By Abigail Adams
Wicked Local South/Mariner, Marshfield, Mass.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) 13-year-old Katie Wipf has taken her hobby for slime one step further and built it into a budding personal business.
Marshfield, Mass.
She may only be in the 7th grade, but one Cohasset kid has already figured out how to run her own business.
Katie Wipf, 13, first discovered “slime” (which is made of a glue and borax solution) just over two years ago when it skyrocketed in popularity among her peers.
It wasn’t until this past July, however, that she decided to take her hobby one step further and build it into a personal business.
Now, Katie has made over $1,500 from her Etsy account, SlimeyDoodleShop and has over 2,000 followers on her Instagram account, slimeydoodle13 — all from her passion for slime.
“I just thought it would be fun to have my own business,” she said.
Katie sells a variety of slimes online that vary in texture, color, scent, and size. In addition to the traditional solution, the Thayer Academy student sells “butter” slime, “clay” slime” and “floam” among others. Her cherry starburst slime is currently her best seller.
On average, 8 ounces of Katie’s slime goes for roughly $8. Most other slime accounts, she said, sell 8 ounces of slime for nearly $20.
Oh yeah, and everything she sells she makes by hand.
At first, Katie’s mother, Barbara, said she had no idea Katie had even made herself accounts on Etsy and Instagram. Rather than being upset with her, Barbara said she was impressed.
“All of a sudden she was making real money and going to the bank and depositing it,” she said. “This is how kids do it now.”
Barbara even lends Katie a hand by dropping off her packages at the post office each Monday.
Whether it is developing a budget or adjusting her prices, Katie has learned many of the ins and outs of running her own business in just a matter of months. “It’s cool that I know how to run a business so when I grow up and want to run a business, I already have the knowledge I need,” she said.
Not only are they impressed by her drive, Katie’s parents have been incredibly supportive of her recent business endeavors, even as the business continues to grow. The two have even “slime-proofed” the basement so she has space to complete her work.
Unlike the lemonade stands of yesteryear, the rise of the Internet has allowed people like Katie to expand her audience beyond the street corner. Barbara attributes much of Katie’s success to her social media activity, which has helped her gain popularity in her market.
Not only that, social media has helped Katie make new friends, as well. Katie has met countless other slime enthusiasts through her online business and now has friends across the globe that share in her unique passion.
Katie has even been recognized by fans of her Instagram account while shopping for supplies at Michaels.
“It’s pretty easy nowadays to reach a huge audience,” Barbara said. “I mean I’m sending packages to Canada and she is talking to a girl from Australia and all of a sudden the whole world is available to her,” Barbara said.
While she’s learned some valuable lessons and made meaningful relationships through her business, Katie will probably not sell slime forever. In the meantime, Katie said she has no intentions of slowing down business anytime soon.
“For now it’s fun, but I don’t think that when I get older that I’ll continue to sell slime,” she said. “But having a little shop like a bakery or a clothing store someday, I think that would be fun.”
