Sophomore Reghan Pratt developed a hobby for beading bracelets during remote learning and quarantine in 2020 as a way to relieve her boredom. Since January of this year, Pratt has turned her hobby into a business in order to earn money to relieve her family’s financial burdens.

Pratt got the inspiration to start the business because she wanted to share her hobby of creating unique jewelry with others. She picked up the hobby of bracelet making by experimenting with different designs before settling on the process she uses to make the bracelets she sells. Her goal is to keep customers coming back as often as possible

“When someone DM’s me or asks me if they would like a bracelet, I get super excited because they might have been a friend of someone who bought one earlier and it shows people actually enjoy my bracelets,” Pratt said. “My process is first I see what character or holiday I want to base the bracelet off of, then I decide what the colors are for said character or holiday. Then I figure out the patterns. Then I post it on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat for people to see and possibly buy.”

Pratt sells two different types of bracelets to friends, family and students at Millard West: premium bracelets and custom bracelets. The premium bracelets are pre-made bracelets based off of characters from movies or TV shows and U.S. holidays, while the custom ones are customized with whatever the customer wants, including the color patterns and the names on the bracelet.

Since the start of her business, Pratt has received many encouraging comments from her customers, some of whom have come back to buy more. So far, she has sold over 20 bracelets and is looking for more potential customers. The premium bracelets are only available for a limited time, so she uses that strategy to attract customers and generate sales.

A few weeks after starting her business, she asked a few of her friends to help with sales in order to expand the company. Sophomore co-owner Vera Woodard was eager to help her friend out by coming up with new designs as well as marketing their business on social media and in person. 

Woodard wanted to co-own with Pratt because of the qualities that Pratt possesses, as well as her strengths that she brings to business. Woodard also wanted to attempt to get back into the small business world and own a business that could hopefully expand. 

“I did own a small business before, but it was tiny and barely got any sales,” Woodard said. “It is very stressful, but I’ve learned to overcome that stress by thinking of how happy the customers may be. She has many, many great qualities, such as the ability to respect people’s boundaries, flexibility, the ability to manage time and finances well, and management skills. As for her personality, she’s very bubbly at times, which is what I like about her.”

One of the business’s loyal customers, freshman Madalynn Johnson, loves to support small businesses, so when Pratt told her about the business, she was eager to buy one of the bracelets. Johnson chose to purchase a custom bracelet with black and orange beads and her nickname “Mads” on the bracelet.

“I wanted to support Reghan’s business because I love supporting small businesses,” Johnson said. ”You never know if the person owning the business is struggling to make money, so supporting them is nice. I also wanted to support Reaghan because she is a great friend and a really nice person in general.”

Pratt and Woodard hope to grow their business and make more money in the future. If you are interested in purchasing a bracelet, you can reach out to Pratt by emailing her or messaging the Instagram account for the business, @rvs_jewelry.