At Brecksville Broadview Heights High School, every student knows the school motto, inspired by the beloved mascot: “Bee your best, Bee one community, Bee the future!”
The school urges students to pursue their passions and to fulfill their dreams. The school playbook even states, “We are persistent in creating and following our plan to achieve our goals. Through this we grow beyond our abilities, expand our boundaries and maximize our potential.” Of all the students at BBHHS, few embody this ideal more than Kendall Brown.
Kendall Brown is a senior at BBHHS that has turned her unique talents into a flourishing small business. After buying a crochet kit at the age of eight from a sale organized by a preschool mom group, she scoured the internet for tutorials and slowly taught herself the basics; she then expanded her expertise. She has now all but mastered her craft, and has figured out how to utilize her hobby to create a source of income.
Kendall now runs a small business, using her crocheting skills to make a variety of stuffed animals. This includes crocheted octopi, turtles, bears, bees, whales, and more. She then attends craft shows and sets up shop, putting the animals up for sale.
The prices of these crocheted animals range based on how much time it takes to complete them. “An Octopus is $6 and a bee is $8, but a bear would be $25 because it’s big and takes more time,” says Kendall.
She has also expressed that even when projects take hours to complete, she feels she can’t charge for the rightful amount considering the time and effort put into a project. This is an increasing problem with small businesses of every kind, and unfortunately many can’t afford to risk the loss of business by raising prices, as there is an expectation that small businesses keep products cheap, even when they have clearly been undercharging for products.
However, not being able to charge large amounts of money has never stopped Kendall. She claims that she continues to crochet because she loves it. She crochets three to five times a week, even sometimes in school to complete orders on time. She always uses her skills very wisely. As she makes money, she says that most of her income goes into savings or purchasing more supplies. But occasionally, this senior will generously use her ability for a good cause, such as raising money for the Kick It for Cancer or other non-profit foundations.
In these ways, Kendall continues to show that business and sacrifice can go hand in hand, but success can only be reached with dedication and being able to take initiative. She says that even when projects take a long time and have lots of steps, she’s okay with it because she’s doing something she loves.
“Turtles are really cute and fun to crochet but also one of the most annoying because they have so much extra to sew on.”
The rest of the students at BBHHS are incredibly inspired by Kendall’s story, and many hope that they too can start a business in the future. As of right now, Kendall is a shining example of “Bee the future.”
