In Chatham, Virginia, sixteen-year-old Cadence Rose is balancing chemistry homework with customer emails, research essays with product photography. Most teenagers her age are navigating the halls of high school. Cadence has already graduated, enrolled in college full-time, and built a successful all-natural soap company—all while managing a chronic illness that makes everyday tasks more challenging than most people could imagine.
Her middle name became her brand, and her family’s generations-old tradition became her business model. Cadence Rose—both the person and the company—emerged from a simple observation and an even simpler question: Why couldn’t she find all-natural soaps that actually listed every ingredient?
“In 2023, after making soap for a while, I realized it was not easy to find all natural soaps that listed every ingredient used,” Cadence explains. The solution seemed obvious to her fourteen-year-old self: create beautifully designed soaps with complete transparency about what goes into them. “This is so my customers can know what they are putting on their skin.”
The Launch
What happened next was nothing short of extraordinary—and exhausting. On December 1, 2023, Cadence embarked on what she now calls “an ambitious feat.” With no filming or editing experience, she committed to creating five YouTube videos per week throughout December to promote her January 1st launch. Between takes, she built her website. Between editing sessions, she shot product photography.
“In hindsight, starting Cadence Rose was an ambitious feat, but it was so worth it,” she reflects. “I was fourteen-years old when I launched Cadence Rose, and though I had the soap making experience, I did not have experience starting a business.”
The crash course in entrepreneurship was intense, but formative. By New Year’s Day 2024, Cadence Rose the company was born.
Lessons in Balance and Grace
Being homeschooled gave Cadence advantages that traditional schooling might not have afforded. She graduated at sixteen and transitioned straight into college coursework while continuing to run her business. Her daily routine involves completing tasks immediately—whether it’s a research essay or a customer inquiry—and carving out precious moments for reading, documentaries about history, and time with friends.
But even the most disciplined entrepreneur can’t plan for everything.
Toward the end of 2024, Cadence became ill and was hospitalized during the first week of December—exactly a year after her intensive pre-launch push. For someone who had worked tirelessly to build her business single-handedly, the timing couldn’t have been worse.
“This was incredibly disappointing for me because it meant I would not be able to complete the business’s tasks,” she admits. Her family stepped in, and the experience taught her something no business course could: “It is okay to ask for help and to give myself grace.”
That grace is especially important given that Cadence lives with POTS—Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome—a chronic illness that causes increased heart rate and makes certain tasks more difficult. It’s partly why she started Cadence Rose in the first place.
“One of the reasons I started Cadence Rose was because I wanted to have a career doing something I loved that also worked with my health,” she explains. “This business allows me to work at my own pace while doing something I truly enjoy.”
The Moment That Mattered Most
Ask Cadence about her proudest moment, and she doesn’t mention sales figures or social media milestones. Instead, she lights up talking about a phone call.
After taking one of her online soap-making courses, a student called with a question. The conversation stretched to twenty minutes. The student had been following Cadence’s videos and was thrilled to learn more about the craft. She’s since become one of Cadence’s biggest supporters.
“As someone who has put so much work into what I do, it makes me so happy to see people learn from and appreciate it,” Cadence says.
It’s those connections—the encouraging messages from across the United States and around the world—that fuel her during difficult times. “I always remind myself about how lucky I am to have this opportunity and the amazing people who support me across the world,” she says. “Those are the moments that make everything worth it.”
Breaking Through
Being a young entrepreneur comes with its share of skepticism. Cadence has had to prove herself repeatedly, balancing the demands of school and work while convincing others to take her seriously. But the advantages have been remarkable. This summer, she received a scholarship toward her business degree. Running the company throughout her school years has expanded her education “in ways I did not know were possible.”
“While being a young business owner can pose challenges such as balancing school and work as well as having to prove myself,” she says, “I would not trade this for the world.”
Her advice to other young people eyeing entrepreneurship is refreshingly direct: “Just start and keep going.”
She remembers struggling with the vulnerability of putting herself out there, but she’s learned that improvement requires that first step. “I have found that just showing up and doing my best does so much for my business and my audience.”
Looking Ahead
At sixteen, Cadence has already accomplished what many entrepreneurs spend decades working toward. But she’s just getting started. Her goals for Cadence Rose are threefold: provide high-quality products for everyone, teach others how to make soap themselves, and grow the business sustainably.
“Now at sixteen, and throughout the time Cadence Rose has been running, we have been able to accomplish so much, and I could not be prouder,” she says. “I hope that Cadence Rose will continue to prosper, and I am so excited for the future.”
It’s a future she’s building one bar of soap, one YouTube video, one customer connection at a time—on her own terms, at her own pace, and with complete transparency about every ingredient along the way.