During the last year, many businesses have shut down and people have lost jobs, houses and stable incomes. Despite all the obstacles that the global pandemic has created, four Archer girls began and maintained new small businesses. Some of their businesses are focused on giving back and tied to a specific organization, while others focus on having fun and spreading love through their hobbies.

Sophomore Noor Afshar began the Magic of Motherhood, where she bakes different healthy treats to raise money for One Heart Worldwide.  One Heart Worldwide is an organization that aims to improve women’s access to healthcare services in order to reduce the amount of deaths related to childbirth and pregnancy worldwide. 

“From a young age, I was always educated on health and how it can really change someone’s life and make it better,” Afshar said. “I wanted to not only help the mothers and babies around the world but also help the people who live near me and in my community because by baking them healthy [treats] I could show them that not everything has to be filled with things that are not good for your body.”

Afshar said she was extremely inspired by her mom. Afshar wanted to shed light on this extremely important issue that many people do not even know much about.   

“She’s always shown me how important it is to have a beautiful bond with a mother. She’s my everything, and I think that for some children to not have that relationship with their mom is really sad,” Afshar said.

Fellow Archer sophomore Zoe Woolenberg founded a jewelry line entitled the Roze Boutique during the beginning of quarantine. Based off of her ninth grade service project, she donates a percentage of the proceeds to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. 

“I knew I wanted to create a business because I had a lot of time at home, and I’ve always loved jewelry and fashion. I wanted to channel that into a business while also do something with service,” Woolenberg shared. “I’m learning more and I feel like there’s never really an end to what you can create.”

Zoe Woolenberg’s sister, Ivy Woolenberg (’25), began her business two years before quarantine; however, COVID-19 has allowed her to grow the business and try new things. She runs a small baking business entitled Baked with Love by Ivy where she sells custom cakes and cupcakes and also holds Zoom baking classes. 

“I’ve always been into baking. My grandma has always inspired me; she’s a pastry chef, and we would always bake together. But I’ve also always been a really artistic person,” Ivy Woolenberg said. “So I guess combining my love for art and baking for cake decorating has really brought everything together for me.

Ivy Woolenberg said she has gained a lot of knowledge in the time that she has had her business and noted how social media plays a major role in the success of her business.

“Over the past two years, I was able to grow an account from scratch, and I’ve learned about marketing myself [as well as] collaborating with different people,” she said.

Junior Nyah Fernandez embarked on her small business journey in November 2020. She began making homemade rings for her business titled Rings by Nyah.

“The first reason I started my business was really because I was bored and wanted to find new hobbies. But I think the main reason was seeing influencers with these cute rings, and I was like,  ‘Oh my god, these are really cute,’” Fernandez said. “So instead of buying some and giving to the usual big corporations, I learned how to make them myself and ended up starting my own small business. It was really just a hobby at first.”

Fernandez’s business aims to create affordable rings for people her age, yet she noted that her business idea might not have developed without COVID.

“Honestly, if COVID didn’t happen, I don’t think I would have started this business,” Fernandez said. “I know that a lot of teenagers have recently started their own business because, again, we really don’t have anything to do during this pandemic. So this kept me busy, I earned extra money for myself and it was a step towards being financially independent.”