Taking Care of Business
Three Miami University students own and operate their own ventures while being full-time undergraduates
Lorelei Pacholec
Issue date: 10/18/05 Section: Features
For some Miami University students, school is more than waking up for classes on time and deciding where to go on a Friday night; it's juggling a full-time business while also going to school.
For Miami students Jeff Probst, Dan Mills and Kristin Elzey, their marketing decisions have a direct impact on their businesses, and a half-hearted C performance or a decision that isn't well-researched won't get them very far.
Probst is a junior marketing major with a minor in entrepreneurship who co-owns Blooms and Berries, a seasonal farm market, with his mother. Probst said Blooms and Berries was his father's original idea and a dream that his family opened in 1999. Located in Loveland, Blooms and Berries is a 10-acre farm that started out as a small "you pick" operation for fruit and has expanded to selling flowers, berries and pumpkins.
Mills, a junior studying strategic communication, came up with the idea for his business called Pocket Promotions in a global marketing class. Pocket Promotions is a unique text messaging service that students can sign up for online to receive messages about local events and specials. Pocket Promotions allows anyone to choose who they want to hear from, whether it is a club, sorority, fraternity, restaurant or bar.
Mills said the service is similar to group e-mails, but it's better because it is easier, quicker and more direct.
Elzey, who might be known by some as "purse girl," is also a strategic communication major pursuing an entrepreneurial minor. The sophomore started a handmade purse business called Kee Keepsakes.
Elzey said she has a creativity gene in her family and started designing purses, clothing and shoes with rough sketches from age five.
Elzey's Kee Keepsakes started in a less intentional way.
"In high school I sat down and decided to make a purse I designed using old ties from my dad," she said.
Her purse business officially started when a woman stopped Elzey's mother, who was wearing one of her purses. The lady said the purse looked handcrafted and asked how to get one. Starting out as word of mouth, Kee Keepsakes continues to grow. Elzey's purses will soon be featured in a new store uptown on High Street.
