Karina Ruiz is doing an internship with the agriculture department at Woodland Community College this year. She’s also the owner of Big Booty Home Goodies.
Ruiz attends Yuba Community College, but she’s also interested in making a little money, including enough for a trip to Japan to study cooking. She’s hopeful Big Booty Home Goodies will help her do just that.
She was one of 19 vendors who signed up to attend the Eagles Market held Wednesday afternoon at Woodland College, located on East Gibson Road.
None of the vendors could be called a “mom-and-pop” operation. Many of the students simply started their businesses as a hobby or a way to alleviate the stress of school.
Ruiz’s creations were basically small stickers and pins with light-hearted images of hearts, bears, “human butterflies,” as well as the moon, stars and planets.
They were created using a combination of computer programs and printers.
It’s her hope that the business will help pay for an associate degree.
Others participating at the Eagles Marketplace included Myra Limon, who was featuring a variety of crocheted dolls and beanies, which was drawing a lot of attention from other students and college staff, some of who were shopping at Marketplace for holiday gifts.
Limon said she learned how to crochet by watching a YouTube tutorial because she was interested in a new hobby. She’s studying early childhood education and the outside work allows her to do something different while still staying true to her long-term goals.
Isis Kahn, who developed Ansas Creations, also started out studying early childhood education but recently changed to medicine because she wants to become an anesthesiologist.
Kahn’s booth featured a variety of travel mugs that had been wrapped in a variety of designs, including the Woodland College Eagles logo. She was also selling butterfly pins.
Kahn has two years to go before graduating and uses the money she makes from Ansas Creations to support her husband and two children.
She also has a day job at Woodland Joint Unified School District, working as a tutor at Tafoya and Beamer elementary schools.
Kahn explained that she creates her designs using the Makerspace at the Woodland Library before wrapping them around the bottles and exposing them to high heat, which basically shrink-wraps everything together.
She said the process is relatively simple and fun.
None of the young entrepreneurs advertise their wares through traditional sources, most prefer using Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), or simply by word of mouth. While their sales may not be the equivalent of working at a full-time job, they provide enough of a return on their investments to help pay a few bills while allowing them to be creative.
