Student-Made UNC crafts entrepreneurs

The Tar Heels behind Student-Made UNC are not only crafty entrepreneurs but also managers-in-training who have banded together on a platform that helps fellow makers succeed.

A team of six student managers handles the website, social media, events, finance and strategy so creators can focus on making handcrafted fashions, jewelry, artwork, stickers, prints and other décor.

“We have 30 creators and there’s more interest,” said Student-Made UNC campus manager Shreya Gundam ‘25, a computer science major from Cary.

Carolina was one of the first five universities to join Student-Made, a network of student-run businesses begun in 2019 and now active on 11 campuses. The platform supports student entrepreneurs with systems to help with marketing, shipping, promotion, strategy and more. At Carolina, Student-Made UNC also gets support from Innovate Carolina’s 1789 venture lab, with workshops, classes and networking opportunities.

Since launching Student-Made UNC in 2021, these Tar Heel makers have built up their craft inventory, uploaded photos and descriptions to a sales website (on summer hiatus until Aug. 20) and taken part in several pop-up shops. In the 2023-24 academic year, Student-Made UNC accounted for 957 orders for 1,300 units and $18,500 in sales, hosting 25 pop-up sales events in the community.

More than that, the platform gives these entrepreneurs the skills and confidence they need to succeed.

“Student-Made helped ground me and find a place at UNC,” said Gundam, who began her Once Upon a Scrap business using the sewing skills her grandmother taught her.

“When I was younger and staying at my grandma’s house, there was no wi-fi, but there was plenty of fabric,” she said. “During COVID, we stitched hospital gowns out of old blankets.”

Now Gundam upcycles new cloth scraps into floral wreaths, ruffled earrings and keychains, and potted plants. “I was already making products,” she said, but through Student-Made, “I learned to interact with people and gained a lot of confidence to market myself.”

“I’ve always been pretty crafty,” said Emma Wieber ‘26, creator of The Dainty Daffodil jewelry line, which features drop earrings, hoops and beaded necklaces and bracelets. “A lot of people I know have small businesses, and this is a university where that’s encouraged.”

(Courtesy of Emma Wieber)

Student-Made found her on Instagram, Wieber said. Now, as social media manager, she returns the favor by making Instagram and other platform posts to promote the Student-Made UNC creators.

An advertising and public relations major from Siler City, Wieber doesn’t know if she’ll make jewelry her career but wants to continue creating as a hobby. “I can’t imagine not doing it,” she said.

As the Student-Made UNC community engagement manager, Payton Wilkins ’26 handles onboarding and training for new creators and plans community events for the team, like craft nights or going out for dinner or bubble tea.

A junior from Graham, Wilkins taught herself to crochet using kits and YouTube videos but got serious about making her craft into a business during the COVID-19 lockdown. She crafts bees, turtles, dinosaurs and bunnies with carrot backpacks. She had tried selling her crocheted animal creations on her mother’s Facebook page, on Instagram and through an Etsy shop, but with Student-Made, “I’ve done way better.”

Other student managers include Mary-Slade McKee, content creator; Ana Guevara, finance and strategy manager; Geensia Xiong, website manager, and Anna Routh, events and partnerships manager.

A communication and information science double major from Morganton, Xiong is not a creator herself but relishes her promotional role uploading photos and descriptions of the crafts. “I love supporting them. They’re all so cool, and not enough people know about it.”

(Courtesy of Emma Wieber)