Although Pace students are busy with school, sports, and their many hobbies, some students still make time to invest in their entrepreneurial spirit. Students participate in a number of industries, from baking, like seniors Nola James and Mary Oyefuga, owners of Frosted by Nola and Mimi’s Treats, to organizations like senior Westin Pierce’s sports-themed summer camp, to businesses like senior Michael Memar’s boat-washing business.
Senior Olivia Diaz showed off her crocheting skills last year as an Arts Laureate, but crocheting goes beyond a hobby for her—she also sells her handmade clothes under the business Made by Olivia Diaz. “I have always known how to knit and crochet because I learned in first grade,” she said. But in her sophomore year, Diaz realized she could create her own clothes and started searching for designs online.
Beginning to express her creativity, she started to not follow tutorials and make her own designs. People around her soon started to notice and expressed interest in her work. “One day my sister sent me this picture and asked if I could make her a top for game days at college,” Diaz said. “It was the most complex thing I had ever made and there was no tutorial I could follow.” Some of Diaz’s friends started to ask if she could make tops for them as well, even offering to pay for them, and that’s when she realized she could turn her work and her own designs into a business. She started selling crocheted clothing on her Instagram account, called Made by Olivia Diaz.
Senior Olivia Nelson also turned her hobby into a business with her jewelry company Loops by Liv. She decided to start the business in 8th grade, during the pandemic. “I had a lot of time on my hands and I had some experience beading,” she said. “One of my friends taught me to bead with a needle and then I started experimenting with chain, not just beading.” Nelson started by making local sales and filling orders from friends, but soon expanded to receiving orders from her Instagram account and setting up an Etsy shop.
Although many Pace students have certainly been financially successful in their business ventures, pocket money isn’t the only reason they do it. “I learned time management and financial skills” from the experience, Olivia Nelson said. She has had to manage inventory, bookkeeping, and set up ads on Etsy. But it has paid off, and she even had the opportunity to sell her jewelry in physical stores, at Sprong, an accessory and children’s shop. Nelson wants to continue her business in college and expand her market, even selling in more stores.
Diaz said sometimes people don’t want to pay as much for her pieces, but her parents have encouraged her to recognize the value of her work and not lower her price just to get more sales. All of her pieces are handmade and high quality, and they come from her own designs. She has also started to work on a website. “All the pieces take me a really long time, but I do it because I love it,” she said. “It’s a matter of if I have time to work on it, because with college applications I paused from August to October.” But she has reopened the store and hopes to continue in college. Whether or not she continues to sell as much, “I’ll probably crochet for the rest of my life,” she said.
