the pendulum
STYLE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 // PAGE 19
Li
TRACY RAETZ | Staff Photographer
An aspiring entrepreneur, junior Ashley Haddy has already gained firsthand experience on how to own a small business. Her 'Scizzor Happy’ stand at the Elon Community Church farmers market Is open every Thursday from 3-6 p.m.
Getting ‘scizzor happy’ to make some money
Justine Vadini
Senior Reporter
For a kindergartener, getting “a little
scissor happy” usually means cleaning
up a big mess. But for Elon junior Ashley
Haddy, it means relaxation, friendship
and the name of her new business,
“Scizzor Happy,” the newest addition
to Elon’s Community Church farmers’
market.
Haddy began crafting on her own
starting in the eighth grade but has
been surrounded by scrapbooking and
creative keepsakes for as long as she
cai\ remember. Her aunt is a graphic
designer, and all the women in her
family have every birthday, holiday
and family reunion preserved in paper
memory.
Haddy decided to take her own spin
on scrapbooking, using pictures and
decorative paper to embellish journals
and other personalized gifts for her
friends.
She uses different mediums such
as colorful paper, stickers, decals and
punched letters to create personalized
planners, corkboards, picture frames
and composition notebooks. Haddy also
began a line of Elon Phoenix jewelry
during the summer.
But as an entrepreneurship major,
Haddy wanted to combine her love for
crafting with the experience of being a
small business owner.
“Why not see how business works
on a small scale with something I’m
passionate about?” Haddy said.
After one month, Haddy has learned
that running a small business is no
easy task.
“You have to know your customers
really well, cater to them and learn to
use marketing skills like Twitter and
other social media,” she said.
But after just three weeks, Haddy
has gained more than just great
business experience. Having a table at
the farmers market has allowed her
to get to know the unique skills and
artistry of many members of the Elon
community. Meeting locals and Elon
students who visit the market has given
her what she calls “a creative, relaxing
outlet.”
The farmers market, which is held
every Thursday from 3-6 p.m. through
October, is located on a small plot
of land next to the Elon Community
Church. And while it is not far outside
the realm of what university students
call “the Elon bubble," it provides a great
opportunity to appreciate and support
the town’s local taste and talent.
In the future, Haddy plans to start
her own hobby and crafting store, with
hopes of it growing to a franchise one
day. But for now, she’ll be at the corner
of North Williamson and West College
Avenues, an Elon student, artist and
member of the greater community.
Student entrepreneurs learn from their real-world CEO
experiences, look toward future business careers and goals
Edith Veremu
Copy Editor
While some students are struggling
to find internships or part-time jobs,
other students have opted for another
route: wearing different hats as CEOs
or founders of their own organizations.
Elon University junior Ryan Vet and
senior Nick Martin, both marketing
majors, are among the group of student
entrepreneurs.
A tale of two students
In 2005, at the age of 15, Vet
created Digi Tech Studios (DTS),
an organization he said focuses on
progressive marketing.
“I’ve always been entrepreneurial,
from a lemonade stand to starting a
local newspaper and everything in
between," Vet said. “Five years ago, TV
spots, billboards and print ads were
big. But as the generation grew up, our
focus turned digital, and that’s what
we do at Digi Tech.”
Vet said although DTS doesn’t
market itself to a broad range of
people, it is still fairly well-known and
uses word-of-mouth to gain clients.
“There’s very limited marketing we
do,” he said. “We’ve developed overtime
a reputation of integrity, credibility
and people have noticed.”
Some of DTS’s clients included
Elegant Baby, which Vet described as
“the J. Crew or Banana Republic of baby
clothes.” For the company. Vet and his
team developed a competition in which
contestants took pictures with a polka
dot rubber ducky and could win an
iPod Touch, according to Vet’s personal
blog.
Along with two friends, Martin
founded Now is the Time Marketing, or
NT Marketing, a virtual management
and consulting firm whose aim is
to help small businesses out of the
recession and get them back on
track with current and new clients,
according to the firm’s Facebook
page. NT Marketing is based in Wall,
N.J., Martin’s hometown, but it has no
physical location.
“1 had been thinking about opening
my own company for the past year
and it’s been taking off quickly,” said
Martin, CEO and director of marketing
of NT Marketing. “We have four to six
clients and two are under contract and
we’re looking to get more clients.”
Other founding members are Taylor
Madaffari, a 2011 Elon graduate, who
serves as Chief Promotions Officer
and director of visionary planning at
the firm and Mike Santilli, Elon junior
finance major and Chief Financial
Officer and director of sales at NT
Marketing.
activities.
“It’s tough to find a balance because
1 have several leadership positions on
campus and I let Taylor help me with
the clients,” Martin said. “The weekend
is a really big time when 1 talk to
clients. 1 could be on the phone for
hours on a Saturday morning.”
What’s next?
Work-study balance
Juggling academics with work
responsibility isn’t easy, but it s doable.
Vet said. He said he’s often considered
dropping out of
school to focus
primarily on DTS
but has decided
not to.
“1 don’t set
success by a dollar
amount,” Vet said.
“Instead, I set it by
how much you love
doing whatever it
is you’re doing.
There’s also no
parallel to the
education you get
on campus. I’m
just trying to be
as normal as I
possibly can.'
For his part, Martin uses the
weekends to communicate with his
business partners and clients because
during the week, he’s swamped
with academics and extracurricular
NT Marketing has been officially
filed under North Carolina law and
the organization will start looking for
clients in the Burlington area, Martin
said. He said there are some small
businesses the company has started
looking at, and it will try to sign the
contracts with those businesses within
the coming weeks.
“We will analyze the businesses’
demographics, current clients and
see how they can target more clients,”
Martin said. "We can build on the array
of services we offer and we can build
plans based on what the businesses
offer.”
“A lot of people in our generation
get shot down a lot. We actually
have more power because we
have younger and fresher minds.
My goal is to inspire others
towards a positive change.
People are capable of more than
they get credit for.”
DTS
looking
is
to
expand, and
if it acquires
enough new
clients, then
the company
will have
a physical
location by
April 2012,
Vet said.
“We have
a unique
business
model,” he
said. “We
pull the best
contractors from wherever they are.
We have people from California, South
Carolina and Raleigh. Right now, we’re
working on trying to acquire large
national accounts and through that.
-Ryan Vet
CLASS OF 2013, CEO OF DIGI TECH
STUDIO
we’d have to expand fairly greatly and
w'e’d open a physical location. It’s a six-
month plan.”
In the meantime. Vet said he’d like
to keep working with his team and just
enjoy life in general. An autobiography
is also in progress, according to his
personal website.
“In five years, I just want to keep
doing what I’ve been doing,” he said.
“Keep living the dream, enjoying
life and never letting anything I do,
whether it’s traveling, writing or
business, distract me from enjoying
life."
Martin said he would like to see his
company headed in the right direction
and would like to acquire another job
while he and his team continue to work
at NT Marketing.
“I’d like to see this business be
successful as a side job while 1 work at
another day job," he said.
Words of wisdom
Both Vet and Martin said through
their role as CEOs and founders of their
companies, they would like to inspire
young adults to be entrepreneurs and
inspire change.
“I never took an entrepreneurship
class, but I’ve talked to a lot of people
in the business school,” Martin said.
“You can sit through classes every day,
but at the same time. I’ve learned a lot
more by doing NT Marketing."
Vet said as a speaker and
entrepreneur, he’s also learned a lot and
wants other people to take advantage
of the chances they're offered.
“I’ve taken every open door that’s
been opened to me," he said. “A lot of
people in our generation get shot down
a lot. We actually have more power
because we have younger and fresher
minds. My goal is to inspire others
towards a positive change. People are
capable of more than they get credit
for."