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Instagram / Frères Branchiaux Candle Co.

Three young Maryland brothers who started a candle company to buy new toys now donate $500 a month from their successful business to help the homeless.

Collin, 13, Ryan, 11, and Austin, 8, Gill founded "Frères Branchiaux," which is French for Gill Brothers, after their mom told them they could either get a job or start a business if they wanted more video games and Nerf guns.

"They surprised me when they started a business and they started selling at their baseball and football games and they've moved on to a vending truck," Celena Gill told Good Morning America.

The three of them have been making the candles in their Indian Head home for the last two years and business is booming, with 36 stores carrying the boys' products and a deal with Macy's in the works. They sell nearly 400 candles a month, priced from $18 to $36, along with other products like diffuser oils, room sprays, soap, bath bombs and salts, according to the Washington Post.



Ryan is considered the "scent-ologist" of the group and helps create the scents, like Lavender Crush, Lime Cotton, and Whiskey Sweet.

"I usually pick the most scents I like and then I'll mix them together and ask my family members if they like it or not and then we'll make it into a candle," he told GMA.

RELATED: 12-year-old makes and donates bow ties to help shelter animals find their forever homes

So why candles?

"Me and my brothers asked my mom, 'What's your favorite thing to buy?' At first she said bath bombs, which are kind of a longer process, so we did candles, which was easier," Collin said.

Besides being able to buy their own toys, the business has also allowed the brothers to make an impact in their community.

"My brother Ryan has a big heart," Collin told GMA. "He likes to help homeless people out; in D.C. there is a lot of homelessness, so every time we would stop by and see a homeless person he would ask my mom to give them money."

RELATED: Jaden Smith is responding to L.A.'s homeless crisis by launching a free vegan food truck

From the start, Frères Branchiaux has given 10 percent of its monthly proceeds to Washington, D.C.-area homeless shelters, including Pathways to Housing D.C., Friendship Place and the Father McKenna Center, according to the Post.

"Every time I saw a homeless person, I was always asking Mom if we could give money to them, and this was a way to do it," Ryan said.

Collin appreciates feeling like the business has a greater purpose aside from making money.

"The community helps us, so we have to help back. Giving back helps you and the people you're giving back to," he said.

They're hoping to take their philanthropic efforts one step further by working directly with homeless people.

"We have a big community and we also want to do job creation," Celena said. "Right now we're working with one of the organizations to hire some of their clients transitioning from homelessness."

The brothers are now planning an expansion of the business and are saving up for a "candle truck" along with a facility to make the candles out of.

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Trying for that work-life balance? This grandmother and entrepreneur has it figured out.

Plenty of obstacles get in the way of new businesses. She overcame them all.

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Facebook #SheMeansBusiness

30 years ago, Jane Goh did something bold and relatively rare: She started a new business while raising her young family. It was a risk she had to take.

It was 1987, and business in Singapore and Malaysia was booming. It didn't matter what they were selling; these new upstart businesses all needed promotional materials — and Goh knew it. Even though she'd just started raising her young family, this opportunity wouldn't wait. She founded the RJ Paper company.

For the past 30 years, the company has served Singapore and Malaysia’s creative class, providing them with tools to promote their own businesses and create their own projects. This includes everything from print materials to packaging to custom manufacturing.


50 Colours have arrived.. 🌈 #colorplan
A photo posted by RJ Paper SG (@rjpapersg) on

In the past few years, she’s pushed her company toward sustainable paper offerings, choosing to work exclusively with paper mills and suppliers approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international certification recognizing responsible management of the world's forests.

Goh's forward-thinking leadership, coupled with her eager mentorship of local Singaporean artists and creatives, are two of three ways she set herself apart from other entrepreneurs.

The third, and most important to her, is her family.

Goh says her children and seven grandchildren are the greatest achievement of her life. By placing work and family at the center of everything she does, Goh is able to balance both. Two generations of her family have grown up with the company, and one of her daughters works alongside her every day.

Being an entrepreneur is a tremendous risk — there are long hours, huge financial burdens, and heaps of uncertainty. But for female entrepreneurs, the risks are even greater.

The International Finance Corporation's 2011 report on female entrepreneurship in the developing world studied the social, economic, and financial factors that limit the success of women in business. It revealed that about one-third of all small and very small companies are owned by women.

A gift from the Temasek Poly Design Show 2016. Thank you for all the continued support. #designshow #design #temasekpoly #interstingpeoplecreateinterestingwork
A photo posted by RJ Paper SG (@rjpapersg) on

This isn’t a surprising figure. Women-owned business in developing countries often remain small, or are restricted to the home, as their owners attend to other priorities like managing their household or raising children.

The study also found that educational opportunities are still geared more toward male students, making it harder for women to learn the necessary skills to run a successful company. Even when women overcome those challenges, the study revealed that getting funding remains a huge barrier. Should they be able to get a loan at all, female entrepreneurs are much more likely to receive less money, face higher interest rates, and have to pay it back much sooner.

All of these are potential deal breakers for a new business. The confidence to push past them makes Goh’s story even more remarkable.

Every single one of the issues confronting female entrepreneurs today was even more prevalent 30 years ago. To face them with a clear mind and an open heart and to come out three decades later with a successful business and a thriving family is an incredible achievement.

For her part, Goh says she never wavered in her belief that everything would work out. She gives the following advice: "Work hard and have persistence. That is more than half the battle won."

Ariell Johnson is a geek of the most righteous variety.

And she's embraced that part of her identity more and more over the last 12 years.


Photo by Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse/Facebook, used with permission.

"Don't let the packaging fool you," she said in a presentation for Ignite Philly. "I know that people who look like me aren't necessarily what you think of when you hear the word 'geek.' ... Though we are a rare breed, we are definitely not a dying one."

When the Philadelphian comic book enthusiast was a student at Temple University, she enjoyed her downtime ritual of comics and coffee.

"My favorite coffee shop was directly across the street from my comic book store of choice," she told Philadelphia Daily News. "Each Friday, I would buy my books at Fat Jack's, go across the street to Crimson Moon, and read everything I bought."

Johnson was disappointed to learn one day that the coffee shop was brewing its final pot and going out of business. But the seed of an idea was planted, and it's finally blossomed.

As we closed the door on 2015, Johnson opened the doors to her very own shop: Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse.

She beamed in an interview with Upworthy: "January second marked our first big day in sales. It was awesome! So many people milling around the shop, grabbing seats, reading, and chatting with friends, it was my dream fully realized. It was the moment that I really felt like creating this store was the thing I was meant to do."

It was everything she'd ever wanted in a geek haunt, all under one roof.

Comics? Check. Games? Check. Coffee and baked goods? Check.

Nothing pairs with lemon cake like a demonic tale. Photo by Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse/Facebook, used with permission.

There's one other thing that sets Amalgam apart from its competitors: its mission.

The most popular comics haven't been the best reflection of the world's diversity. FiveThirtyEight reported that in comic books, women and girls make up only 1 in 4 characters. And NPR wrote, "While there are lots of brown superpeople in the fictional universes that these heroes inhabit, they're usually tertiary characters."

As she is believed to be the first black woman to own a comic book store on the East Coast, Johnson wants Amalgam to be a place that builds community by celebrating diversity.

"We live in a diverse world. People want to see themselves in the stories that they read and watch, and not just as a token or a convenient stereotype," she said.

"A lack of diversity reinforces the idea that white, straight, and male is the norm, and everything else is 'different.' ... That is extremely harmful psychologically, especially for children, but for adults, too."

In the near term, she wants to start hosting community events — especially ones that involve local youth. Shortly after opening, Johnson was approached by a teen for feedback on a story he was writing.

"I honestly had to fight tears the whole time I was reading," she said. "The fact that this young man thought that I was someone that he needed to share his story with was overwhelming and exciting."

The touching experience affirmed for her that she wants to launch creative workshops for young people to use comics as a medium to share their stories.

When I asked Johnson about her longer-term goals, she wasn't sure how to answer. But given the barriers she's already breaking and her vision of helping others do the same, I'd say she's on the right track.

Watch Ariell Johnson's presentation on diversity in comics for Ignite Philly:

Johnson's comic book picks for the kids: "Tiny Titans," "Itty Bitty Hellboy," "Lumberjanes," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," and "Guardians of the Galaxy."

And for the grown-ups new to geekdom: "V for Vendetta," "Watchmen," and "Saga."

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CNBC's The Profit

Tami spent a good part of her life working jobs that didn’t necessarily agree that time off with a new baby — for either or both parents — was a good idea.

Then she met Marcus Lemonis of the CNBC reality show "The Profit," which takes over struggling businesses and turns them around. She was offered paid maternity leave and, soon after, was made co-owner of the Key West Key Lime Pie Company.


Her experience was an exception, however.

Paid maternity leave is something the United States is actually really far behind the rest of the world on.

Here’s a map that kinda brings it into shocking perspective.

This map shows countries with paid leave from work for mothers of infants. Graphic via WORLD Policy Analysis Center at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

When new mothers are forced to go right back to work, they can experience all sorts of negative health issues, such as post-partum depression, extreme fatigue, physical problems related to childbirth, and more. Conversely, children who have their mothers at home tend to be healthier.

Here are a few of the benefits kids see when their mothers can stay with them:

  • They're less likely to get respiratory infections.
  • They're more likely to be current with immunizations.
  • They're more likely to breast-feed during infancy (with its well-established benefits).
  • And, in general, they're less likely to die between 0 and 5 years.

For a country that professes to care so much about our children, the United States sure seems behind the curve with family leave.

Thankfully, small businesses are generally more likely to support family life and the ability to take time off to deal with health crises and having kids and the things that go along with, you know, life. They're just more able to have that personal touch and to get to know employees personally.

When we lose small businesses to big corporations buying or forcing them out of business, we lose some of that personal, family touch.

GIF from "The Profit Effect: The Working Parent & Paid Parental Leave."

A few big companies, such as Netflix, have begun offering paid parental leave, but sometimes to salaried professionals only, not to the hourly workers who usually need it the most. Others have followed suit; Nestle and Virgin are now offering paid family leave, though in the latter case, once again, for management only. Another, The Gates Foundation, recently began offering up to one full year of paid family leave.

Also, the U.S. Family Medical Leave Act can provide some unpaid time off (up to 12 weeks), but 40% of U.S. workers do not qualify. In addition, how many people who are already making close to poverty-level wages can actually take unpaid time off and not lose their home, car, or everything? It's a stop-gap measure at best.

Becoming a small-business owner reinforced Tami's view of paid parental leave — one that she formed when she didn't have access to it.

It's interesting hearing her perspective after becoming The Boss. For some folks, it might change their mind.

Not her. Watch: