MINTO – Shayla Glazema, 12, of Harriston, is among a group of young entrepreneurs supported this summer by the Saugeen Student Start-Up Program (SSUP).
This program is funded by Saugeen Connects, a partnership involving Minto, Wellington North, Brockton, Hanover, West Grey and the Saugeen Economic Development Corporation (SEDC).
Glazema used SSUP funding to start her own babysitting service, as well as provided support to 41 other youths in the Saugeen area to start their own businesses.
Glazema explains she “took a [babysitting] course with one of [her] friends and [has] always liked being around kids” and decided to take her interests to the next level and start her own business.
“I just like playing with them and hearing what they have to say,” she notes.
This past summer she has been babysitting for different families. She notes how the kids she babysits always like to be kept busy, and their favourite game involves pretending to be horses.
The youth shares what she has been learning through her experiences.
“It’s taught me how to deal with different problems because … two I’m babysitting are brother and sister so they don’t like to agree all the time,” she said.
“You have to try and figure out what they both want to do or how they behave because they all behave differently … I’m learning a lot of problem solving and how different kids interact with different people.”
Along with her keen interest in her new business, she is also an active member of her community. She enjoys public speaking and attending a variety of events, activities she had a chance to do as a past ambassador of the Harriston Fall Fair (2017-18), and now as the Ontario Miss Midwest pageant’s, Ontario Little Miss Princess (2019-20).
As fair ambassador, Glazema attended parades and different events like horse shows, and now as the Little Miss Princess, she “represents five different counties [and goes] to five different parades” and many other similar events. She notes “it’s definitely more busy than being the ambassador.”
Glazema has kept busy in her community and still plans to continue her babysitting business into the fall. Anyone looking for an experienced and community-oriented babysitter may contact her at 519-900-9540 or her Facebook page: Babysitting by Shayla.
