Turning pastimes into passion

When sophomores Morgan Luker and Emily-Kate Hannapel caught sight of the staggering price tags on skirts at Urban Outfitters, they decided to save 30 bucks and put their own fashion sense to work. A trip to the local thrift store and a dusting off of the old sewing machine has now led to over 25 orders of the designing duo's custom-made skirts. And, much to their surprise, both have taken on a new hobby: entrepreneurship.

Luker and Hannapel represent two of a handful of Blazers who have started to dip their feet in the business world. With the growing popularity of Blair classes like Entrepreneurship and Advertising, Blazers follow in the footsteps of Apprentice stars and take on the tasks of making products, profits and personal gains.

Getting started

Growing up, it is unlikely that Blair's soon-to-be CEOs and company presidents knew they would find themselves invested in their own company. Random inspiration hit hard last year for junior Martin Brown, who, after watching a TV show on clothing lines, designed his own line named Fsuwg (pronounced "foozh-woozh"). Now a few months later, with the help of juniors Brian Crawford and Victor Clark, Brown has sold over 100 shirts and hoodies priced anywhere from $13 to $23 to Blair students.

Freshman Eric Hysen found he could make real money, $400 a client, for doing something he loved—web design. A year later, Hysen, along with a few friends, has designed and maintained the web sites for Community Pool, the White Oak Exxon Station and Ad America: National Yellow Pages Services through his own web design company called HGInteractive.

"They're going to be hot"

Creating a custom-made skirt, logo-ed T-shirt or low-priced website is one thing; finding interested consumers is another. According to Business Department teacher Dr. Edward Taliff, who teaches Blair's Marketing and Advertising class, the key to getting a business going is establishing a clientele. "You have to find a way to get the word out," he says.

Brown personally advertised his T-shirts by wearing them to school. "I went up to everyone, told them about the merchandise and said, ‘You have to buy a shirt! They're going to be hot!'" he explains. After a few shirts were sold, people began approaching Brown and asking how much a T-shirt or sweatshirt cost. "Word of mouth appears to be working well," he says.

The next Apprentice

According to Taliff, anyone can start his or her own business if they have a passion. "There is a market out there for almost anything you can think of," he explains. "You can make a business out of being an artist, an athlete, a musician or a brain."

Senior Saskia Fagan took that business advice to heart four months ago when she started her own cat-sitting company, Frolicking Felines. Fagan, who loves animals, goes to her client's houses and takes care of their cats for $13 a day.

As a part of her recommended Entrepreneurship class, Fagan learned about business essentials such as devising a business plan and being professional when handling clients. "Dealing with the customer is half the battle," Fagan says; because of the class, "[I] was more prepared to go out in the real world."

"We're only 14 years old"

Blair's young businessmen and women agree that it is only worth the time and effort to make a business a success if it is exciting, fun and harnesses a passion. "If you want to be successful, get other people involved—it's a lot easier if you're doing it with some friends. Doing everything yourself can be really overwhelming and boring," Hysen advises.

Blair's young entrepreneurs are stepping up to responsibilities that many other teenagers their age would never imagine doing. "It's neat to say that we're only 14 years old, but we run a registered business," Hysen says.
Taliff agrees. He notes, "These kids are incredible."