Peabody Teen Turns 'Callie's Creations' Into Thriving Small Business

PEABODY, MA — Callie Mignault was a Peabody seventh-grader stuck at home each afternoon following virtual school during the height of the COVID-19 health crisis when she said she started thinking about what she could do with all her free time.

She admits to having a short attention span and having a hard time sticking with one thing, but then she stumbled upon one thing — crafting — that she had always found "super interesting" because of the creativity and freedom involved.

So she began using all those extra hours to research what it would take to make things she might even be able to sell. She said over time she secured some equipment and started with T-shirts and porch signs before soon finding out that her creations were catching the eye of those she shared them with online.

"My whole family always said: 'You are so smart, you should start a business," she told Patch. "I thought that sounds like a really cool idea. But I didn't think anything would come of it until I started posting on social media and everybody wanted something."

Now a sophomore at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, Mignault has turned her focus to more elaborate lazy Susans and charcuterie boards that she custom designs and sells as part of her own business "Callie's Creations."

"When I first saw those I looked at my mom and told her: 'I want to make these, these are awesome,'" she said. "I did a ton of research on ways that I could make them better and function better. Even now I do a ton of research on ways I can improve."

All that time is paying off for the 15-year-old, who has a thriving business where she designs, builds, sells, tracks, sometimes delivers and even ships her creations. She promotes it and accepts orders through her Callie's Creations Facebook and Instagram accounts.

"I have the shortest attention span that's awful so sticking with something can be hard for me," she said. "But I found this to be the most interesting thing because you can put so much on it and have so much freedom with it."

She said that while being a "teen entrepreneur" is a lot of work, she likes that she can do it on her schedule and her terms.

"I don't have to worry about getting a job where I have to be there at a certain time," she said. "I can get home and get right to work after school."

A straight-A student, who also plays softball and participates in dance while being on a community service committee at school, Mignault said she still tries to do her best to fill as many orders as she can.

Especially this time of year.

"I usually do a two-week turnaround time and will cut off orders two or three weeks before December to make sure I can get it all done before Christmas, and if anything needs to ship it can get to where it needs to go in time," she said. "But I think I have taken 10 orders in the last couple of weeks. I got a couple of orders where people said: 'What are the odds I can get this before Christmas?'

"So I said: 'No problem. I will have it all set.'"

She is also selling her own designs at holiday fairs across the North Shore. She is scheduled to be at the Hamilton Community Center on Friday from 3 to 7 p.m., at the Higgins Middle School in Peabody on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. where money raised at the fair will go to support school field trips, and at the Beebe Elementary School in Malden on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.

Last week, she attended a fair all the way out in Chelsmford while doing her best to promote Small Business Saturday online.

"I definitely plan to go to college to study business," she said. "I try to focus on everything in the now and I am only a sophomore. But I love this and I wouldn't give it up for anything.

"I think it's something that will stay with me my whole life."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)