A Memoir on Family Entrepreneurship, Profit-Sharing Negotiations, and One Unsold Balloon Dog
Setting: March 2026
The idea started casually.
One evening, I suggested that maybe Caleb could try selling some of his 3D prints. Not as a serious business venture. Mostly just so he could learn a little about money... and maybe cover some of the cost of the filament I keep buying.
Just a balloon dog to start.
But the conversation escalated quickly. Different colors. Different models. Maybe a whole little product line.
Caleb thought about it for a moment and finally agreed.
Holden reacted immediately. He jumped up and grabbed an axolotl—an earlier print we had made—and suggested we sell that, too.
Then he disappeared into his room and came back holding a toy airplane.
Not a 3D print. Just a random airplane.
He asked if we could list that for sale as well.
But before anything could be sold, we needed photos. Holden volunteered for the job and took the balloon dog to the windowsill to photograph it.
The lighting was terrible.
So I sent him to the kitchen for a quick lesson from my dad, the actual photographer in the family. After a little coaching about lighting, Holden came back with better pictures.
Meanwhile we still had to work out the financial structure of the operation.
Caleb pointed out that he was the one printing the items. I pointed out that I was the one paying for the filament. Holden felt that photographing them counted as work.
Eventually we reached an agreement: Caleb would receive seventy-five percent of any sales and Holden would receive twenty-five percent.
The photos were taken. The listings were posted.
And then we waited.
After all that planning and negotiation…
...no one bought a damn balloon dog.
This post is part of my One-Minute Memoir series — short reflections on small moments that still manage to say something big.
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