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Introduction by Gaye Jackson, Lemonade Day Houston City Director

“Cadence Bank is an actively engaged community partner and long-term sponsor of Lemonade Day. Patrick Pacheco has been supporting our youth entrepreneurship program as a Lemonade Day Houston City Champion for more than five years. He graciously serves as a mentor, guest speaker, business pitch competition judge, and awards presenter for our youth entrepreneurship program. I am honored to know and work closely with Patrick and many other Cadence Bank team members who care so much about the kids of today who will become business and community leaders of the future. I am extremely grateful that Patrick has written this guest blog, and I invite you to share his message with others who want the best for our kids, now and always.”

Entrepreneur is a big word for young kids, but Lemonade Day makes the concept of business ownership real, relatable and understandable for children of all ages. That’s why Cadence Bank is proud to sponsor Lemonade Day and mentor students in our local communities.

As bankers, we gravitate toward the financial lessons within Lemonade Day: budgeting, cost analysis, start-up funding, investors, accounting and risk. We also take the opportunity to promote savings and encourage philanthropy. With the classes I’ve mentored, I’ve even had the kids negotiate with me for a sponsorship. While other pre-teens are negotiating screen time with mom and dad, these kids are negotiating funding to pad their profit margin.

By making these concepts real for kids through Lemonade Day, we’re giving them a foundation in business skills and financial acumen that sets them up for greater future success. But more than that, Lemonade Day also teaches self-confidence, decision-making and interpersonal skills that reach beyond the business world. These soft skills will serve participants well in every aspect of their lives.

One thing I always tell the kids I mentor is that they are already entrepreneurs, and the product they are selling is themselves – as an applicant, a student, a summer job candidate, a team captain, a cheerleader or, eventually, the right person for an entry level job, manager position or even CEO.

Sure, every kid loves making money from his or her lemonade stand – and that early taste of success is important – but there is nothing better than seeing the pride in the faces of these young business owners. And the best part is, they don’t even realize the critical skills they are learning in the process.

The analytical, financial and decision-making skills kids learn through Lemonade Day will help them become leaders of tomorrow. I can’t think of a better way to invest in the future of our community.

LEMONADE DAY HOUSTON TEEN AMBASSADORS ISABELA AND TWIN BROTHER PATRICIO MESSAGE OF GRATITUDE TO
CADENCE BANK FOR THEIR COMMITMENT TO LEMONADE DAY! Watch it HERE

Lemonade Day is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization focused on youth entrepreneurship development. Lemonade Day has expanded to 84 communities and has engaged more than 1 million kids since the program was founded in 2007 in Houston.  For more information on Lemonade Day, please visit www.lemonadeday.org

Cadence Bancorporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a regional financial holding company with $18.9 billion in assets as of June 30, 2020. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cadence Bank, N.A., operates 99 branch locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas, and provides corporations, middle-market companies, small businesses and consumers with a full range of innovative banking and financial solutions. For  more information on Cadence Bank, please visit www.cadencebank.com.