! t i a W Feature
People want to buy this?
How did three students turn their hobby into money with their free time and social media accounts during the pandemic this summer? By Ella thomas
“I
posted [handmade earrings] on my private story on Snapchat and I was like, ‘Guys, look what I learned how to do!’ Said Senior Tatum Cox, one week before she started her own online business. Cox received multiple offers to buy her earrings that week. Students often find ways to stay busy and make money over the summer. However, students were limited in what they could do during lockdown due to closed businesses and canceled summer programs. This summer some students chose to work for themselves. Along with Cox, sophomore Annika Zmijewski and senior Mandy Unterhalter also run small businesses. Cox runs a Jewelry account, Tatum’s Trinkets, on Instagram, selling bracelets, necklaces and
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The great thing about the fundraiser was that I got to educate people and made a way for younger people to donate - Mandy Unterhalter
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most prominently, earrings. Zmijewski also sells earrings on the Instagram account Anika’s Earrings and Unterhalter has sold baked goods through Instagram
and Facebook for the past 4 years through the name Sweet Addictions by Mandy. Students were encouraged to social distance this summer, which gave some more free time than usual. Both Cox and Zmijewski started Instagram accounts for their businesses after the governor’s executive order to restrict mass gatherings on March 17. They both noted without the extra time they would not have been able to start their online shops. “I didn’t really have much to do and I thought that would be really fun to do and try,” Zmijewski said. “If I had been in school, I wouldn’t have had the time or I just wouldn’t have had the idea to even start the business.” Unterhalter started her bakery in 2017, but said the lockdown gave her more free time. In the past, Unterhalter declined orders because of other commitments, but the lockdown allowed her to take more orders. This summer, Unterhalter had enough time to hold a fundraiser in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. She raised around $660 and donated it all to the Equal Justice Initiative. “The great thing about the fundraiser was that I got to educate people and made a way for younger people to donate,” Unterhalter said. “Some people may not want to donate to a person that they only know from the internet, but this made it easier for them.” All three businesses make most of their sales through word of mouth, according to the students. Cox sells her jewelry to other influencers on TikTok or Instagram that then post pictures of what they
8 | The North Star | October 2020
Mandy Unterhalter shared a picture of her Black lives matter cupcakes on June 27. The cupcakes raised awareness for the racial injustice and encourged others to make a diffrence.
bought. “I have quite a few friends that have pretty big followings on TikTok and Instagram,” Cox said. “They wanted earrings. And then I was like, ‘Oh, hey, if you wouldn’t mind, could you post it on your Instagram story or something?’ And then most of them just made a whole review video or something, which I didn’t even ask for.” According to the students, organization and customer service are the most difficult parts of the job. Although Cox and Unterhalter receive some help from their family members with organization, much of the planning is done by them.
