Hello! My name is Praneel and I am a 4th Grader at JFK Elementary School. Tote-ally Awesome Bags is the name of my business. As the name suggests, I decorated and sold tote bags. I wanted to make a product which is useful to everyone and good for the environment. My bags are reusable, very handy, better for the environment than plastic bags and can be used for shopping, trips to the library or beach, and even taken to school.
I used stencils to make the silhouettes or quotes on the bags and then decorated the bags using melted crayons, sequins, paint and ribbons. Even though working with melted crayons looks easy, it takes a lot of time and I needed to work carefully because of the burning candle.
I enjoyed my first TREP$ experience very much. I learned many things including the value of hard work, how to manage money, make change and talk to the customers. Ten percent of each bag I sold and one hundred percent of the sale from small stockings were donated to the Holiday Gift drive at my school. I made a video showing a tutorial on how to make the bags using melted crayons. Many people saw the video and it convinced them to buy.
I was a little nervous before the Marketplace but as I started selling the bags I felt more confident and started enjoying the evening. I was very happy when I put the “Sold Out” Sign on my table. Many of my teachers bought the tote bags with quotes about teaching. I was happy to see so many people like and buy my bags including the Mayor!!
All my friends at the Marketplace had lots of wonderful creative products and it was a fun evening. I feel that TREP$ is a great way to unlock your inner creative entrepreneur and learn about business. I want to thank Ms.Caruso and facilitators at my school who guided us on our wonderful entrepreneurial journey. I hope to participate in more such Marketplaces in the future. Thank you to the team at TREP$ for making it all happen.
