Learning and earning
Peninsula students are learning and earning. Some students on campus have used their school experiences and hobbies to create money-making businesses and trends.
Undercover Phone Cases is a newer business on campus, run by sophomores Maerah Ahmed, Austi Kaji, Adrienne Sheh and Lara Yedikan. They came up with the idea to make their own phone cases when Sheh dropped her phone and broke her case.
“We said, ‘What if we made our own phone cases?’ We just took if from there,” Yedikan said. “It was first started off as sort of a joke, [but] then we really took it seriously.” This attitude change came after the friends decided that the experience would be fulfilling as well as a good way to make money. Because they are such close friends, Kaji believes making the cases more of a fun hobby than a job.
Because the cases are handmade, the Undercover founders believe that buyers find them more appealing. No two covers are the same.
“There’s a certain amount of creativity that goes into it being handmade. Instead of having a set design and using a template, we use our imaginations and go with a design that is more original,” Yedikan said.
Since the official launch of the company in January, the four girls have used social media to advertise their cases, most of which start at $8.
“I know a lot of people share some of the photos we have, so it really helps to get the word out,” Kaji said.
Another company, Shweet Caps, was established by seniors Hannah Puccinelli and Joyce Swisher as a charity effort to support the organization “Feed the Children.”
“A Shweet Cap is a plain white trucker hat that has been branded with either the word ‘Sweet’ or ‘Shweet’ in various colors and patterns,” Puccinelli said. The simple, yet unique idea has become a popular trend among students.
“Most of our support has been through the Panther family and the events we participate in at the school like the Walk for Life and Homecoming carnivals,” Puccinelli said. Most of the company’s success has come from the two partners’ ability to work together.
“It has been so easy and convenient working with Joyce,” Puccinelli said. “We have been best friends for ten years now and she is such a creative and innovative person, it’s just awesome being able to work with someone like her.”
Puccinelli and Swisher have used Facebook and Instagram to advertise their products, as well as the Shweet Caps website to sell the hats to customers outside of school.
While college will separate the friends, Puccinelli and Swisher hope to continue to expand their company.
“We love making the hats; I definitely think we will still make them on trips home and in the summer for sure,” Puccinelli said. Swisher and Puccinelli hope to implement their new ideas into their products.
“We have recently figured out how to make different patterns and put pictures on our hats. That is something that we are really excited to work on,” Pucinelli said.
