Created: Jul 28, 2025 08:00 AM<\/p>\n
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Selling a brand, building a business: Ean Welch shows the wares of his business, Metal and String, at the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation\u2019s eighth annual Summer Student Entrepreneur Programme showcase on Friday (Photograph by Akil Simmons)<\/p>\n
Twelve-year-old Ean Welch spent his Friday afternoon showing off his yo-yo skills on the lawn of City Hall, but he was far from playing around. He was selling a brand, telling a story and building a business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started as a concept in September and launched in December,\u201d Ean said, recalling how his company, Metal and String, began at a school business vendor day. \u201cWe had to have a poster, business cards, branding, all sorts of stuff. So I met all the marks. And then when it came time, I kind of just followed through with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
What started as a one-off project turned into a full-fledged business after demand kept growing.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople just kept asking and asking at every stop,\u201d he said as he performed tricks with a yo-yo in each hand. \u201cSo I was like, you can\u2019t say no if you have the stuff to give.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ean\u2019s business has grown to offer a variety of products, including fidget spinners, slime and \u201cdiabolos\u201d, a kind of giant yo-yo that can fly off its string and up into the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur clientele range between 10 and 99 years old,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ean is already thinking ahead, considering workshops to teach others the art of yo-yo and diabolo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have had a few requests for a half-day or summer day camp,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Building a brand: Sarah Williams shows off her business, Uncommon Interests, which sells anime merchandise (Photograph by Akil Simmons)<\/p>\n
Ean was one of seven participants in the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation\u2019s Summer Student Entrepreneur Programme, which held its annual public showcase.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere buzzed as the eighth cohort promoted their products, which ranged from sea moss drinks to logo T-shirts and garden services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis meet-and-greet is an important opportunity for them to showcase their businesses and connect directly with the community,\u201d said Deshun Simmons, programme co-ordinator. \u201cEncouragement truly impacts their journey as entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Meet-and-greet: Kandell Trott, founder of Pure Potions, greets government MP Jamahl Simmons (Photograph by Akil Simmons)<\/p>\n
Another participant, Sarah Williams, founded Uncommon Interests, a line of anime fan merchandise she designs herself.<\/p>\n
She also creates Webtoons, with one called \u201cGoodbye Childhood\u201d and another in the works called \u201cBermuda\u2019s Magical Girls\u201d, which puts a local twist on the anime genre.<\/p>\n
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Presentation time: Makao Butterfield, founder of Quench Lab BDA (Photograph by Akil Simmons)<\/p>\n
Inspired by a local cosplay event, she saw a gap in the market for anime-themed products. \u201cI realised that there weren\u2019t many people selling fan-made anime merch, like how they do at conventions,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
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Budding entrepreneur: Enoch Ball, founder of PlantScaping (Photograph by Akil Simmons)<\/p>\n
Sarah\u2019s journey has not been without challenges. Shipping delays to Bermuda meant some products did not arrive in time for the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been very difficult,\u201d she admitted. \u201cI was supposed to order them a lot earlier, but there were some problems. They were supposed to be here for this event, but I kind of pushed back a lot of stuff, so I had to improvise.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Making connections: Daniela Rattery, founder of Struck Marketing Co (Photograph by Akil Simmons)<\/p>\n
Sarah plans to pursue a medical degree, but for now, she is also managing inventory and building a loyal customer base. \u201cIt needs constant attention,\u201d she said of her business. \u201cBut I think it\u2019ll be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Created: Jul 28, 2025 08:00 AM Selling a brand, building a business: Ean Welch shows the wares of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[23683,45,49,48,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-30352","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-bermuda-economic-development-corporation","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-entrepreneurship"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}