Entrepreneurship has no known age, whether you’re 15 or in your mid-30’s, the drive to succeed knows no age. 

Several students at Alisal have started their own businesses. While there may be more, these students have had an active business for at least a year. 

Baked Happiness

Alexa Perez started baking to save up money to buy her boyfriend, Edgar Gomez, Christmas gifts. At the age of 15 she started selling cake pops at school during her free time.

 Her boyfriend Edgar began motivating her to consider starting her own business, “He would tell me to start making new pastries other than cakepops, he’d tell his opinion and would tell me my pastries will sell” Perez said. She started making cookies and even experimenting with other pastries like cake, cheesecakes, cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries. With that, she decided to launch her business and made her own personal business Instagram account: @sweets.bylexa.

Her baking process begins right after school, gathering all the ingredients needed before going to the store to buy whatever she is missing. “I start off by making the dough then placing it inside the fridge, then after a while I measure it and put it back in the fridge,” Perez said. “I have one pan in the oven, one with rolled up dough, and another in the fridge.” Alexa continues this cycle until her product is cooked and then leaves it to cool down at room temperature. 

Afterwards she packages her product, adds her brand and allergy sticker, leaving it ready and prepared to sell the next day. At the moment, she sells 3 times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Alexa sells up to 40 times or more within one week, her product is distributed during school and she also delivers to clients after school.

Despite the success, this process takes up to 5 hours depending on the pastry, “There was a time where baking every week started affecting my grades and I was often so drained from it,” Perez said. “I thought about quitting at some point.” 

She had to manage her time due to being a student athlete and in leadership. However her boyfriend Edgar continued to motivate her to stay consistent with her business and would offer to buy the supplies needed when she had no motivation, “ He would make me feel very positive about selling in my free time,” Perez said.

In addition, Perez is known for her recent collaboration with, @dailycaffinated, a small coffee business in Salinas. “Edgar was the one that got me the collaboration, she later texted me and expressed her interest in a collaboration,” Perez said. “We agreed on my best sellers, which were the s’mores and the churro cookies, with a latte coffee on her part.” Both influenced by the successful collaboration, they decided to collaborate again two weeks after. This collaboration grew Alexa’s clientele and aroused interest within customers of when the next collaboration will be.

Perez plans on getting her license to avoid any issues with future clientele. “The best part of having your own business is being able to do what you want and not having anyone tell you what to do and when to do it,” Perez said. “Some advice I would give someone who wants to start a business is to do something you enjoy and stay constant with it.” She plans to continue her business after high school and open up her own small bakery in Monterey Country.

Coffee to go

17-year-old Valerie Medrano, @coffeesbybella, started her at-home coffee business at the age of 16. She started making coffee for her dad before work and started vlogging the process for fun. “My dad would try them and after trying them he would always tell me that I should consider selling coffee because they were so good,” Medrano said.

Inspired by her family’s support, she began selling in early November and in December her business soon started to expand and gained a weekly clientele. “My dad was my inspiration because he has his own business and now I have my own little business which is special to me,” Medrano said.

 She now sells more than 15 drinks, 2-3 times weekly, waking up at 5:30 in the morning to get ready for school and start the process of her clientele’s orders. “I make the coffees in the morning and sometimes I deliver or people come and pick them up,” Medrano said. “Then after school I usually also have orders, so I come home right away and start making the drinks.” 

Medrano is most known for her Nutella spread coffee as it’s the most popular and common drink ordered by clients. She is also known for her recent additions on her menu that include mini pancakes and nutella stuffed croissants with strawberries.

Although she did encounter some minor setbacks at the start of her business, “Some people didn’t really like my prices in the beginning, they would say that my coffees were too expensive,” Medrano said. “Sometimes people would tell me that my drinks wouldn’t really taste good, so it was difficult for me to learn how to make different drinks.” Despite the criticism, Medrano continued to make drinks and stayed consistent, because of this her business continued expanding and grew a loyal following.

While having a successful business, it’s also important for her to have responsibility, discipline and time management on days she has orders. “My favorite part about my business is that it’s my gateway from everything else but I also have a mindset of being responsible and disciplined with my time management,” Medrano said.

Medrano hopes to continue expanding her clientele and obtain a license. As for her goals with this business,  she hopes to have her own coffee shop in Monterey county, where people can feel welcomed and comfortable. “Some advice I would give is that there will be days where you won’t get any clients but don’t let it bring your guard down,”she said. “Don’t give up, keep going because everything is at its own time.”