USB promotes online student businesses

Edward Kim, Staff Writer|December 7, 2020

USB has continued their series of Instagram events by shining a spotlight on a number of student businesses. This week-long promotional event, from November 9th to November 13th , featured 5 businesses, ranging from jewelry makers to bakers. 

USB officers said  that while the shoutouts were originally intended to help out student businesses, they realized the event could be used to encourage others to pursue activities independent from school.

“We wanted to show appreciation to those who partake in things that aren’t limited to our school campus,” USB officer senior Annika Revilla said via Instagram.

Each business was highlighted in a story post on the USB Instagram, @diamondbarusb. Especially as many experienced low sales due to the pandemic, USB officers said they hoped that the shoutouts would help these businesses get more traffic. 

USB officer sophomore Ashley Lin explained the inspiration behind this social media event.

“Throughout the first few months in school we noticed many of my peers had started their own businesses and many of them were quite unique,” she said. “We thought it would be a cool idea if USB highlighted them on the Instagram account, especially because it was our students at DBHS.”

USB officers looked for student-run businesses to feature on their story through their personal connections, and by asking around.

“We had some prior knowledge of a few students at our school who ran some businesses,” Revilla said. “After, we just continued to ask around if anyone we knew had any idea of any other people with businesses.”

Making with Meaning was one of the many shops featured in the event. This business sells adjustable and personalized bracelets and donates their profits to important causes, like the Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-19 care.

“I think the event was beneficial to us,” senior Joyce Hong, the manager of the business’ Instagram, said. “More people were able to become aware of my online fundraiser and [chose] to support if they wanted to.”

Another business, Julienne & Catherine Bakery, bakes and delivers goods such as cookies, macarons, cakes, and tarts.  Like many of the businesses featured, they also donate a portion of their profits, giving 20 percent of their profit to the endangered species club at DBHS.

“We think we were really able to benefit from the event,” sophomores Julienne Uy and Catherine Wang said in a post. “We were able to share our stories and perspectives to the students of DBHS.”

The students whose businesses were featured explained how the pandemic had affected them in different ways, some even stating that it helped start their business.

“I think the coronavirus is what really sparked the business,” Hong said. “I had more time on my hands to explore new crafts and I decided to use my crafting skills as a way to mediate the negative effects of COVID-19.”

Others stated that its impacts were limited to operational practices, as they had to take precautionary health and safety measures. For J&C Bakery, this meant changing how they manage their orders.

“Our business was affected by the coronavirus,” the post by Uy and Wang explained. “We had to take extra precautions when delivering orders to ensure our customer’s safety.”