Vice president of the knitting club, senior Saniya Young, began Crochet Creations in her freshman year during the COVID-19 quarantine. Her mom inspired her to start selling her products.
When she was just starting to sell her creations, Young felt excited and accomplished.
“I was like, there are going to be people out there in Memphis that have stuff that I’ve made. That’s so cool!” Young said.
Young had a booth at the Cooper-Young Festival this past year where she enjoyed meeting and being a part of a new community of business owners.
“I got to talk to a lot of other small business owners that were there,” Young said. “I bought some stuff from them, too. They bought some stuff from me. So, it was a nice little community.”
Before she participated in the Cooper-Young Festival, Young decided her prices by considering how much the yarn cost, how much time she spent on the creation and how much other creators were charging for similar items.
Along with her Instagram account, Young advertises her creations through her family and friends.
“My mom works at a hospital and my dad has his own business, so they kind of do the advertising for me,” Young said. “Also at school, everybody kind of knows that I crochet. Like, it was in my senior speech introduction.”
Not only did her mom help with advertising, but she also helped Young with her Instagram and Venmo accounts, organizing orders, buying supplies and setting up at the Cooper-Young Festival.
“She helped me get my banner and everything. She was so excited,” said Young.
Though she loves crocheting, Young finds it difficult to strike a balance between creating pieces for herself and her future dorm room and creating pieces for Crochet Creations.
Once her dorm is ready for college, Young will continue her business, but with a significant change.
“When I get in college, I want to find somebody that’ll do it with me, so it’s not just all me when it comes to the markets because that’s a lot. But, I’ll keep doing it,” she said.
While exciting possibilities for these businesses are in the future, through hard work, care and time, these students are bringing unique creations to St. Mary’s and other communities today.
