Young entrepreneurs in the community showed off their personal businesses at the annual Monroe County startUP Trade Show last week at 11 South in Columbia, and while the room wasn’t as filled with displays as it has been in recent years, the students still impressed with unique ideas and quality presentation skills to wrap up the school year.

With one of the smallest startUP classes, this year’s students still had a respectable amount of variety in their businesses, with artists offering their skills, folks who have developed a passion in the kitchen, a spray tan service for special occasions and more.

Among startUP’s more unique clothing businesses in recent years, Erica Crook presented Curaviva Apparel, offering a selection of fashionable crewneck shirts with zippable access for medical ports and IV lines.

Crook explained that the inspiration for the business came from her mother, who was faced with cancer in recent years.

“About three years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer,” Crook said. “They caught it early, everything was good, but while she was going through a double-mastectomy, she had to wear a certain type of bra which, 1, was really expensive, but 2, it was kind of bland and basic. Obviously that wasn’t what she was worried about, but I noticed it.”

She spoke further about how options for specialized medical clothing simply aren’t designed to be the sort of apparel most people would actively seek out to wear, so she hoped to offer affordable and popular styles for folks with certain medical needs.

“I took styles that are trending right now – that’s why I started with the back designs of the crewneck – and then I just made them accessible so you don’t have to risk your fashion identity for accessibility when you’re getting treatment,” Crook said.

Speaking more on the origins of her business idea, she said she’s long had an interest in fashion and wanted to do something distinct in this area.

Crook also noted how she wanted to take on a bit of a challenge, pushing her entrepreneurial skills in order to get the most out of her startUP experience.

She also wanted to do something meaningful, both for folks in the community and as she’d like to continue to touch folks with her idea on a wider scale going forward.

“I wanted to do something that wasn’t easy for me to do,” Crook said. “I wanted to make something that I know is leaving a lasting impact.”

While the trade show room featured notably fewer displays than in previous years, one of the set-ups was actually among the largest the show has seen, as Grant Reuss presented a collection of cups, shirts and other custom items from Savage Grant Swag Store.

Reuss explained the idea for his business came quite simply from his own interests as he sought to offer folks what he’d be interested in himself.

“I wanted to do something I would always buy, cups and shirts and stuff,” Reuss said. “It led from me making them for me, sort of as a hobby, and then turned into ‘Oh, I can make that into a business and sell to people.’”

He explained how his offerings focus largely on celebrating local and St. Louis aesthetics with various logos or other art, but he also has a number of custom offerings.

Reuss noted the slight hurdle he encountered as he had to properly get his business registered before he could acquire his goods wholesale.

He also expressed his interest in continuing to pursue his business in the future, potentially looking into an in-person retail establishment.

Still another unique offering at the trade show was Grace Yearian, who presented an array of cutting boards as part of her family-operated business To the Grain.

Yearian explained that, while she didn’t personally have a history with woodworking, her grandfather very much did. Looking for a way to spend more time with him, they came together to construct cutting boards and charcuterie boards in several styles.

She’s since developed quite an interest in the field and is keen to take her first steps into a shop class.

Yearian spoke positively about her experience at the trade show, noting how she was able to sell a good number of items even as her offerings were among the more expensive compared to other students’.

She’s also interested in maintaining the business in some capacity going forward, clearing out her existing stock and turning to focusing on custom orders.

While the trade show was a positive experience for each of the students, they also had good things to say about their past year as part of the startUP class.

Yearian spoke about her experience contributing to the larger class projects earlier in the year, with the Boot Scoot into 2025 line dance and Glo Golf both proving to be very involved to organize.

She also discussed how beneficial it was to meet a number of business owners in the community over the past few months, particularly Monroe County startUP Chairman George Obernagel.

Yearian offered a ringing endorsement for her younger peers who might be considering joining startUP next year or in the near future.

“StartUP is a huge opportunity I think everyone should take advantage of,” Yearian said. “I know a lot of adults that I’ve talked to about the class have said they wish they would have had this class when they were younger.”

Reuss also had good things to say about his startUP experience, emphasizing the business owners he’s been able to meet who have directly improved his approach to entrepreneurship.

“I went into the startUP program having a business, but I wasn’t that serious with the business,” Reuss said. “Just for me, growing my business, finding the passion, finding the sales and profit of everything… I definitely learned from a lot of good speakers, the people at Maker’s on Main and also Taylor from Three Tails. They both started in similar spots like us, so it was kinda cool to see where they’re at now and how they’ve progressed.”

Reuss also noted how the class is good for learning a variety of skills that don’t just apply to business ownership.

“It’s definitely not all about business,” Reuss said. “It’s about making connections. It’s about learning how to speak as a professional and how to build leadership, get engaged with the community.”

Crook, too, discussed how positive it was for her to be able to meet a number of successful business owners in the county, particularly Monroe County startUP Vice Chairman Joe Koppeis, who played a major role in supporting and encouraging her to get her business idea off the ground.

She noted the sense of frustration she’s felt as a high schooler, feeling as though she’s viewed by her elders exclusively as a student rather than a professional as well.

She spoke about how startUP gave her the opportunity to grow as a person, and she offered words of encouragement to other students who might be interested in pursuing their own business or are simply looking to be active as a professional in their community.

“There is no such thing as being too young to be an entrepreneur,” Crook said. “That’s something that I kind of struggled with until I got in the startUP program. You don’t have to wait to grow up to be able to accomplish what you want to accomplish, whether that’s being an entrepreneur, whether that’s being engaged in the community. There is no such thing as too young. If you have drive and you have ambition and you want to start a business, you want to start something but you’re in high school… start it.”

Along with the students, Monroe County startUP Program Coordinator Priscilla Wilkerson also discussed the trade show and the past year, offering high praise for her students as they showed some excellent businesses last week.

“I think that the students pulled off a great show, even with their small numbers,” Wilkerson said. “They’re a small but mighty group, very hard workers, dedicated. It really was a testament to their hard work this year, having done two large class businesses and still being able to focus on getting their own businesses up and running. I think they did a great job with the development of their individual businesses.”