Boy celebrates first year of cereal business with his partner & lucky charm mom

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    ASHEVILLE, NC (WLOS) — Don’t be surprised if budding entrepreneur Elijah Cox and his mom Patricia Waters have a few Trix up their sleeve.

March 7, 2020, ‘National Cereal Day,’ was the first anniversary of the small pop-up business the duo hopes to milk for all it’s worth.

It’s called Chill Cereal Bar & Cafe, a fun and perhaps flaky catering idea for parties and even business events.

The by-product could be a priceless business lesson for a boy with big plans.

“He was like, we should open a cereal bar, it was like a light bulb and I was like, oh, we should!” recalled Water. “And we say, you can be anything you want to be. For me to start this, his dream, to show him that you can really do something when you put your mind to it, and I’m gonna make his dream come true.”

“I just told my mom, we should open up a business, it just came up to me!” said Elijah, a seventh grader at Francine Delany New School for Children.

Last week, they gave folks a sample at a ribbon cutting held at the Asheville Visitor Center.

“Nerve-wracking!” Elijah described how he felt.

Chill’s assortment includes a variety of milk, cereal, and topping options.

“I love cereal a lot, like even if my mom cooks dinner, I’ll still eat cereal after she cooks dinner,” said Elijah, who says Fruity Pebbles are his jam.

Elijah’s vision may have thrown his mother for a Fruit Loop at first.

Patricia took classes at the nonprofit organization Mountain BizWorks and put together a business plan, determined to teach her son a lesson in life that’s bigger than Life Cereal.

“But it’s so Asheville, it’s so unique and so different,” she said. “So I’m like yeah, I want to show him what it’s like to be an entrepreneur. They don’t teach that in school.”

“We should all keep our eyes on Elijah, that kid is the entrepreneur of tomorrow,” said Clark Duncan, vice president of economic development for Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.

They’ve awarded Chill Cereal Bar & Cafe free Chamber membership. Their Equity Fund is a program to encourage more diversity in the regional economy. Part of the initiative is giving free memberships, which include discounts and healthcare benefits, to nominated business owners of color.

“Economic development at the end of the day is about improving socioeconomic outcomes for people in Buncombe County. Better outcomes in education, in safety, and economic prosperity.” Duncan said. “Data tells us that home ownership is one of the primary tools for achieving those goals, so that’s why we created the Equity Fund.”

The ribbon cutting at the Visitors Center brought out honey bunches of emotions.

“It’s like a dream come true, I can’t believe it, I’m shaking,” Waters said to a large crowd, holding a big set of scissors with her son.

“Most importantly, I’d like to thank my mom for making my dream come true,” Elijah said.

“You’re about to make me cry,” Patricia responded before cutting the ribbon, a moment sweeter than Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

In life and in business, Elijah knows he can always count on his mom.

You might even say, she’s his Lucky Charm.

“It makes me feel happy that my mom like listens to me and carried on my business,” he said.

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