This week, I have kids on my mind—and entrepreneurs—and entrepreneurial kids.

Over Labor Day, my fiancé and I took a quick trip to Orlando to visit his son and daughter-in-law. On the way down, I amused myself by reading Southwest Airlines' Spirit magazine. In it was an article about 13-year-old Leanna Archer, founder and chief executive officer of Leanna's Inc.

At eight, Leanna approached her parents with the idea to manufacture and market her great-grandmother's homemade hair pomade. They didn't take her seriously. But when she was nine, she approached them again. This time, she was armed with the forms she needed to get her business going, including applications for a business license and a tax ID, as well as data research (she'd been secretly supplying pomade to her grade school friends and taking their requests. How could they say no?

Just four short years later, Leanna grosses approximately $100,000 a year manufacturing and packaging her pomade and other natural beauty products with help from her family in her parents' basement.

You can read the full article Corner Office, along with entrepreneurial tips, online at www.spiritmag.com. But, here's the moral of the story: If a kid can do it so can you.

When we got to Florida, I spent one full day copy editing a portion of my future daughter-in-law's book. Anita has written a novel, which she intends to self-publish. She and her husband, Chris, have done their research. She's done the hard work of writing the book and lining up buyers. He's designed a strikingly beautiful cover. And, they've done it all while caring for a five-year-old son and twin three-year-old daughters. Chris has a full-time day job. Anita goes to school four nights a week (she's studying to be a teacher) and holds down a part-time, home-based telemarketing job. (P.S. She started a full-time job this week—working from home—scheduling in-home assistants for seniors and others.)

I left Florida thinking, "If Anita can write a book, why can't I?" After all, I have two half-finished novels in the wings. But truth be told, I've convinced myself not to finish them. I have a list of reasons why:

— they might not be good enough to get picked up by a publisher

— I don't have time to write at night

— I'm busy raising three kids

After visiting with Anita and Chris, my excuses seemed weak and they just kept getting weaker.

Two days after I returned from Florida, I went to the Regional Business Council's Women's Leadership luncheon in support of the United Way. Gail Evans, former executive vice-president of the CNN Newsgroup, was the guest speaker. Gail wrote the New York Times business bestseller Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman. She spoke about what people, particularly women, need to do to get ahead.

Here's a tip from Gail's book: "Women often think they must be smarter than men to land the job, but you can outsmart yourself by being too smart. If you come to the interview armed with a dozen Serious Points you want to make, you may become so concerned with showing off your knowledge that you don't hear the actual conversation."

When I read that tip, I knew I would share it with you because if you substitute 'job seeker' for 'women' and 'each other' for 'men' you have a really great piece of interview advice from one of the most accomplished professionals in America.

Six days later, I was following Gail's advice on inter-office networking when one of my colleagues started talking about her son. He's eight and already "working on commission."

Let me explain. His mom is a sales manager and a good one. So, when her son Tyler wanted to earn more money than he could with his current allowance and chore chart, she augmented the chart, adding chores and commissions. His allowance remained his base, but now for every chore he completed over his original list, he could also earn a commission. She said he's already negotiating higher commissions based on what he has determined to be fair labor practices.

What do Leanna, Anita, Gail and Tyler have in common? They figured out a way to get what they want. Using creativity and dogged determination, they found or invented their own opportunities.

We would do well to follow their lead.

I'm not suggesting you have to start your own business or write a book. But, you may have to network with more gusto than ever before, or you may have to head back to school, or take jobs you're not enamored with—all for the sake of doing what you really love.

The only difference between "those who do" and "those who don't" is that those who don't have decided they can't and those who do have decided not to let anything stop them.

What will you decide?

Me? I've decided to finish my book.