These BSS students prove you’re never too young to catch the entrepreneurial spirit and leave the world a little better than you found it. by kelli korducki
Not every 13 year old has the gumption to run her own business, but in the midst of Toronto’s 2009 municipal garbage strike, BSS student Greta Hoaken saw a flash of opportunity. Too young to be hired for a summer job at any local establishment, Greta recognized in the city wide headache a potential for her very own business venture and, like any good entrepreneur, she jumped at it.
“My family’s really big on talking about current events, especially in our community, so we were talking about the garbage strike,” recalls the now 15 year old Grade 10 student, “and I noticed that people were making a lot of money [by running private trash removal businesses] and how it must be a really great experience.” With some encouraging words from her father, she decided that she would give it a try.
Greta immediately scoured the internet for junk removal services and contacted a couple of them before finally opting to partner with a company called Just Junk. Within a day, her truck was booked.
“They were a little surprised the first time because they didn’t correctly clue into the fact that I was so young, so they were a little confused to find [a 13 year old waiting for them] saying, ‘Okay, how much is this going to be?’ and then writing a cheque for the amount!”
Though the young, savvy proprietress had to abandon her business after only three weeks in order to attend summer camp, she admits to having generated a substantial profit in this short time.
“The first time I did it I had to pay for the truck, so the profit was lower,” Greta explains. But, once the media got hold of her story, that changed. Before long, the teen found herself promoting her business on Global News and CTV.
“I’m the most awkward 13 year old in the world in those videos, but unfortunately they’re on YouTube now,” she laughs.
Happily, the media attention led to a business boost for Just Junk which would also prove beneficial for Greta. “They got a lot of free advertising from this, so the second and third time they actually didn’t charge me for the truck, which was really sweet of them.” She casually adds, “I made much more after that.”
For Grade 11 student Ali Sermol, entrepreneurship comes with a social mission: to educate her peers on the ins and outs of shopping ethically. As head of the BSS Fair Trade Club, Ali and her teammates aim to bring a heightened level of consumer consciousness to student life by incorporating more fair trade products within the School itself. Often, this means involving other members of the student body to join in.
“For two years we have made our own line of t-shirts, which incorporated all of the students,” says Ali, who is now in her second year of running the club started by her sister four years ago. “The first year we couldn’t get fair trade; they were just American Apparel, but student designed. The second year we went to a local, fair trade company.
Again, [the shirts] were all hand designed by girls in our School. This year we are going to make a line of reusable canvas bags, which will be really great. We’re going to sell them, probably at the end of the year.”
The club’s decision to sell canvas bags is reflective of Ali’s drive to expand others’ awareness of the world of fair trade. “With fair trade products there are hundreds of them but usually people think of flour, sugar, chocolates. But, you know, the list goes on.”
While the club works to teach others, it has also been an ongoing learning experience for Ali. She recalls their booth at this year’s Deck the Hall fundraiser as a unique challenge, which joined the Fair Trade Club with other individual sellers in collaboration. “It was really an opportunity to sell different products and raise money for different organizations. That in itself was a really big challenge to organize and took a lot of coordinating time and money and people and all of that. Luckily I have a good team of girls behind me.”
Working as part of a team is its own training ground. This year, Ali opted to divide the group’s members into four sections, each focusing on either advertising through Chapel announcements, managing finances, researching materials, or soliciting designs. By breaking up the group according to task, operations are able to run much more smoothly though asking for help from the team isn’t always easy.
“Definitely my biggest struggle is delegating,” Ali laughs. “Being kind of an A-type person I find that I want to do it all myself, but I am learning to delegate and this year things went a lot faster.”
Her advice to other young entrepreneurs is to reach out for assistance when the job demands it. “I think just asking for help is probably the best thing I can say to anybody else. Because the help is there.”
She adds, “I have a group of four or five core girls who are there with me 100 percent, watching my back and making sure all the details are on track, and that’s very nice of them.”
Sometimes, the desire to make a difference in the world ignites an entrepreneurial spark. This was the case with two pairs of BSS sisters Stephanie and Laura McGowan, and Giulia and Sofia Benic who realized that their crafty jewelry making pastime could be used to raise money for charity. 
“We came up with the idea to make bracelets for awareness so everyone could wear them around School,” says Grade 7 student Sofia Benic.
Adds Giulia Benic, who is in Grade 9, “Our grandmother had breast cancer and [the McGowans’] father is the head of radiation at Credit Valley. So because we had experienced breast cancer in our family, and because of [the McGowans’] father, we decided we wanted to contribute somehow.”
The two pairs of sisters, who are all friends, strung bracelets together over the summer to be sold around the time of the Run for the Cure.
“We used Swarovski crystal beads and breast cancer charms,” says Stephanie Mc Gowan, a Grade 12 student. “We sold them for a couple of days before the Run for the Cure [in October] and then most of the day of the run.”
The popularity of the bracelets came as a welcome surprise, and taught the girls a valuable lesson in supply and demand.
“We didn’t think the Junior School was going to buy that many,” recalls Stephanie. “We were only going to sell to them once or twice, but then after going one day we realized that they wanted them more than the Senior School, which was surprising. So we decided to readjust some of the bracelets to make more smaller ones because we realized that the Junior School liked them more.”
In total, the girls managed to sell about 400 bracelets at $10 apiece a whopping achievement.
“It was very rewarding, because we got to give back and raise money,” recalls Sofia. “And it was actually quite fun to make the bracelets. We got to spend some quality time together.”
The experience also proved inspirational. Says Sofia, “We learned how much people care and want to give back, and we realized how much we can actually make a difference even as a small number of people. If everyone tried to do something, to raise money for anything, it would really make a big difference.”
As for Greta Hoaken, nearly two years have passed since her days as the neighbourhood garbage girl, but she has been able to dip her toes into yet another business venture through her Intro to Business class at BSS.
“We sold Tim Hortons at School,” she says. “Everyone was involved. I was really into marketing, so I helped make posters and videos that would advertise it. We showed them in Chapel to get people excited about it. Other people worked on pricing, and then some people worked on administration. So it was really interesting.”
Still itching with the entrepreneurial bug, Greta has been grateful for the opportunity to continue to pursue her passion in an academic setting. She is enthusiastic when she says, “I think BSS offers some really great classes and really helps kids find what they like to do.”
Kelli Korducki is a columnist with The Globe and Mail.
