For the past few years, three Benilde St-Margaret’s seniors have dedicated time and talent to create their own businesses and showcase their entrepreneurial skills. Each student infused their own passion with their business savvy to design clothing, fix electronics and even give back to the community.

Conrad Schmidt

In 2011, senior, Conrad Schmidt started a t-shirt and clothing business called Build Bridges. Currently, Build Bridges specializes in t-shirts, and Schmidt plans to add hats and sweatshirts to the business’s products. With over 200 shirts sold over the past year, Schmidt has landed multiple business deals with clothing stores all over the world, even in Japan.

The inspiration for Build Bridges came to Schmidt last winter, when he used his knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator on Mac computers to design t-shirts. Over the course of the year, Build Bridges has obtained success through creating a Facebook page, website, Tumblr, and Instagram. From cleverly titled t-shirts to advertisements featuring artists, most of the apparel from Build Bridges has been related to the underground music scene. “I work with a lot of different musicians, and [a lot of their music has ] influenced clothes like that all over the country,” Schmidt said.

Although Schmidt occasionally invites other artists to help design products, he usually prefers to work alone. “I can more or less do what I want with it or see where I want to take it, and it can kind of evolve into what it’s going to be,” Schmidt said.

With business expanding, Schmidt plans to continue his business in college. “I decided to stay solo with going off to college next year, hopefully in Philadelphia. I want it to be just me, and then I can expand,” Schmidt said.

Andrew Roeder

For the past few years, senior Andrew Roeder has repaired phones and other electronics for the student body at an affordable cost and efficient pace. Due to his talents, his business has grown in popularity as many BSM student rely on his services.

At the age of 13, Roeder began repairing cell phone screens after he tragically broke his brand new iPhone. Since fixing phone screens can be very expensive, at an average of 130 dollars or more, Roeder decided to take matters into his own hands. “I had to pay to fix it myself, and there was no way I was paying that much,” said Roeder.

In an effort to fix his phone, Roeder began doing research online to buy the parts that he needed to make a new screen. “I found supplies that were way cheaper: 60 dollars to fix a broken phone usually,” said Roeder.

In the beginning, Roeder’s electronic repairs started off rougher than he had anticipated. In the hopes of improving the phone, he actually made the situation worse by damaging the Central Processing Units. Now, Roeder fixes a range of electronics including iPhones, Blackberries, Droids, and other Apple products. “Practice makes perfect,” Roeder said.

Repairing phones and other electronics can be a tricky task and demands a great amount of focus and attention. Roeder, who takes about 45 minutes to an hour on a phone repair, knows that fixing a phone can be a tedious process.“There are many small parts when fixing phones, and if you don’t do it right, you could potentially break the phone even more,” said Roeder.

Due to his cost efficiency, Roeder has gained popularity among the BSM student body. In fact, many students refer to him instead of going to a repair shop. “He fixed it at a very affordable price, and did it quickly,” senior Zach Gionet said.

Abby Rosengren

For the past six summers, senior Abby Rosengren ran a camp for girls at her grade school, Holy Name of Jesus. Beginning in 2007, the camp has since expanded, taking on between 12-16 girls per session. Originally a week long, Rosengren recently expanded her camp to two weeks in the summer.

The camp, called Camp Rosy, features activities for the girls such as arts and crafts, and each day of the week has a different theme. Because this past summer was Rosengren’s last, her campers spent their time volunteering, making tie blankets for Campus Nursery, writing letters to residents at Summer Wood, and collecting food for a nearby food shelf.

Rosengren, who has always loved kids, developed her idea of starting a camp in sixth grade.“This sounds really cheesy, but it kinda just came to me. Nothing happened that made me want to start a camp. It was just like, ‘Oh this would be kinda fun to do,’ and my family really supported me,” Rosengren said.

Despite the success of Camp Rosy, Rosengren does not anticipte starting a camp in the future, but can see herself owning her own business. “It was really exciting to see this idea I had as a sixth grader turn into such a success. I guess its been just really cool to see that if you do set a goal, it will happen if you put your mind to it,” Rosengren said.

After six years of running Camp Rosy, Rosengren has helped her community through the various camp service projects and has gained valuable entrepreneurial experience.