Last year, we hand-trimmed thousands of Christmas ornaments.
Thousands.
It took forever. We were exhausted. And we swore we'd never do it that way again.
Fast forward to this year: Our dining room transformed into a full production line. Boxes stacked everywhere. Assembly stations set up. And there, in the middle of it all, sat Lacey (our 9-year-old) fumbling with the plastic baggies.
She'd get the ornament in. Seal one side. The other side would pop open. Try again. Mess up the fold. Start over.
I could see it on her face. That mix of frustration and determination. She wanted to nail it on the first try. And the second. But it wasn't happening.
And she wasn't about to give up. Not in front of the older girls working beside her.
We graduated ourselves out of the weeds
Here's what changed between last year and this year: we got OUT of the process.
Last year? Tabitha and I were in every single step. This year? We planned ahead. Gave ourselves months of lead time instead of weeks. Built better systems. Brought in more help (including Lacey).
Tabitha creating the watercolor painting, scanned it in, color-matched it, and she was done. I handled logistics and coordination. That's it.
The rest? That's where Lacey and the older girls from her school came in.
The lessons she's learning
Running this "ornament factory" isn't just about getting product out the door. Lacey's learning real business skills in real time:
Systems beat hustle. Last year was chaos. This year? Assembly line + checklists equals 300% faster. She's watching what happens when you plan ahead versus winging it.
Quality control matters. Every ornament that goes out has to be perfect. Cut corners, and customers notice. She's learning that her work has someone's name on it.
Mentorship is everything. Watching two 15-year-olds work the assembly line taught her more than I ever could by just telling her. She's seeing how they move, how they problem-solve, how they stay focused (and have fun at the same time).
The math is different at scale. She's starting to understand wholesale versus retail pricing. Why volume matters. Why the margin on wholesale is actually really good when you move enough units.
Delegation is a learned skill. Mom and Dad removing ourselves from the weeds wasn't an accident. It was intentional. And she got to see what that looks like.
Failure costs real money. When you mess up, you don't just redo it. You lose time. Materials. Money. She's connecting the dots between effort and outcome.
Then she saw it pay off
A few weeks later, we walked into Magnolia Market in Waco (Chip and Joanna Gaines' store). And there they were. Our ornaments. On the shelves.
Lacey got to watch customers pick them up. Examine them. Buy them. Later, at our booth, customers came up and told us how much they loved them.
That's the moment it all clicked for her.
The frustration at the table. The tedious packaging. The sore hands. The assembly line. It all led to this: someone holding something she helped create and loving it.
And that's a lesson you can't teach in a classroom.
What did I miss?
We're still learning as we go. What other lessons have you seen when your kids get involved in your business? What have they picked up that surprised you?
Hit reply and let me know. I'd love to hear your stories.
And if you're not involving your kids yet…. maybe it's time to start.
-Jordan 🤠
P.S. Want to see how the ornaments turned out? Peek at the Magnolia Market website.
Jordan Schmitt
