Ariana’s Garden, young girl, big ideas, charitable heart

At 13, Ariana Erickson is a young entrepreneur. She has a great head for business, loves to produce a creation with meaning and sells it to raise money for causes that she believes in. This is how she spends most of her summer.

Welcome to Ariana's Garden, a small altruistic business that began with sales in front of her house, but is grown steadily since she was 9-years-old.

At 13, Ariana Erickson is a young entrepreneur. She has a great head for business, loves to produce a creation with meaning and sells it to raise money for causes that she believes in. This is how she spends most of her summer.

Welcome to Ariana's Garden, a small altruistic business that began with sales in front of her house, but is grown steadily since she was 9-years-old.

On Aug. 1, Ariana Erickson set up shop at Handful of Wildflowers in La Mesa to raise money for the Great Pyrenees of Southern California Rescue, and introducing some of her latest creations, and a specialty of hers that is only available through summer.

Her mother, Claudia Erickson (packaging, marketing and promotions) said she began with jewelry and garden gifts, but has expanded in her knowledge and created a line of homemade body and bath products. A solid perfume locket with essential oils is her latest enterprise, which is gaining momentum.

But for the summer sales, her Cat Keepers are the perfect gift for nature lovers and provide a personal experience in helping and watching the transformation of a Monarch butterfly. Giving candle lanterns a new purpose, that comes with a container for milkweed and the fuzzy caterpillar, eats, grows, turns into a chrysalis and materialize as a Monarch,

Ariana Erickson said she felt the day went really well.

"It was successful and I think many people benefited from it," she said. "We got to talk to a lot of kids about Monarch's and tell them about the problems they face."

More than 25 caterpillars found new homes Saturday morning.

She said she loved supporting different charities, causes and understands that this is also good for business.

"Right now I support the Great Pyrenees Rescue because I love this breed and they helped us find our current dog Charlie," she said. "There are so many Great Pyrenees dogs at the rescue that need a new home because people get the dogs when they are little and fluffy and then give them away when they become too big. The Rescue is struggling to keep going right now and can really use all the help they can get. I also like supporting Sherri, the owner of Handful of Wildflowers because it's one of my favorite stores in the Village and she helps so many people by having their homemade items on consignment. She's helped me expand Ariana's Garden and I've gained more business experience."

Claudia Erickson said so far that Ariana has donated over $2,000 to a variety of charities. She has helped to build clean water wells in Ethiopia, save the Amazon rain forests, and support the Second Chance Dog Rescue. As much as she wants to help fund charities, "Ariana always likes to support local businesses and social responsibility," she said.

To find out more about Ariana’s business look for Ariana’s Garden on Facebook, email Claudia Erickson (Ariana’s Mom) at cakerickson4@gmail.com

A large supporter of Ariana's Garden, additional milkweed plants can be purchased at Hunter’s Nursery (www.huntersnursery.com) in Lemon Grove. Twenty-five percent of proceeds will go to the Great Pyrenees of Southern California Rescue (www.GreatPyrRescue.org).