Natosha Jones is a walking advertisement for Natosha's Jewelry.

She's wearing three bracelets, two rings, two necklaces and a pair of earrings, all red, black and gold, and all her own design.

Jewelry making started as a hobby and has turned into a small business for the 18-year-old, who spends about three days a week crafting her wares using beads from Wal-Mart. She sells her designs to relatives, friends and people she meets through school.

"I was always into fashion and stuff," she said. "You can wear something plain and then just hook it up with accessories. It adds to your look."

Ms. Jones, who lives in the Hill District, has been making and selling jewelry since she was 13. While she hasn't made much money so far, she remains optimistic and dreams of opening her own jewelry store in New York City or maybe somewhere in Florida. Someplace where people are fashionable, she said.

"This is exactly what I want to do," Ms. Jones said. "Something with jewelry or fashion design. I love arts and crafts."

Ms. Jones, and other young people like her who are starting their own businesses, may be the solution to bringing the United States out of the recession, according to Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series. Mr. Hansen is the author of the newly published book, "The Richest Kids in America: How They Earn It, How They Spend It, How You Can Too."

"The only way out of every recession is innovation, and the most innovative people on the planet are always kids," he said.

The new book profiles entrepreneurs under 18 who have taken talents -- such as painting or baking -- and turned them into money-making opportunities.

Starting a business is no easy feat, but for some teenagers it might be easier than finding a job.

The number of teens hired for summer jobs through June is slightly ahead of last year, but 2009 still remains one of the worst summer job markets for teens since the 1950s, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data by global outplacement consulting organization Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. A July report from the group showed teen employment grew by 698,000 in June, compared with 683,000 last year and 1.1 million in 2007.

Teaching entrepreneurial skills to young people is the "smartest anti-poverty strategy America has," said Jerry Cozewith, executive director for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship's Greater Pittsburgh Office.

The organization provides entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities, and recently sponsored a youth business plan competition.

Pittsburgh CAPA High School sophomore Amber Key placed third in the 2009 George W. Tippins' Regional Youth Entrepreneur Business Competition for her business, Birdhouse Greeting Cards.

Ms. Key, who just turned 15, started making her own greeting cards when she was 10 because she never liked the selections available elsewhere. Her office is a clubhouse in the back yard of her home in Highland Park, and since it looks a little like a birdhouse, she decided to name her card company after it.

Every day, she tries to draw new ideas for cards geared toward teens. "The hardest part is probably the motivation," she said.

Her cards have become popular enough that when she goes to friends' birthday parties, many of the cards given are her design.

Neither Ms. Key nor Ms. Jones are making enough money in their businesses to support themselves financially; but Mr. Cozewith said entrepreneurial education and experience give young people life skills about how business works, and how money is made and lost. This knowledge ultimately gives them an advantage, he said.

"Entrepreneurs are just hungry for innovation and an expression of creativity, even if they make mistakes," Mr. Cozewith said. "You have to tolerate failure. You are inevitably going to make mistakes."

When she's not making jewelry, Ms. Jones is taking classes for her GED and planning to go to trade school in New York City to learn more about designing and making jewelry.

Family members are supportive, she said, although they also have encouraged her to consider becoming a nurse or an architect. But she said she was determined to make jewelry, even though she knows it will be a struggle.

"You've just got to believe in yourself," she said. "You've just got to do it."