‘Whatever makes you feel the most like you’

If you stop at Red Square on a Wednesday afternoon, you will find yourself in the middle of the Clark Collective pop-up market. The popular campus meeting space comes alive with colorful and unique booths, the smell of fresh-baked goods, live music, animated conversations, and laughter as student vendors sell their creations and showcase their small businesses.

The Clark Collective, a facet of the entrepreneurship and innovation program, was created in 2019 to provide students with a space to promote their business ventures by selling products and services. The goal is to support student entrepreneurs and encourage innovation on campus. The market runs weekly on Wednesdays from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Red Square and moves inside to the Academic Commons during inclement weather.

A common thread among sellers is a desire to uplift fellow Clarkies, from selling nourishing food to making wares aimed at helping their peers express themselves.

Among the student-run businesses you’ll encounter at The Clark Collective:

No Hour Vintage

Proprietors: Jeremiah DeJesus ’26 and Will Brothers ’26

Major: Screen studies and creative writing, and marketing, respectively

Business venture: The pair creates handmade, custom screen-printed clothing. They cut and sew and screen-print each garment, some of which are also bleached. Most of their wares are thrifted. The No Hour Vintage logo is an interpretation of a famous scene from “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,” in which the villain’s face melts away. Repurposing that concept, DeJesus and Brothers speak to a physical manifestation of time “melting” away with their work.

Observation: “A lot of the design ideas came from how we experience time and the wasting of time that happens every day. We want to make something valuable from the idea of procrastination. It’s all about turning procrastination into productivity.”

Learn more: Website

Ztoa Vintage

Proprietor: Zayne Appel ’27

Major: Marketing with a minor in entrepreneurship

Business venture: Appel sells curated vintage and thrifted apparel and offers an incentive for Clarkies to donate their unwanted clothes to him for resale. He’ll share half the profit when donated items sell at his booth.

Observation: “If I buy something for myself and I end up not liking it, it’s nice to know that someone else out there wants it. My favorite part is seeing people around campus wearing my clothes — it’s the coolest feeling ever.”

Learn More: Instagram

Lucky Loo Jewelry

Proprietor: Penny Amara ’24

Major: English

Business venture: Handmade wire jewelry, custom charm bracelets, and statement earrings.

Observation: “This idea started as a hobby and then became a business. I wanted to focus on making one-of-a-kind pieces that fit many different styles and aesthetics as many of my original collections were inspired by books like ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Harry Potter.’ Each piece is completely unique, and starting this business has served as a great creative outlet for me.”

Learn More: Instagram

Little Sky Trinkets

Proprietor: Hodaya Zhang ’27

Major: Asian studies and psychology

Business venture: Little Sky Trinkets specializes in lightweight handmade jewelry, offering pre-made and custom to-order pieces.

Observation: “The business name is based off my name in Chinese, which is Little Sky. I learned how to make jewelry from my mom, so a lot of my work is inspired by my family.”

Learn More: Instagram

Abeni Smoothies

Proprietor: Abeni Townsend ‘27

Major: Marketing and entrepreneurship

Business venture: Townsend makes smoothies with fresh ingredients at the pop-up market. Each smoothie is made to order from a custom recipe developed by Townsend.

Observation: “I love smoothies, and I also have a plant-based diet. I found that it was very hard to get the right amount of nutrients and protein daily, so I started making specialized smoothies for myself and now the community.”

Brenna’s Bits and Bobs

Proprietor: Brenna Gillotti ’26

Major: Psychology, with a minor in sociology

Business venture: Gillotti hand-makes mixed medium jewelry, accessories, and charms that are colorful, whimsical, and fun.

Observation: “By experimenting with mixed mediums, I get to see how different materials work and expand my crafting knowledge — and then I get to share them with the community.”

Learn More: Instagram

Crafted. by Nicole

Proprietor: Nicole Weise ’26

Major: Marketing

Business venture: Nicole took an entrepreneurship class her first semester at Clark and has been making jewelry to sell ever since. She makes wire wrapped rings, earrings, and beaded necklaces and statement pieces.

Observation: “I do this because I want to help students at Clark and others to express themselves through jewelry, because I have many kinds of aesthetics in my work. Whatever makes you feel comfortable, whatever makes you feel the most like you, I want that to be expressed through my jewelry.”

Learn More: Instagram

Eris Jewelry

Proprietors: Sonia Sateva ’27 and Morgan Palmer ’27

Major: Interactive media and game design and political science, respectively.

Business venture: Eris Jewelry makes hand-crafted jewelry with natural semi-precious stones and natural pearls.

Observation: “It’s all handmade jewelry. We use good materials, and we try to make a bunch of different sizes so we can have something for everyone. A lot of people cannot wear the fun and whimsical designs of handmade earrings because they do not know what materials are used. This is why I make sure that all my materials are hypoallergenic.”

Learn More: Instagram

Breads n Threadz

Proprietors: Ali Civilikas ’26 and Juju Kaiser ’26

Majors: Both study environmental science

Business venture: Breads n Threads is a combination sourdough bakery and pop-up thrift shop. Civilikas and Kaiser make it their mission to prioritize sustainability by reselling old clothes and using the profits to buy bread-making ingredients to sell healthy food to their community.

Observation: “We really want to prioritize our community and focus on the fact that this business is mutually beneficial.”

Learn More: Instagram

Professors’ perspective:

Clark’s entrepreneurship professors encourage students to grow their businesses via the Clark Collective. They believe the hands-on experience of promoting a small business, mixed with the inspiration of learning from one’s peers, is an invaluable resource for learning.

“The Clark Collective pop-up is essential to developing courage and confidence in our student entrepreneurs,” says Professor Tim Hally, who teaches The Art of the Pitch. “Entrepreneurship is learned by iterating, ideating, making mistakes, and having the courage to be seen for all your failures and successes. Partaking in the pop-up is the single most effective way to transform an idea into a viable business. Entrepreneurship is only a concept until you ‘do’ it.”

“We don’t predetermine what you need to start a successful idea,” says Professor John Dobson, who prefers to facilitate entrepreneurship learning experiences rather than lecture. “Instead of telling students, ‘These are marketing strategies,’ we let them brainstorm and then we meet them where they are and grow from there.”

Professor Sabrina Webb, who teaches Community-Based Entrepreneurship, emphasizes the importance of a safe learning space and valuable feedback. “These events give students a safe space to explore customer engagement, manage transactions, and refine their business strategies based on real feedback. This program helps them build not only their business skills but also their confidence and adaptability, shaping them into innovative thinkers ready to make an impact. The pop-up is more than a marketplace; it’s a transformative experience that builds both entrepreneurial acumen and personal growth.”

“It is inspiring to see students launching their ventures and businesses and the growing participation in the Clark Collective pop-ups,” says Professor Andrea Aiello. “I am excited to see what entrepreneurial ideas and solutions our Clarkies come up with next.”