Lutchina, leaned over his shoulder and read aloud: “Join the Young Millionaires Program.” Within minutes, the siblings had made up their minds. They were in.

“We’re like, OK, we’ll just do it,” said nine-year-old Lutchina. And just like that, their summer adventure — and first business — was born.

Today, every summer Sunday at Confederation Landing in Charlottetown, the siblings stand behind a foldable market table, arranging elastic bracelets, keychains, handmade candles and gummy bear rings, selling their products under the name M & L Company.

They’re just two of the hundreds of kids across P.E.I. who’ve launched a summer business through the Young Millionaires Program, a long-running initiative that provides youth aged nine to 16 with workshops, startup funding and mentorship.

Since its creation in 1992, the program has supported thousands of youth, helping them bring handmade goods, photography services and even crocheted “monster” pouches to Island markets.

“My brother, he got a paper that said: Young Millionaires Program, come join us,” said the nine-year-old girl. “And then we’re like, OK, we’ll just do it.”

But this year, they wanted more.“We added necklaces, customized candles and panda earrings,” Mark said.

“So last year we learned how a business works and now we learned about just having fun,” Lutchina said. “And it doesn’t matter about the money. Just meet the new people.”

Teamwork, they said, is one of the lessons they’ve learned.“It’s going to be hard to make a whole business with one,” said Mark. “And it’s just more fun to do it with people.”

They also take pride in improving their products each year.

“We’re trying to make the products better quality. A client said that one bracelet broke, so last year we were using one string, now we’re using two,” said Lutchina. “I’ve learned that people don’t just buy stuff because of stuff. They bought it for the experience and the memory.”

Reflecting on the slower days, Mark added, “Sometimes you don’t get that many customers. You gotta just be patient. I learned patience.”

In 2024, the siblings were awarded Best Business by the Young Millionaires Program. But for their parents, the real prize has been watching their children grow.

“They work a lot. I can’t believe they try to work every Sunday,” said their mother, Daisy Hamwi. “I feel very proud and have learned how to support my kids more and more.”

Their father, George Nakhleh, added: “Actually when we decided for them to come to start to join this business, we wanted them to be good people. We feel Canada gives us so much. So we should return a little bit from what she gives to us.”

Last year, Mark and Lutchina donated part of their profits to support families in Syria, their homeland. This year, they’ve opened a college education fund.

Crocheting through the challenges

Just a few tables over, nine-year-old Jacie But was quietly threading her handmade monster phone bags and pastel-coloured pouches onto a display rack. It was her first market and the debut of her business, Puffy Clouds.

“So these are monster phone bags. So, like, you can put your phone in them,” she said, fingers fidgeting with a strand of yarn.

She also joined the Young Millionaires Program after a facilitator visited her class. Long before, she had started knitting because her mom had needles at home, but later pivoted to crochet. Now, she is hoping to sell some of her creations over the summer.

“At first it was, like, really, really hard, but then I watched a video and it really helped me,” she explained.

Everything on the table is handmade.“I have to make each product by hand, so it takes me longer than other businesses,” she said.

Like many young entrepreneurs, she has had her challenges.“I gave up crocheting for a while because I thought it got too hard,” But said. “Then, my business kept me going and kept pushing.”

Programs like this have a proven impact.

Nationally, programs such as Junior Achievement Canada have shown long-term results: alumni are 50 per cent more likely to start a business, earn more and experience lower unemployment compared to peers, according to a federal report tabled by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources.

On P.E.I., some francophone participants have doubled their sales over past years, with youth-run businesses earning up to $12,000 in a single summer.

But plans to expand slowly, maybe some cloud-pattern cardigans next. For now, she’s selling online, at Sunday markets and possibly through some local shops.

When asked what she likes most, she didn’t hesitate.“When I finished it,” she said, smiling shyly.

The next wave of youth sellers

At another booth, 16-year-old Lincoln Lajoie arranged his display: car decals, bad parking cards, stickers and glossy postcards. At the heart of it all is his first love — photography.

“I started off this business with just doing photography,” said Lincoln. “But other than that, it kind of branched out towards, like, bad parking cards, keychains, bookmarks, stickers.”

His journey began at 13 during a car meet in Ontario.“I asked my mom if I could use her camera and from that point forward, I loved cars,” he said.

He joined the Young Millionaires Program at 14.“My mom first introduced me to it,” he said. “There’s a couple points where I was just a little overwhelmed, but the workshops were phenomenal.”

Lincoln sells under the name Shutter Fox Creations, offering both freelance photography and physical products.

“With the bad parking cards, I see people who are parked kind of iffy, that was kind of something that I thought was a good idea,” he said, pointing to a few of the cards with funny messages meant to be left on windshields.

In 2023, he was named the program’s Most Dedicated participant.“Throughout 2023, I was basically at every event that I could be,” he said. “The biggest lesson I had to learn is no matter what happens at the beginning, it’s always gonna be rough. Just keep going.”

Crocs, charms and mentorship

At the same market, 15-year-old Greta Edget-Gallant moved confidently through the space, helping newer vendors with setup, price tags and table displays. She’s a junior mentor now for the Young Millionaires Program — but her own business, Greta’s Shoe Charmers, is thriving, too.

Across Canada, peer mentorship has become a key element of youth entrepreneurship programs. It’s part of what has made national initiatives like Futurpreneur and the Summer Company Program so effective — combining business training with real-world selling and guidance from experienced youth.

Greta, now in her third year, is putting that formula into action by helping younger participants build confidence and prepare their booths.

But her start was unexpected.“I went into the ball field where all my teammates wore Crocs. They’re like, I’ll pay you,” she said.

That summer, Greta began ordering Croc charms in bulk and curating her own themed sets.“I work with different suppliers. I can just choose and I’ll get 10 of, like, one team,” she said.

Today, her product line includes bookmarks, silicone-bead pens, keychains and wine stoppers. She sells at fairs, online and even fills bulk orders. Although she sells at the market during the summer, she runs a Facebook page where she sells year-round.

“I do some custom orders, so I’ve done some school teams, and I have lots of custom P.E.I. charms and some businesses that order,” she said.

Her mentorship is hands-on.

“I’m the junior mentor this year. I just, like, set up down here every week and then three other different young millionaires,” Edget-Gallant said. “I really like meeting new people. Just being out and selling is just really fun for me.”

From elastic bracelets to car photography to monster phone pouches, these P.E.I. kids aren’t just selling crafts. They’re learning how to build something of their own — a habit, a skill, a confidence.

And they’re doing it in a region where entrepreneurial spirit is growing. While Atlantic Canada still lags slightly behind the national average in total entrepreneurial activity, the 2022–2023 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report notes that participation in early-stage entrepreneurship across the region has increased significantly since 2019, with more people knowing entrepreneurs personally and expressing interest in launching a business.

For kids like Mark, Lutchina, Jacie, Lincoln and Greta, what began with a folded flyer may well be the foundation for a lifetime of creative thinking, patience and self-starting.