ROGERS, Ark. — Some Northwest Arkansas students decided to start their own business this year when they realized how much extra time they had on their hands during the pandemic.
Addi Carr and Lillie Dawes, 8th and 11th graders at Haas Hall Academy in Rogers, have separate businesses. Both girls selling their items on their own Etsy shops.
Addi makes inspirational T-shirts, stickers, and dog collars.
“I always was designing shirts for myself and I every time I wore it out in public people were always asking me hey where’d you get that,” Carr said.
Lillie designs jewelry.
“I’ve really been able to up my marketing and my branding and just put a lot of work into it and it’s definitely become more successful because of that,” Dawes said.
Lillie, a couple years out from college says now that she’s started her own small business, she wants to continue learning more on how to grow it.
“I never realized I loved business and marketing so much. I really find it so fascinating,” Dawes said.
Not only do both businesses provide the students with something they love to do but it also teaches them real-world skills.
“It’s such a great thing. You learn so much about marketing, about customer service, about art, and creativity. And it’s just great. It helps with everything. It helps with my mental health during covid and it’s been able to help others during this time,” Dawes said.