On the Move

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1. BLUFFTON SELF HELP NAMES NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Courtney Hampson has been named Chief Executive Officer at Bluffton Self Help. Kimberly Hall, former CEO, stepped down from the position because she and her family will move out of state. Hampson joined the team in January as the Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Bluffton Self Help she was the Vice President of Marketing for Palmetto Bluff for 16 years.

2. MAGINNIS ORTHODONTICS ADDS ORTHODONTIST

Camden Brown, DMD, MS, has joined Maginnis Orthodontics. Dr. Brown will serve patients in the Bluffton and Hilton Head locations. A Hilton Head Island native, Brown is a graduate of Harvard Dental School of Medicine and the University of Florida.

3. BERKELEY HALL CLUB NAMES ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER

Dustin Dunn has joined the Berkeley Hall team as assistant general manager. Dunn brings more than 20 years of industry expertise in cultivating a premier private club and luxury culinary vision. He recently served as the clubhouse manager for Miramont Country Club in Bryan, Texas.

4. COLLETON RIVER CLUB CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY OF NICKLAUS COURSE

Bluffton-based Colleton River Club last month celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Nicklaus Course, which saw its first round of golf on Sept. 28, 1992. The course measures over 7,100 yards.

5. THIRD-GENERATION BARBER GRADUATES TO INTERMEDIATE BARBER

Anthony Nelsen, a third-generation barber at Barbers of the Lowcountry, graduated from Lowcountry Barber College in May and became an intermediate barber. He is the son of Brent Nelsen at Barbers of the Lowcountry. As an intermediate barber, he will continue honing his skills.

6. STONEWORKS EXPANDS SALES TEAM

Cathy Shearouse recently joined Stoneworks as a new sales designer on the company’s sales and design team. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Art from Newberry College. Her background has focused on business development, community relations and sales working in a variety of industries over her career.

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8. TAYLOR 7. SEAFOOD RESTAURANT LAUNCHES “CLEAN UP KIDS” BEACH LITTER PROGRAM

FISH Casual Coastal Seafood in Coligny Plaza has launched “Clean Up Kids” where children will be rewarded for picking up beach litter with a free kid’s meal at the restaurant. To participate, stop by the restaurant, pick up a blue bucket, fill it with beach litter, and return it to FISH. Learn more at gofishhhi.com.

8. VOLUNTEER JOINS SECOND HELPINGS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Robert L. (Bob) Taylor was named to the board of directors of Second Helpings. Taylor has experience in business management, assessment, strategic planning, and business development in large and small companies. Taylor has volunteered with Second Helpings since 2020, working with the operations committee to optimize food rescue information and reporting.

9. OLDFIELD CLUB HAS NEW MANAGEMENT

Troon was selected to manage Oldfield, a private, member-owned community in Okatie. Troon Privé, the private club operating division of Troon, will manage golf operations and agronomy, the equestrian center, sports club, outfitters center, food and beverage and membership marketing as well as Oldfield’s community association. Oldfield offers an 18-hole Greg Norman-designed golf course, among many amenities.

10. SCEDA PRESENTS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Jim Newsome, outgoing president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority, was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the South Carolina Economic Developers’ Association. Newsome was honored in recognition of his prestigious career in the maritime industry. He started his career with the South Carolina Ports Authority in 2009 as the fifth leader in the history of the organization.

11. DENARIUS GROUP WINS NATIONAL AWARD FOR POLITICAL ADVERTISING

Hilton Head Island’s Denarius Group won “Best Newspaper Ad” at the 2022 Campaign & Elections Magazine’s Reed Awards in Nashville. The Denarius Group won for a print political campaign ad that appeared in local Lowcountry newspapers. The Reed Awards are considered the Emmys of the political advertising world. The awards recognize “the very best work” in a given year in a number of different media categories – from digital to broadcast to print.

>FINDING THEIR SPARK

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FINDING THEIR SPARK

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE CHAMPION WELDERS

STORY BY JUSTIN JARRETT I PHOTOS BY RITTERBECK PHOTOGRAPHY

TYLER CHILDRESS, LEFT, AND GABE JUAREZ.

At a time when good-paying jobs seem more and more difficult to find and the cost of traditional college education is increasing at an alarming rate, the prospect of technical education continues to gain steam. And the students at May River High School seem to have taken notice. The 6-year-old school’s welding program is busting at the seams (pun intended) and churning out talented students each year who are ready to walk into good-paying jobs right after graduation. They’re also winning awards and scholarships and making headlines. JUAREZ SAYS May River senior Tyler Childress, the son of welding

IT WAS “THE SIMPLICITY” OF WELDING teacher Brad Childress, took first place in the Welding Sculpture competition at the SkillsUSA South Carolina State Leadership and Skills

THAT FIRST Contest in March, and junior Gabe Juarez earned a $17,900 DREW HIM IN, BUT HE scholarship to attend Arclabs Welding School in Upstate South Carolina by winning a

HAS SINCE competition in Charleston. The younger Childress COME TO started paying more attention to his dad’s welding when he UNDERSTAND THE NUANCE was 5 or 6 and took up the torch himself at age 7. He built a barbecue grill on THAT HE commission, then started doing paid repairs on lawn mower INITIALLY decks with his dad. He was inspired by other May River OVERLOOKED. students to explore welding sculpture. “Watching kids like Sam Long back in 2011 whenever he won nationals for the sculpture competition,” Tyler recalled, “that kind of pushed me in the direction of wanting to figure out, like, what kind of sculpture I want to build.” Now he has a state title and will take his incredibly detailed replica of his Jeep Wrangler shrouded by Palmetto trees to the national convention. Juarez came to welding a bit differently. “I went to a place where you could do VR welding, and I had never really thought about it before, but I did it and really enjoyed it,” Juarez said. “It was awesome. So, I came here and tried it out, and now I really, really love it.”

Juarez says it was “the simplicity” of welding that first drew him in, but he has since come to understand the nuance that he initially overlooked. He still digs the flames and sparks, though, and he enjoys the focus and attention to detail required, which also applies to another passion — Juarez is a state champion wrestler for the Sharks and an avid martial artist.

It has also given Juarez and numerous other students an outlet to put their creativity to work. Welding goes well beyond the simple melding of joints, especially in the May River program. Brad Childress wanted to be a mechanic until his brother helped him land a welding job, and he was immediately hooked and happy to pull in healthy hourly wages doing something he loved.

He made the pivot to education in 2004 and spent a decade teaching at the Beaufort-Jasper Academy for Career Excellence (ACE) before starting the welding curriculum at Battery Creek.

After one year at BCHS, he joined the staff at the newly opened May River High School in 2016.

Tyler earned a scholarship to the Tulsa Welding School’s Jacksonville campus when he won a competition that attracted talented young welders from along the East Coast, but he elected to gift it to another classmate because he plans to follow his dad’s lead.

He already has a well-paying job lined up after graduation and plans to work a few years before moving to a teaching environment to pass on his talents and passions to another generation.

“When I became a teacher is when I really discovered my passion for welding, and the doors were open,” Brad Childress says. “You could do art, you could do fabrication, you could do structural welds, and you could just kind of go where your heart led you. And these guys have pumped that up, too.”

“These guys” are the 56 students currently filling up the 14 welding booths at the school across all four blocks of the day — Childress forgoes a planning period to take an extra class and accommodate at least a few more students (there are 127 on the waiting list).

“Yeah, just constantly coming,” Childress says in response to the gasping reply to that number. “The good Lord gave me the ability just to be able to bond and connect with people, and I think the bond that I create with my students helps drive them into that passion, and they see how they can be successful and make good money.”

CREATING SOMETHING SPECIAL

JOURNEE ORAGE ESTABLISHES THRIVING BUSINESS

STORY BY AMY BARTLETT | PHOTOS BY PICTURE THE POSSIBILITIES

When you first hear the story about a little girl who “sells lip gloss” you might mistakenly think it’s as cute as a neighborhood lemonade stand.

But that would be underestimating the striking presence, drive and cameraready communication skills of young entrepreneur, 10-year-old Journee Orage.

More than a kid with a hobby, she’s a serious young businesswoman with a fully branded line of beauty products and dose of ambition that’s twice her size.

The idea for Poppin Lips By J Etc., started when Orage’s mother, Eugenia, noticed her daughter always carried a lip stick or lip gloss and was “playing in makeup” from a very young age.

What Orage created is bigger than a little bling. It’s a young girl’s reaction to her own inspirational mother and her heart to share that joy with others.

“Journee wanted to create something other little girls could keep with them to feel just as special,” her mother said.

Poppin Lips produces an assorted variety of vegan glosses in fun flavors, created to be “every girl’s best friend,” but the young Orage talks about the business side with serious savvy.

“I’ve learned a lot about building confidence when speaking and I was inspired by seeing others on Tik Tok and other social media platforms making their own money without working for others,” she said.

It seems she has career advancement figured out before advancing to middle school.

“What’s most important to me is the quality of the product, so I’ve learned not to rush through making the lip gloss,” Journee said.

BLUFFTON POST OFFICE

She’s also learning a lot about counting money, as her burgeoning business is beginning to grow. Her ever increasing inventory has grown since the start with branded accessories from scrunchies, mini-purses, and summer shades, to bangles, bundles, keychains, commuter cups, holiday trinkets, and masks. A fifth-grader at Hilton Head Island Elementary School for the Creative Arts, Orage has developed a stocked inventory of cosmetics and accessories, branded packaging, and a logo featuring her own image which comes in handy for marketing efforts and organic content created that she publishes on all major social platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and her website poppinlipsbyjetc. com. You can find a range of items on the site, but your best bet for the most up-to-date content is her socials where posts and videos give you an introduction to her catalog.

Passionate about everything she puts her hand to and living up to her moniker as a young CEO, Journee runs her own video content, curated to sell wares as well as keep awareness focused on supporting small business as well as kid-owned and Black-owned businesses. Being a star of video content and photo shoots alike sets the scene for other kids to see an example of what one can accomplish at any age.

Orage’s “get it done” spirit has proven contagiously positive from Bluffton to Hilton Head Island, where she lives with her family.

It’s also helped her grow her business steadily for three years, whether online or behind merchandise tables at local farmers markets, Gullah markets, beauty expos, fundraisers and charity events.

ASHLYN SOTOLONGO DISPLAYS TALENT FOR THE THEATER

BY AMY COYNE BREDESON | PHOTOS BY ROB KAUFMAN

Nine-year-old Ashlyn Sotolongo is the youngest contestant to earn the 2022 Island School Council for the Arts Rising Stars award.

Every year the nonprofit Island School Council for the Arts hosts a showcase and talent show that is open to third- through 12th-graders in southern Beaufort County. The talent show normally takes place at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, but it has been held virtually the past two years due to COVID-19.

To compete in this year’s virtual competition, each contestant was asked to submit a video of themselves performing. The videos were sent to industry professionals, including Broadway producers, musical directors, choreographers and performers across the country for judging. The top 25 performances were then sent to another set of judges.

Ashlyn submitted a video of herself performing “Naughty” from “Matilda the Musical,” and she was chosen as a “Star to Watch” in the junior division for musical theater.

“I was surprised because I didn’t really think I had a chance because there were so many older people,” Ashlyn said. “But luckily I did.”

Ashlyn is a third-grader at Hilton Head Preparatory School, where her favorite subject is math. She loves singing and dancing. She is a gymnast and is learning to play the flute.

Ashlyn began performing in musicals in kindergarten, when she was in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at Hilton Head Preparatory School Main Street Theatre on Hilton Head Island.

Ashlyn’s older sister, Caylin Campis, who is now 22, was involved in theater as a teenager and introduced Ashlyn to the world of musicals early on. Caylin was also once among the Top 25 Rising Stars.

“Ashlyn was lucky because her big sister went to Prep with her, and she used to get to ride with her,” Ashlyn’s mother, Ramara Garrett, said. “So, every morning they would sing theater shows all the way. Whatever Caylin was in, they were singing all the songs from it.” Ashlyn has performed in eight shows, including “Beauty and the Beast,” Hilton Head Preparatory’s “Fall Spectacular,” “Frozen Jr,” “Tuck Everlasting” and “Jungle Book Kids.” In November, Ashlyn made her Arts Center of Coastal Carolina debut as Mentine in “Clicquot in Concert.” ISCA executive director and Hilton Head Preparatory performing arts director Patti Maurer said Ashlyn was able to work with Broadway performers in “Clicquot.” She said the young girl sat through hours and hours of rehearsal, and everyone was so impressed.

Garrett said her daughter is tremendously dedicated for her age. She practices over and over before auditions and performances. She won’t stop until she feels she has gotten it right.

“I understand why most kids wouldn’t do it,” Garrett said. “You have to have such a high level of patience and be willing to just stand until they can figure out exactly where they need you and when they need you, and what you need to do. And that’s very difficult for a lot of kids to do. That particular part of theater just takes a special person, especially at this age.”

If you would like to see Ashlyn’s talent for yourself, make sure to see her in the Main Stage Community Theatre’s production of “The Sound of Music,” which is planned for June 24 to July 3 at Hilton Head Preparatory School Main Street Theatre. Ashlyn will play the role of Marta von Trapp. Coincidentally, Ashlyn is the second youngest of seven children, just like her character in the musical.

“She does such a great job,” Maurer said about Ashlyn. “We’re super proud of her. Can’t wait to see where she goes.”

For more information about the “The Sound of Music,” call 843-689-6246 or visit online at mainstagecommunitytheatre.org

RISING STAR