How Growing Up in a Norwex Home Helped My Son Become an Entrepreneur

How Growing Up in a Norwex Home Helped My Son Become an Entrepreneur

People sometimes assume that growing up in a Norwex home means your children will automatically follow in your footsteps. That wasn’t our “exact” experience. What growing up in a Norwex home gave our boys wasn’t a specific career path—it gave them an entrepreneurial mindset.

When people ask whether I ever hoped my kids would join the family business, my answer is simple: I never cared what they chose to do. I cared that they learned how to work hard, think creatively, build relationships, and create meaningful lives.

Our oldest son Jake chose a very different primary path than I did. Today he’s a proud 4th generation Local 455 pipefitter and steamfitter, continuing a legacy that means a great deal to our family. I couldn’t be prouder.

An Entrepreneurial Education

Something interesting happened along the way. Even though Jake chose a skilled trade career, he never lost the entrepreneurial spirit that became part of everyday life in our home.

For more than seventeen years, Norwex wasn’t something he simply observed. He lived it.

• He unloaded inventory.
• Packed and shipped orders.
• Worked events including craft shows, home and garden shows and White Bear Lake Marketfest.
• Helped at home parties.
• Learned public speaking and eventually spoke at Norwex conferences.
• Traveled with us to conferences and leadership events.
• Interacted with corporate leaders and executives.
• Earned spending money and saved for the future.

He watched people build businesses, solve problems, encourage others, and lead with integrity. I don’t think we realized at the time how much of that was shaping him.

Entrepreneurship isn’t usually taught in one big lesson. It’s absorbed. Kids notice how you respond when things don’t go as planned. They hear conversations around the dinner table. They hear your work phone conversations and zoom meetings. They watch you set goals. They see whether you treat people well. They observe whether you keep commitments.

They learn whether work is something to dread—or something that can be meaningful and creative.

Building Something Of His Own

Today, Jake still stays involved in our family’s Norwex business. He also built something of his own. He founded Birch Bark Truck Beds LLC with a friend after recognizing an opportunity hiding in plain sight.

Here in Minnesota, winter road salt is hard on vehicles and truck beds often rust. Jake realized that in southern states, trucks involved in accidents may still have rust-free beds with tremendous value in our market.

He saw the opportunity.

• He reached out to business owners.
• He built relationships.
• He handled sourcing and managed logistics.
• He rented equipment and drove cross-country to purchase beds.
• He created online listings, marketed inventory and worked with buyers.
• Learned the operational side of business ownership, including record keeping.

The Norwex Connection

One detail makes me smile… Those truck beds get cleaned, prepared, and photographed carefully before they’re listed. Guess what they use to clean them … Norwex enviro cloths, window cloths and degreaser.

Presentation matters.

The same kid who once helped prepare Norwex products for customers now applies that same mindset to creating value and presenting products well.

That connection makes me laugh a little—but it also makes me think.

Maybe It Starts Earlier Than We Think

Maybe entrepreneurship starts long before someone launches a company.

Maybe it starts in everyday moments.

Watching parents try. Watching them fail, try again and then succeed.

Learning to talk to people, discover their problem / challenge, and help solve it.

Taking responsibility, being trustworthy, having integrity.

Seeing possibility where other people see problems.

That’s one of the reasons I still love what our family does after more than 17 years.

Not because I expect my children to build the exact same business, but because I’ve watched firsthand how growing up in an entrepreneurial home can help raise capable, creative, hardworking adults who know how to create opportunities of their own.

They Notice More Than We Realize

If you’ve ever wondered whether children notice what you’re building, my encouragement is this:

They do.

More than we realize.

Want to learn more about creating a family business and encouraging entrepreneurship in your children? Click HERE.

We would love to connect with you anytime. You can reach us HERE.