Oak Originals Fosters Self-Starting Spirit in Elon Student Businesses.

Whether you know Sankey Hall as a center for Elon business students or one of the most difficult spots to find a study room when you need it most, it’s also where you’ll find the Doherty Center — home to Oak Originals. 

Oak Originals, formerly known as Marketplace Under the Oaks, is a campus organization that began in 2020 to support student business owners and vendors. 

According to Program Director of the Doherty Center, Alyssa Martina, the goal of Oak Originals is simple — taking a student’s craft and helping turn it into a business. She enjoys serving as a mentor to her students in the program while they also support each other.

“We're not a student organization, but it's [rather] a loose organization of like-minded people who are all committed,” Martina said. “There's no backstabbing, there's no competition. They all try to help each other.”

Martina said Oak Originals goes beyond the knowledge that students can learn in business classes at Elon. The program makes business cards for its vendors and provides workshops on marketing and financial protocols of businesses, such as how to pay sales taxes.

Since Martina began at Elon, students would turn to her for advice in their creative business endeavors. What started as a newsletter has developed into much more — including social media accounts, a website and entrepreneurial initiatives like business counseling, pop-ups and showcases throughout campus like at Young Commons.

“The students — it's always about the students, [and] seeing them grow,” Martina said.

One student in Oak Originals, Elon junior Shriya Baru, launched Radiant Universe in 2021 with the program’s guidance. The business incorporates Baru’s culture of her home country, India, into custom paintings, decorations and jewelry in a unique version of the mandala.

It was the beauty of the Elon campus itself from its greenery to its people that encouraged her to get back into painting after the pandemic left her feeling inspired in her art. 

Baru said after winning an Elon “E” painting competition hosted at Homecoming 2021, she found the courage to start her business. 

“That was like my first major booster to increase my confidence,” Baru said. “I thought if so many people liked my art, maybe they'd want to have some in their room, in their houses or offices, so why not? Let's just give it a try.”

While Baru is not an art major, she found ways to connect her coursework to the art she creates.

“I think accounting and art are kind of linked,” Baru said. “In accounting, you need precision focus and that's what you need in art, also; you need absolute focus.”

For Baru, she sees art as a stress reliever. She enjoys creating pieces when she just needs a break. 

Through its workshops, Baru said Oak Originals helped her learn time management skills with running a small business, juggling classwork and simply being a college student. 

Her artwork was recently installed on the back patio of the Moseley Student Center near Irazu and Winter Garden. Baru said the installation is a major turning point for her.

“I actually didn't expect this kind of success because I thought maybe people were not going to like it. I don't know. It's different. I'm taking a risk,” Baru said. “When I look at it now, it's the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me after I came to Elon.”

Baru is excited to continue her artwork, create a website this summer and continue to utilize the business resources Oak Originals has offered her to learn more about entrepreneurship.

Elon senior Christina Blaskey is also a part of Oak Originals with Luvstitch Boutique, a business she began out of her home during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I just like woke up one morning, decided to start it and I learned along the way,” Blaskey said. 

Around a year ago, Blaskey joined Oak Originals to boost her marketing and spread the word about her small business around campus. 

The program’s pop-ups, educational workshops and just the ability to answer any of her questions related to the accounting and finance parts of her running her small business go a long way, Blaksey said. It’s these little things that Oak Originals offers through daily guidance that Blaskey can’t always get out of her classes.

Blaskey said how having the ability to promote her business at Elon has made a fashion statement on campus for her peers.

“This is like my passion. I love it so much, and just seeing people, even sometimes walking around campus, wearing my clothes. It's so cool being, wow, that's from my boutique.”

Since starting Luvstitch, Blaksey has also expanded her business sales nationwide through her website. 

College students alike across the country are beginning to grow businesses during their college days, like Baru and Blaskey. According to a recent study from Harvard Business Review, 17 percent of college students operate their own business, and 18 percent plan to start one after graduation. 

For these reasons, student business owners say they are extra appreciative of the resources and community Oak Originals provides.

Throughout her time in the program at Elon, Blaksey has enjoyed surrounding herself with other student business owners as a support system for each other.
“It's like been awesome to see not [just] my business grow, but also their businesses grow from the time that we've been in Oak Originals together,” Blaskey said. 

At the end of the day, Martina emphasized that Oak Originals and starting a business in college is ultimately about the lessons and learning experiences, not the money made. 

“I say to all of them, whether their venture is creative or tech, whether it's low scale or high scale, high growth — I want them to really appreciate that they've got the entrepreneurial spirit in them, and that they're unstoppable,” Martina said.

Martina hopes that no matter where her students take their businesses, they can look back on Oak Originals being an outlet for growth, friendship and entrepreneurship.