Dream Makers Market is serious business for these SouthCoast youth
NEW BEDFORD — It's never too soon to start thinking about the future, and 14 school-age entrepreneurs from the SouthCoast — ranging from 9 to 17 years old — have been doing a lot of that this summer, especially with the real-world money-making opportunity extended to them at the first Dream Makers Market.
Touted by organizers as a new way to offer local youth artisans a chance to gain real-world entrepreneurial experience running their own vendors' table, the event — presented by Buy Black NB in collaboration with Our Sisters' School, Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts and EforAll South Coast — debuted at Wing's Court in New Bedford during the annual Kids Rule AHA! Night, and featured 14 vendors from area schools selling goods like original art prints, handmade jewelry, self-care products and more, as the group of rising fourth- to 12th-graders learned the ropes of doing business.
"Some of our students cleared almost $400," said Tobey Eugenio, creativity/STEAM director at Our Sisters' School in New Bedford. "Not bad for three hours, especially considering none of our students had ever done this before."
"I'm really happy with how it went," said Justina Perry, founder and director of Buy Black NB. "It was a pretty excellent turnout."
With help from Buy Black NB's grant funding from New Bedford Creative, Perry said the young vendors were provided with resources to help jumpstart their ideas as they learned about what it would take to make them reality.
"As part of our grant funding, we were able to support the youth with some startup cash," Perry said. "We were able to provide some bills to make change and give them some of what they needed to build their brand, help them create a table layout that would attract customers and those kinds of things. ... I’m very proud of them."
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The event also included a mentorship component, Perry noted, which entailed student entrepreneurs being paired up with experienced adult counterparts. "Each vendor was assigned a mentor out of our established vendors from the Black business community, who are really experts at vending now," she said, noting the event was also Buy Black NB's first in-person collaboration with AHA! Night. Buy Black NB began in the summer of 2020 as a means to support Black-owned local businesses.
Preparatory sessions leading up to the event addressed certain topics that Dream Makers Market participants would encounter, Eugenio said.
"We were covering things like, what is a business? How do you come up with a name? If it costs you this much and takes this long to make, how much would you have to charge — and is that viable?" she said. "It was great to see the community come together to support and to show our young humans that they can be empowered and they can take steps — even at the age of 10 or 11 — to make their own money and have agency in their world."
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As for future opportunities, Perry and Eugenio say to look out for announcements of more events like this one on the horizon.
"It'll be a series," Perry said. "The Kids Rule AHA! Night was a very well-established event we were joining in on, so in this case we knew there was going to be foot traffic and people who came out. So if there's another occasion happening with a group that we can join forces with and bring a lot of people out, we hope to do that.
"We're considering hosting something in the fall for the youth to be able to sell again."
Eugenio said at Our Sisters' School, the level of entrepreneurial interest expressed by students, especially since the Dream Makers Market opportunity arose, has been enough to kick existing programming around business leadership up a notch. "I run, as part of our STEAM program, a kind of Shark Tank/community business piece, but this has actually allowed them to step out and make money," she said. "So, the plan is to add it into the curriculum next year, and then we’ll have even more students engaged and creating."
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Meet the vendors
Name: Maia Morgan 12, of New Bedford; entering Grade 7 at Our Sisters' School
Business name: Photosynthesis
Items sold: Watercolor paintings, laser-cut wood earrings
On getting started: "I sell watercolor paintings. They used to be the main focus until the idea of plant type earrings came in as an option. In terms of earrings I sell leaf earrings and mushroom earrings, which I personally find pretty stylish! The watercolor paintings resonate with the business name, Photosynthesis, as the paintings are flowers or plants. The earrings were made out of wood and were laser cut with the wonderful help of Mrs. Eugenio."
On participating in Dream Makers Market: "Some things I've learned about this event is I need to be more confident in my wares. Even if my paintings look horrible to me, of course loads of people will end up loving them. (In fact, all of my paintings sold!) I also have to be quicker with cash back, a lot of people handed me 20s and I wasn't very quick about giving them five dollars. Of course I was trying my hardest but someone eventually got angry about it, and I don't want it to ever happen again."
On future in business: "I have plans for the future for Photosynthesis taking off, for example I have 3 places where I have permission to set up pop-up-shops in Martha's Vineyard, and customers from New York. I, personally, don't know how to set up a website or if it costs money or not, so that's more of a 'later' idea."
Business contact: Mooialouia12@gmail.com
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Name: Madison Alves, 14, of Dartmouth; entering Grade 9 at Bishop Stang.
Business name: Maddie's Jewels
Items sold: Earrings
On getting started: "I first started learning and making earrings in the third grade at Holy Family Holy Name School in New Bedford. Initially it was difficult and I had to make sure to pay attention to all the little details as well as learning how to use all the jewelry tools."
On participating in Dream Makers Market: "I've learned that patience has been very important because it's very time consuming choosing styles and making them and hoping your customers will love them. Also, making sure I have enough inventory and enough variety. Lastly, time management can be tricky because I attend Sea Lab, Dartmouth travel basketball and summer basketball at Burgo, vocal lessons at Double Bar Music and other various camps."
On future in business: "I've been thinking about creating an Etsy shop and I've had a pop-up in the past at Celia's Boutique located in downtown New Bedford."
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Name: Jackie Sassin, 17, of Acushnet; entering Grade 12 at Dartmouth High School
Business name: Angel Energy
Items sold: Jewelry
On getting started: "I have a handmade jewelry business that I started in October of 2021. ... I got into making jewelry because of my birthday photos. I wanted a pearl necklace with a cross on it, but for some reason, I couldn’t find one to purchase, so I made it. That made me realize that I could sell handmade jewelry. I’ve always been a crafty type of girl, so it became a easy hobby for me to catch onto. ... Other than the event on Thursday, I have been selling on Depop, as well as selling to people in school, or shipping to people aren’t able to purchase off my depop or in school."
On participating in Dream Makers Market: "While preparing for this event, I learned how helpful it will be to do more events like this in person. I also learned how quick time flies by, and how I should use any extra time I have to put into my business to help it grow."
On future in business: "Future plans for my business will definitely be to do more vendor events like this. Although it is a lot of work to prepare, it will push my business and help my name get out there. To become successful, you need to put in the effort. I also want to continue to be consistent with posting on TikTok, and stay consistent with my Depop as well."
Business contact: @angel_energy222 (Depop.com, TikTok)
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Name: Julielys Monteiro, 9, of Fairhaven; entering Grade 4 at St. Joseph School in Fairhaven
Business name: Excella
Items sold: Self-care products (body wash, lip balm)
On getting started: "... it hasn't been difficult. I have always wanted to own my own business."
On participating in Dream Makers Market: "I learned that I have to interact with people and be nice. I would try to sell something new if i participated in a event like this again."
On future in business: "Future plans for my business will definitely be to do more vendor events like this. Although it is a lot of work to prepare, it will push my business and help my name get out there. To become successful, you need to put in the effort. I also want to continue to be consistent with posting on TikTok, and stay consistent with my Depop as well."
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Name: Elena Monteiro, 13, of Acushnet; entering Grade 8 at Alma del Mar - Frederick Douglass Campus
Business name: ECB (Elena's Custom Bracelets)
Items sold: Custom-made bracelets,"Pop-it"s and stickers
On getting started: "(The Dream Makers Market was) my debut. ... I became interested in making bracelets when I saw a kit at Target and I thought it would be cool to make bracelets. At first it was difficult but then it became easier."
On participating in Dream Makers Market: "I have learned to interact with people more and not to wait last minute to complete merchandise."
On future in business: "I might create drawings to sell in the future and attend more events to sell my product."
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Name: Arieanah Lopes, 15, of New Bedford; entering 10th grade at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School
Business name: Younique.skxtches
Items sold: "I sell prints of my original digital and traditional artwork. I have been experimenting with different mediums and have begun to create painted shirts. I have sold artwork in the past but the Buy Black NB event was my first experience with my business name."
On getting started: "I was introduced to traditional art by my grandmother at a very young age and ever since then, I have always been drawn to anything creative. I soon learned that art was what I was meant to do when I arrived at Our Sisters’ School. I spent every free moment of my middle school years creating in the artist studio with the support of my art teacher Mrs. Eugenio. My connection with the craft grew stronger during quarantine. During this time I improved at a rapid pace, yet it felt like it came to me naturally."
On participating in Dream Makers Market: "I have never run my booth before this event so I knew I had to open to so many new learning experiences. I learned to be flexible and work through challenges. Throughout the event I found myself becoming more comfortable with my voice and engaging with my customers which made it mutually enjoyable. I have learned what intrigues my audience and what does not which helps me have a better understanding of what my business should offer."
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On future in business: "I am a community-oriented individual so I see myself taking part in similar events in the future where I get to not only display my passion but connect with the citizens of New Bedford. I am starting to accept commissions from customers through email. I am hoping in the future to create a website to have my work reach others beyond New Bedford. I do not see a future for myself without art being included in it somehow."
Business contact: Instagram: @younique.skxtches; Email: arieanahskxtches@gmail.com
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Name: Giselle Dos Reis, 12, of New Bedford; entering Grade 7 at Our Sisters' School
Items sold: "I sell handmade beaded jewelry like earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings."
On getting started: "I have always been interested in making different crafts and making bracelets and it wasn’t difficult to learn at all."
On participating in Dream Makers Market: "Something that I have learned from this experience is to be yourself, have fun, and be confident in yourself. If I were given the opportunity to do this I again I would because it was so much fun."
On future in business: "I would really like to build a website and start selling my crafts online as my future plans. So this opportunity was a great stepping stool for me."
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Name: Samara Kazan, 14, of New Bedford; entering Grade 7 at Our Sisters' School
Items sold: Handmade hair scrunchies
On getting started: "I started sewing things this year and spent most of my time making scrunchies, which I enjoy making but they take a lot of time and patience to make. Especially because I want the scrunchies to be neat and high quality."
On participating in Dream Makers Market: "Something I have learned is to start preparing early (maybe even if you think it's too early) because you don't know what can happen and hold you back, which did happen to me a couple of times. It was fun to sell my products, be in control of my own booth, and present my product to everyone. If I were to do this again I would focus on making scrunchies with fabrics that have cartoon characters or interesting designs so people will be more willing to buy them. For instance, this person really likes care bears and colorful things, when she saw I had a carebear scrunchie she bought it with no hesitation and was joyful!"
On future in business: "I love making things and will be making a website in the future to sell these as a hobby but I'll probably have a different future job and do this during my free time."
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Buy Black NB encourages young New Bedford youth business owners
