Jenna Bacon, Campus Carrier arts and living editor
Since its founding, Berry has been known to encourage students to have an entrepreneurial spirit and to pursue hands-on learning opportunities. Given this focus, it is no surprise that many Berry students choose to run their own small businesses. These students are using their creativity, collaboration and organizational skills to bring their ideas to life while balancing their academic responsibilities.
One group of Berry football players has exemplified this by turning their idea of an uplifting, inspirational streetwear brand into reality. According to its website, Melaninz was founded on March 29, 2022 by Berry Alumni Gary Jones, Nick Willis and Kris Thomas. At the time of Melaninz’s founding, Jones, Willis and Thomas were full time students and members of the football team. They chose the name Melaninz because it represents something that each and every person has. The inspiration behind their name was also the driving force behind their tagline: It’s in all of us.
Left to right Nicholas Willis, Kristopher Thomas and Gary Jones modeling their most recent designs
According to co-founder Nick Willis, Melaninz is meant to create a community among its customers.
“We just want to make sure everyone is that wears Melaninz is a part of a big family,” Willis said. “When you see someone with a Melaninz t-shirt on we hope it starts a conversation. We want to get everyone talking and make the world a better place rather than just tearing it apart.”
Another small business that is bound to spark some communication is Caroline Lord Art. Senior Caroline Lord became interested in art in middle school. As part of a school project, she started an Instagram account where she exclusively posted her art. In the spring of 2021, she began accepting commissions from people who enjoyed her art. Now, she creates paintings and prints that she sells at markets and in the Shipyard. She is also the general manager of Sunshine Textiles.
Lord shared a bit about where she’s gotten her inspiration from.
“I think part of it came from a place of like having to do something with all my feelings,” Lord said. “It started as a juvenile, angsty kind of thing, but eventually it became a lot more meaningful. So, I start making these paintings and honestly, it feels like a Renaissance in my own world because I’m painting all the time and I can’t stop.”
Each year, student business owners are given the opportunity to showcase and sell their products at the Mountain Day and Spring Markets. The markets aren’t the only places where student business owners can display their creativity. Social media is an incredibly valuable tool for promoting small businesses and other creative endeavors.
Senior Caroline Lord selling art prints at the annual Mountain Day Market
Willis speaks about how the Melaninz team keeps their Instagram feed clean and co-hesive.
“Some of our pictures and videos are taken from iPhones, but we also try to hire photographers and videographers to keep our Instagram clean cut,” Willis said. “Obviously, when you look at our Instagram you want to make sure it looks like a real brand. That’s how we want to take our brand to the next level.”
Not all small businesses sell physical goods. Some small businesses provide their consumers with informative content or entertainment. Emma’s Plate, a food-centric social media brand created by Senior Marketing and Psychology Major Emma Harrison, provides its consumers with both informative and entertaining content.
According to Harrison, she has always loved to cook but it was not until starting her blog in July 2023 that she started creating content.
After completing an assignment for a social media marketing course with Associate Professor of Business Communication Samantha Nazione where she had to create a social media campaign for Emma’s Plate, Harrison was able to see higher levels of engagement on her social media platforms and blog.
Emma shared what she does to keep her engagement levels up on her social media platform.
“What I try to focus on is just being consistent, creating quality content and then jumping on trends, so tiktok specifically,” Harrison said. “I’ve just gone on it recently in the past few months, but it’s been a place where I’ve seen a lot more success because there are so many trends that you can jump on. Whenever I do that, I’ve seen success as well as creating my own original content.”
Social media has become a pivotal part of all advertisement and seeing how young entrepreneurs are using it to create brands and businesses for themselves is incredible.