We all start from somewhere. Senior Alivia Crawford was able to experience this firsthand when she went from DIY videos to having her own business.
Crawford’s passion for crocheting came out of nowhere, but she’s grown a lot since then.
“I first learned to crochet in January of 2022,” Crawford said. “It all started when I watched a video of some girl crocheting. I thought it looked really cool, so that night, I decided to go to the craft store to get the supplies that I needed. When I got home I looked up tutorials on how to crochet different things and I ended up loving it.”
When Crawford first began the journey of her business, the customers were familiar to her. Now, she has progressed to more of the community.
“I started by only selling to my family members. Once that got out, I sold to my family’s friends. Eventually, it sprouted enough that I could make something out of it which was when I began to sell to kids and adults in the community,” Crawford said.
All of Crawford’s customers have loved working with her, as well as seeing the final product.
“I got a couple of the little bees,” sophomore Briella Sipes said. “They were all so cute and you could tell she put a lot of time and effort into everything she’s made.”
“I ordered one of the little bees,” junior Gianna Stillman said. “I loved it because not only was it cute, but it was a reasonable price for the size of it.”
Balancing a business on top of being a high school student can be hard, but there is a trick to being successful.
“Making time is definitely the hardest part about having a business,” Crawford said. “I do work experience though which makes it a lot easier to keep everything in line. It’s nice to be able to leave school partway through my school day and go home to crochet.”
Money is one good thing that comes from this opportunity, but the rewards don’t stop there.
“Being able to crochet is amazing in itself, but I love being able to see kids and adults get happy whenever they see my work,” Crawford said.
Crawford has a variety of different items she sells, whether it be keychains or stuffed animals. She has a slight preference for what she makes though.
“My favorite thing to make is Octopus because they are fun and simple for me to make,” Crawford said. “I’d say my least favorite would have to be bees. Not because they are hard, but I have made so many of them since I started my business.”
The end result is always great, but her flexibility is something that stands out to all of her customers.
“I would recommend Alivia’s business to anyone because she can make practically anything you want and her prices are all great,” Stillman said.
“Alivia was so easy to work with,” Sipes said. “She gives different options for paying, and she gets everything done pretty quickly.”
