How One Dad Teaches His Kids About Entrepreneurship

By Lynne Strang, Late Blooming Entrepreneurs

Malia and Owen Shafer with their taco wagon.

Paul Shafer knows the exuberance that comes from being a young aspiring entrepreneur.

In college, he invented the “Gum Chum” for storing bubble gum during a meal. The small, capsule-like device had a clip that attached to a plate or glass, keeping the gum nearby until it could be popped back into its owner’s mouth.

While the Gum Chum didn’t turn out to be the next Big Idea, it wasn’t a wasted effort. “It was a good exercise that gave me something creative to do while working on my degree,” said Paul, who now lives in Austin, Texas.

After graduation, he set aside his entrepreneurial aspirations for a sales career that took him to British Airways and Dell, among other places. He and his wife, Kathleen, became the parents of two children, Owen and Malia.

But the entrepreneurial…