16 FEATURE
Junior Madison Martinez clasps a charm to a metal earring hook for one of the products she sells on her Etsy shop MandDsBoutique. PHOTO PROVIDED BY MADISON MARTINEZ
Passions to Profit Students make money selling handmade jewelry on Etsy BY ABBY GODSEN OLIVIA HELMUTH assistant editor reporter Hobbies can serve as unique creative outlets to pass time, but committing to an interest and turning it into a profitable business takes dedication and research. For junior Madison Martinez, her business started as a hobby that over time became a bigger priority. “It is something that I can do with my mom, especially during quarantine,“ Martinez said. “We wanted to do something fun and creative during this time. It has really kept me busy and I feel like I have to stay on top of things and check my website, but sometimes I fall behind because of my focus on school.” Similar to Martinez, junior Kaitlyn Chandler started making jewelery because of her determination to learn a new hobby. However, she also wanted exposure to being the owner of a business for her career after graduation.
“I wanted some business experience in case that is something I want to pursue in the future with an engineering company,” Chandler said. “I focused on my business over the summer and during quarantine so my shop is more of a fun summer hobby while I focus on my school primarily in the winter.”
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I enjoy making jewelry that makes me and other people feel good about themselves and jewelry that comes from local places instead of fast fashion. junior Kaitlyn Chandler
Chandler found out about selling on Etsy through buying products from other small business owners. She also did research about the inner workings of running
a business. “I found out about Etsy by shopping for homemade items such as masks, tiedye, and jewelry. Setting up my business included a lot of research by looking at other people’s experience selling on Etsy as well as researching how to ship items from home. I also learned a lot about cost, pricing, and how to make jewelry in general,” Chandler said. Martinez saw others who created their own businesses during quarantine and chose to sell her products on Etsy because of their history of being small business friendly. “I saw many people creating an at home business and being very creative from making masks to making t-shirts, so I wanted to make something that I like, which is jewelry,” Martinez said.“It really helped me look into other small businesses and kind of see how they progressed as a business throughout the years. I decided to do Etsy because they are an amazing website that helps you spread the word about your products and they make it very easy for you to manage
