Editor’s Note: Each of the six businesses at the Young and Bright Pop Up Shop will be featured individually throughout the week to give each business its own spotlight.
Winderson’s Creation’s Mary Pettenger and greener goods Tara Allen know what it’s like to be a small business owner. The duo, who have formed a relationship through their close proximity in Sangamon on Main, decided to extend an opportunity to young business owners in the Young and Bright Pop Up Shop on Aug. 22.
The event showcased nine young entrepreneurs with a wide variety of services and products.
“I had no idea there were so many little entrepreneurs in Mahomet,” Allen said. “They’re so cute and they’re so good at what they do.”
“We saw them out there and knew that they needed, probably a place to come and just share all their stuff,” Pettenger said.
Allen said it’s the theme across Sangamon on Main, “stronger together.”
“We are super supportive of each other as businesses, and so it was nice to have the opportunity to support the younger kids that really, during this COVID crisis, have started their businesses and found their passion.”
With the Mahomet Farmer’s Market outside on the sidewalk, Allen and Pettenger knew that an extension into the building where children could offer their goods would be beneficial to all.
“We’ve had a great turnout,” Pettenger said. “As often as the kids want to come back and do it, I’d be willing to host them in here and then of course we have the room in the hallway.”
Hoofs & Paws Snaks
If you don’t find Ayla Finfrock riding her horse, she’s probably designing new treats for them.
When school and other activities subsided in late spring 2020, Ayla decided that she could restructure her time by developing horse and dog treats to sell to other owners.
“I wanted to start to make money to support riding horses,” she said. “I can pay part of it, too.”
Ayla first got on the internet, educating herself about what dogs and horses can and cannot eat. Once she developed a recipe, she decided that the fun did not have to end there. She cut cookies into fun shapes, like monsters and Mr. Potato Head, then taught herself how to decorate them.
“People also give me suggestions of what designs I should make. That also helps me, too,” she said.
Being the sole creator, while also relying on her mom to drive her to deliveries, Ayla said that sometimes she can get stressed by the amount of work that needs to be done.
Ayla relies on local orders, but her Etsy site has also brought in orders from all over the country.
“She’s mailed things to Vermont, Massachusetts, North Carolina and South Carolina,” Ayla’s mom Nancy said. “She ships all over the US.
“It’s pretty exciting to sit back and watch. I’m only the driver, she does 100-percent of it. She buys out of the supplies herself from the earning of this.”
The internet has also forged friendships on the east coast for Ayla. Other teenagers who make their own products swap with each other regularly.
To purchase treats from Hoofs & Paws Snaks visit Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/hoofsandpawssnacks or Instagram at @hoofs.and.paws.snaks.
