Over the summer, freshman Natalie Corso started Creative Finds, an online business to sell her finished crafts. She got her inspiration from a project she did in school where she had to come up with her own business. 

“I think that [project] just really inspired me, and I had nothing to do over the summer, so [I thought], let’s do it,” Corso said.

She conducted research before starting Creative Finds by asking her friends what kind of jewelry they liked. From her study, Corso started making crafts that her peers would buy.

“I sold a scrunchie and I sold some DIY shirts. It was mainly earrings though, [some] stud earrings, and [some] dangly earrings,” Corso said.

She spent $30 on materials and donated most of her profits to different charities, including the Wounded Warriors Project and the Anti-Racism Fund.

“I donated $10 or $15 to a charity and then went to another charity, so it wasn’t a hunk of $50, but I donated to those two charities,” Corso said.

Although Creative Finds was an overall positive experience for Corso, there were some drawbacks. 

“I had to take the [finished product] I made for the person and drop it off at their house, so I had to use gas every day or so. The second thing I didn’t like is [that] I had to keep [my profile] private, so it was only the people I really knew,” Corso said.

Creative Finds isn’t currently open. With school starting back up for Corso, she decided to end it a couple weeks before school began because it wasn’t the best time to be delivering products to her customers.

“I started to transition from summer to school, and I’m a really [stressed-out] person. [Running] a business and having to deliver [things] to people’s houses just wasn’t convenient,” Corso said. 

There were many things Corso enjoyed about running her summer business, and she looks forward to starting it up again next summer, maybe even at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market downtown.

“I enjoyed being able to be creative and make things. Something else I enjoyed was donating to charities and trying to help that way,” Corso said. “I [also] enjoyed buying materials and then trying to make something people would want to buy.”