FREEPORT - The aspiring executive of Angel Collectibles wears platform flip-flops and shows her belly button at the office.

It’s not as unconventional as it seems, because Ashley Cook, the boss, is 18 and works at home.

Since August 1, she has been the co-executive senior partner of Angel Collectibles, a small business she began with the large amount of memorabilia her parents, Gloria and Verlon Cook, amassed in the ’80s and ’90s.

A 2005 graduate of Orangeville High School, Ashley always knew college wasn’t for her. Instead, she was drawn to the idea of building a future by starting a small business and being her own boss.

"I decided after graduation, I would hire myself," she said. "There’s no punching a time-clock."

And her parents, who had a major role in nurturing her entrepreneurial spirit, are very supportive of Ashley’s decision.

"She won’t have time to go to college," said her mother, the "silent" business partner. "She’ll have to sell all her collectibles."

Ashley and Gloria attended a two-hour meeting for people interested in starting their own business and chose a name, Angel Collectibles. The name is a tribute both to the nickname she’s had for several years and to the Buffy The Vampire Slayer spin-off TV show about Buffy’s undead love interest, Angel.

On a sawhorse, a sign written on the back of a map with black permanent marker advertises the store, and a pink Barbie doorhanger invites customers to step inside. Like many small retailers before her, she’s finding out that getting customers to stop for a look is perhaps the biggest challenge starting out.

As first-time business owners, she and Gloria are brainstorming advertising and promotional tactics. They’ve already got business cards and a Web site, both of which Ashley designed herself.

Ashley’s stash of toys, ornaments and collectibles began growing into something profitable when Ashley’s parents began collecting toys in 1987.

Ashley explains that her father viewed collectibles as something of an alternative college fund for his daughter, and so now it’s up to her to cash in on all the merchandise saved up for her.

When she was growing up, the Cooks developed a Christmas ritual developed that taught Ashley early on that some of the best gifts in life don’t offer instant gratification.

In her case, those gifts are now the seeds of what could become her financial future.

"I’d get three Barbies," she said of those early Christmas celebrations. "I’d get one to play with and put the others away."

She has several special edition Barbies, and her parents began buying two or three of each one, hoping to maximize on their impending value in the long-term.

While she’s serious about the work, she does enjoy the benefits of working from home with family. She can dress how she wants, and spend quality time with her mother.

Ashley and Gloria giggle more like girlfriends than mother and daughter and maintain that they enjoy working together. And they have an unofficial business rule in the house - at 5 p.m., work is over for the day.

Some of the items available include Starting Line-up collectibles from 1994-1996; 250 "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV show books and 100 "Angel" spin-off books; 500 Beanie Babies; comic books from the 1940’s, Classics Illustrated books, and Elvis and Marilyn Monroe collector’s edition dolls.

Still, the biggest seller, so far, is the 50 cent bin, which contains old McDonald’s toys and numerous trinkets.

Gloria is confident in her daughter’s commitment to building a successful small business. She also gets something that most moms miss when their kids go off to college - the ability to interact with her daughter as a young adult.

"She’s a young lady who knows what she wants," Gloria said. "Where she leads, I’ll follow."