Stan Hudy
The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, N.Y.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) High school Freshman Elizabeth Vinciguerra creates bracelets, necklaces and earrings at her E’s Handmade Jewelry and Accessories business.
Niskayuna
Niskayuna High School junior Jordan Bell and freshman Elizabeth Vinciguerra have been two of the youngest entrepreneurs at the Niskayuna Farmer’s Market this summer.
One of them has offered something delightful to eat while the other has marketed accessories to wear while looking fabulous. But both of them, without a doubt, have generated sales and happy customers at the market.
With his venture Rollin’ in Dough, Bell has sold homemade single cookies in a variety of flavors — and sizable ones at that — while Vinciguerra creates bracelets, necklaces and earrings at her E’s Handmade Jewelry and Accessories business.
“We found cookies that we liked and you can’t get them around here,” said Bell at this past Saturday’s market, just moments before he sold out of his inventory once again. “They don’t ship them, so we started to try and create our own that we liked equally as much.”
Bell went to work in his own kitchen with assistance from his mother, Cindy, to bring the confectionary cravings to fruition.
“I would say it’s the size of our dough before we bake it,” Bell said. “It’s a large cookie and a large amount of dough before we even put it in the oven.”
He shared his talent with friends and family before turning his talents into a for-profit business.
“I would bring these cookies to different family events and then a lot of people said ‘you should start selling them,'” Bell said. “I started off at Niska Day and it was a good learning lesson there and then we proceeded to come here.”
His black cookie menu board lists each week’s offerings and as they are gobbled up, he writes ‘sold out’ next to the flavor. It wasn’t long on Saturday that Bell turned his menu sign around to its blank side and wrote ‘Sorry, all sold out.’
“We’re proud that most weekends were sold out by 11 o’clock,” Bell said. “The negative is having to stay here and tell people that we don’t have any more cookies and that you’ve got to come back early next week.”
Bell said Saturday was his final market for this season, though the market will continue to run through Oct. 15. “We just opened our online store last week,” he said. “It seems to be the best route for us to take because I’m starting school again and it allows me to manage my time and how much I’m producing.”
Vinciguerra followed her mother’s artistic talents two years ago and sat around a long table with a display of colorful bracelets along with an earring tree display adorned with colorful and eye-catching options for most tastes.
“It was around Christmastime in 2020,” Vinciguerra said. “My mom had like a bunch of supplies and she showed me how to make things.”
Most of her parts are sourced through Amazon, but the designs, options and offerings all come at the hand of Vinciguerra.
Her earrings of choice — smiley faces and lightning bolts.
Some of her best customers are her Niskayuna friends and classmates.
“They have a lot of my stuff,” Vinciguerra said.
Like Bell, Vinciguerra changes her offerings based on the seasons and holidays.
At last week’s market, her earring assortment included silver smiling pumpkin earrings and she still includes hollow red hearts from her Valentine’s collection.
“I do like the heart shapes, red and pink,” Vinciguerra said.
The young jewelry entrepreneur also responded to customer inquiries, adding items to her inventory.
Adding a stone earring attached to the hoop with wrapped wire — something that wasn’t in her original collection.
Last Saturday she was asked to make a custom necklace for a future mother of the bride.
“She had an idea and we talked about it,” Vinciguerra said. The two agreed on the design and her custom work could be considered something new for the mother of the bride.
Vinciguerra has branched out into the retail sector.
Her jewelry is available at Worthington Flowers in Wynantskill and also at The Round Barn in Vermont.
“It’s not surprising, but it is exciting,” Vinciguerra said.
The Niskayuna freshman is also winding down her Niskayuna Farmer’s Market days. She is signed up for one more Saturday, balancing school and her love of Irish dancing with her business venture.
“It’s been harder,” Vinciguerra said. “I can ship my stuff too.”
Both young entrepreneurs have websites for their customers to view and order their products.
Bell’s cookies are available at www.rollinindoughny.com while Vinciguerra’s jewelry can be viewed on the Etsy website at www.etsy.com/shop/eshandmadejewelry
_
(c)2022 The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, N.Y.
Visit The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, N.Y. at www.dailygazette.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
