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“Everything you can imagine is real” Pablo Picasso once famously asserted. It’s a bold statement…
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It’s a bold statement about the power of creativity, but real life’s not quite that simple. To create something real you have to do more than simply imagine it, the idea is just the start. There’s a journey between idea and reality and learning how to produce something to capitalise on your creativity is a challenge, especially for young people given the limited opportunities our current students have to apply their creativity and entrepreneurial skills in real-life situations in school.
Worryingly, this is the case when we know that these skills are becoming increasingly important. In fact, “Creativity” has been identified by the World Economic Forum, the International Monetary Fund and global business analysts as the key to our future economies.
We can already see the “artisan” economy booming around us, people are tired of mass-produced goods, and yet our appetite for unique, high quality, created-with-skill-and-love-by-a-human products has grown enormously.
Local Canberra business Edii has been helping creative teens turn their ideas into real businesses since 2016. Edii’s teen entrepreneur program, Maker2Market, teaches business and marketing skills and provides a pathway for young people to build and run their revenue generating business.
Edii recently celebrated their 500th participant and announced a new student stallholder partnership with the Old Bus Depot Markets (OBDM). Manager Richard Vagi, said, “We’ve enjoyed watching Edii’s Maker2Market program grow since 2016, the support and guidance young people receive with the program is great. Forming a formal pathway is a worthwhile venture and gives creative kids greater opportunities than ever before to become young entrepreneurs, something we are keen to see happen.”
Yesterday, two teen creatives from Edii’s programs started as student stallholders at OBDM, kicking off their journey as Canberra micro-businesses alongside their adult counterparts. They will be joined by other participants on Edii’s 12-month pathway who in turn can also be recommended when market-ready to OBDM.
Bella is ready to sell her jewellery designs to the city
Narrabundah College student, Isabella (Bella) Oloyede was excited about the opportunity to be one of the first student stallholders at OBDM where she began selling her jewellery.
“Being a part of Edii’s Maker2Market programs and participating in market days over the last 12 months has given me the skills and experience to build my brand, communicate and express my product ideas, as well as providing an affordable and highly supportive way to emerge into the local market scene.”
“I’m so excited to be taking the next step and becoming a part of the creative community at the Old Bus Depot Markets—it’s filled with so many different creative and talented individuals. I know this opportunity allows me to further grow my business and gain invaluable knowledge and experience.”
Eva Tsiros, 14, craft enthusiast and designer from O’Connor will also become a regular seller at the markets through the new student pathway.
Tina Tsiros, Eva’s mum, said it had been hard to find a program that both motivated and grew her creative daughter and found Maker2Market program to be unique.
“There is nothing like the Maker2Market program for young creatives in Canberra and the region. While schools have co-curricular programs focussed on arts and crafts, teens are not taken through how to take their art to the next level of selling outside of school to a wider audience.”
Eva now has a lucrative channel for her craft skills
“Edii’s program are very supportive to both teens and parents. After Eva was exposed to Edii’s learning programs and brand and marketing concepts, she began to think like a designer and an entrepreneur— designing for a target audience, selling for love of making and profit became part of her thinking. She’s also loved being part of ongoing Market Days and done the new Online program so lots of stretching and preparation to take this leap into her very own on-going business!”
Edii Founder, Charuni Weerasooriya said teens and parents understand the value of young people having real-world learning experiences. Creating programs and pathways for young people to explore their creative passion and build entrepreneurial mindset was something she was deeply passionate about.
“Our real-world learning approach is a totally different environment to school, and you can see teen skills and confidence grow. It’s wonderful to see how much progress they make, how engaged they are and how much enjoyment they get from it. “
“We hope the new formal pathway with Old Bus Depot Markets in building student stallholders who are market-ready creates even more opportunities for creative teens in the ACT and region,” Charuni said.
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HerCanberra acknowledges Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities as the traditional custodians of the land we work on and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. As an inclusive organisation we also strive to celebrate people of all backgrounds, genders, sexualities, cultures, bodies and abilities.
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